Listening Labs:
Storytelling To Strengthen Communities
Every person has a story that matters
Listening Labs are forums in which moving stories told through powerful spoken word, music, and theatrically projected sand animation facilitate generous listening with fellow participants in conversations that are honest, intimate, and alive.
Meeting People Where They Gather
Belonging interventions like Listening Labs or In Our Words are a social practice framework harnessing established processes of a team of artists, facilitators, writers, composers and theatrical designers. Each Listening Lab and In Our Words Community Portrait Live Documentary is distinct because these projects:
•Are made with, of, and for specific communities.
•Prioritize people over venues. Each phase occurs where the people at the heart of each community portrait gather, often taking theatre OUT of the theatre. Where theatrical venues are not inclusion barriers, their production capabilities (e.g. lighting, more sophisticated projection technology) enhance impact. But this is not required. (see support materials)
•Adapt. The formats — especially In Our Words — continue to evolve to meet partnering community needs, constraints and opportunities.