True Story Theater has offered Active Bystander training workshops since 2007.  We work with a wide variety of interested groups, including civic organizations, places of worship, human rights commissions, businesses, activist groups, schools and universities.  See our events calendar for upcoming public events.

About the workshops

Our Active Bystander workshops are generally 2 hours long for 15-75 participants. They offer an enlivening introduction to taking constructive action:

(1) INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP

  • ​EVERYDAY BIGOTRY: ​when someone you know personally (e.g., a co-worker, family member, neighbor) says or does something bigoted, whether intentionally or unintentionally
  • PUBLIC HARASSMENT: ​when you witness someone you do not know being the target of verbal abuse or prejudice (e.g., on the subway)

(2) DIALOGUE SKILLS WORKSHOP: how to engage effectively with people we have relationships with (e.g., in work or extended family) to move past defensiveness into greater awareness and accountability

(3) EXPLORING IDENTITY WORKSHOP:  how to move past our obliviousness to understand how others experience their social identity and how this informs effective active bystander work

​Participants work in the whole group witnessing different scenarios, based on real life, and also​ practice ​new skills ​in dyads and in small groups.

Participants take away a substantial 20-page packet of specific tips and resources. ​ Ongoing practice is highly encouraged, whether through your own organization ​ or peers​, or via follow-up workshop(s) with True Story or other trainers on this website.

​Please ​contact

Tonia[at]TrueStoryTheater.org to explore a possible workshop (or performance) for your group.

Groups served

the Hanover Unity Council, the Hopkinton Freedom Team, Diverse Holliston, Belmont Against Racism, Belmont High School, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the Arlington Human Rights Commission, Arlington UU First Parish, Rochester Institute of Technology, Tufts University, the Newton Human Rights Commission, Jewish Voice for Peace, Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, the Boston Workmen’s Circle, the Brookline Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations​, ​Brookline’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee, The Dana Hall School, Emerald Group Publishing, Indivisible, Public Libraries of Brookline, the Racial and Immigration Justice Teams of UUAC in Sherborn, Courageous Conversations on Race coalition in Milton, the Sharon Pluralism Network, the Multi-cultural Ministries Committee at First Church Unitarian in Littleton, and a state-wide group of human resource professionals.

“I feel both empowered and equipped to confidently use my voice as an ally.  I’m ready to do this work in a way I wasn’t before.”  -S. Kiser, Dana Hall School

​I learned how to support the target in public, ​and how to name ​t​he harm doer’s emotion​s​ and try to shift their response in a nondisciplinary​, useful​ way​.​ –Sherborn UU Racial Immigration Team participant

True Story Theater also offers performances on many different social justice themes​, ​often with constituencies whose voices have not been sufficiently heard. We have worked with homeless veterans, survivors of domestic violence, cancer survivors, men who were formerly incarcerated, and many others.

Resources