True Story Theater is a nonprofit ensemble of eighteen actors based in the Boston area, using theater for community development and social change. We perform a form of improvisational storytelling theatre called Playback Theatre.

In Playback Theatre, volunteers from the audience describe important moments from their lives, and three to five actors turn their stories into instant theatre using movement, music, and dialogue.

Every show is unique. Our audiences frequently laugh and cry and express amazement at being so fully heard. The process of Playback is practiced in over 50 countries around the world to promote community-building and understanding across differences.

We serve the philanthropic community

True Story Theater has performed for many philanthropy-related conferences, including the Southeastern Council on Foundations, The Giving Forum, Grantmakers Without Borders, and the Transforming Money Network. (True Story’s directors are Anne and Christopher Ellinger, founders of the Bolder Giving Initiative, and several troupe members have philanthropic experience.) We also perform extensively for a wide variety of nonprofit communities: previously homeless men in recovery from addictions; teen leaders; immigrant communities; Jewish and Palestinian Israelis; and much more.

Using True Story Theater at a gathering can:

• Enable participants to warm up to explore their giving through storytelling
• Let them explore together an important question or theme
• Help people better understand others with different experiences and perspectives
• Entertain and refresh participants
• Enable people to experience community-building through the arts

Please consider us for an energizing and memorable session

• For a family gathering or meeting of a family foundation
  (e.g., to explore intergenerational giving issues)
• For a donor education program
  (e.g., to help donors share their questions about effective philanthropy)
• For a philanthropy-related conference or donor network gathering
  (e.g., to vividly portray the positive impact of giving)
• For an organizational retreat
  (e.g., to help Board and staff work better together)

Please contact to discuss possibilities. See our website for a fuller picture: TrueStoryTheater.org

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