Digital Engagement Toolkit

Unyielding Voices Toolkit

Testimony, resistance, and the work of listening.

Start Here

Begin with one task:

Listen for a moment that stays with you—and notice why.

Do not try to summarize it. Do not try to explain it.

Just:

• identify it
• stay with it
• return to it

Before You Begin

Experience the Performance

Core Frame

Unyielding Voices centers testimony.

It asks:

• What does it mean to speak?
• What does it mean to be heard?
• What does it require to listen?

This is not only a performance.

It is:

• an act of witnessing
• an act of record
• an act of resistance

How to Use This Toolkit

Start with one pathway:

• Engage — listen closely
• Interpret — reflect on meaning
• Apply — respond through action
• Context — understand the framework
• Extend — carry the work forward

Do not try to do everything. Start with one lens.

PART I — ENGAGE

1. Track Testimony

Identify moments where a speaker:

• asserts something clearly
• resists silence
• names experience directly

Ask:

• What is being claimed?
• What is at stake in saying it?

2. Track Listening

Shift focus from speaker to listener.

• Who is being addressed?
• What kind of listening is required?

Ask:

• What does it mean to listen without interruption?
• When does listening become responsibility?

3. Track Form

Notice how the performance is structured:

• individual voices
• collective moments
• repetition
• silence

Ask:

• How does structure shape meaning?
• When does form make listening harder or clearer?

4. Track Emotion and Control

Observe:

• moments of intensity
• moments of restraint
• moments where feeling is contained rather than released

Ask:

• What is expressed?
• What is held back?
• Why might restraint matter?

5. Track Impact

Notice your own response.

• What stays with you?
• What unsettles you?
• What do you want to return to?

What does it mean to be affected by what you hear?

PART II — INTERPRET

1. Testimony and Power

• Who is able to speak?
• Who is not?
• What structures shape who is heard?

2. Listening as Action

Listening is not passive.

• What responsibilities come with hearing testimony?
• What happens after listening?
• How does listening become a form of response?

3. Representation and Reality

• What is being represented?
• What is being documented?
• What is the relationship between performance and lived experience?

4. Collective Voice

• When do voices remain individual?
• When do they become collective?
• What changes when many voices form one shared field of attention?

5. Audience Position

• What role do you occupy as a listener?
• Observer?
• Witness?
• Participant?

What does the performance ask of you after it ends?

PART III — APPLY

Exercise 1: Listening Without Interruption

In pairs or small groups:

1. One person speaks for 2–3 minutes.
2. Others listen without interruption.
3. Listeners do not respond immediately.
4. After a pause, listeners name one thing they heard accurately.

Reflect:

• What changed when listening was sustained?
• What was difficult?
• What did you notice when response was delayed?

Exercise 2: Mapping Voice

Create a map of:

• who speaks
• what is said
• how voices relate

Look for:

• patterns
• repetition
• contrast
• silences

Exercise 3: Response Writing

Write a response that does not summarize.

Instead:

• respond to one moment
• stay specific
• avoid explaining everything

Ask:

• What are you responding to?
• Why did that moment remain with you?
• What responsibility does your response carry?

Exercise 4: From Listening to Action

Identify one idea, image, phrase, or moment.

Then ask:

What does this require of me?

Define one concrete next action:

• discussion
• research
• community engagement
• further learning
• creative response

Exercise 5: Holding Silence

After discussion, sit in silence for one minute.

Notice:

• what remains
• what is unresolved
• what you are still carrying

Do not rush to closure.

PART IV — CONTEXT

Testimony

Testimony is:

• a personal account
• a public act
• a form of record

Witnessing

To witness is:

• to observe
• to acknowledge
• to carry forward what has been heard

Performance and Documentation

Performance can:

• represent
• document
• preserve
• activate memory

Voice and Power

Voice is shaped by:

• access
• context
• risk
• who is willing to listen

PART V — EXTEND

Classrooms

Use:

• Track Testimony
• Listening Without Interruption
• Response Writing

Artists

Use:

• Mapping Voice
• Performance and Documentation
• questions of representation and responsibility

General Audiences

Use:

• Start Here
• Track Impact
• Final Frame

Community Groups

Use:

• Listening Without Interruption
• From Listening to Action
• Holding Silence

Need Support

If you encounter barriers engaging with this material, please contact:

Arizona Theatre Matters

Final Frame

Unyielding Voices asks:

What does it mean not only to hear—but to respond?

Listening is not the end.

It is the beginning of responsibility.

Looking for context? Return to the Unyielding Voices Study Guide.