Soul Story Theater

Suraya Keating, Soul Story Theater Founder & Drama Therapist

About Suraya

Suraya Keating, founder of Soul Story Theater, is an actress, theater director, Soul Story performance coach, Expressive Arts & Drama Therapist, and Playback Theater aficionado. In her role as Social Justice Director for Marin Shakespeare, Suraya developed a life story theater program for people in prison as well as formerly incarcerated artists. During the past 20 years, she has written and performed various solo shows inspired by the wild ride of her life experience, and has coached dozens of individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds in the creation and sharing of performances inspired by their life journeys.

Suraya's love of theater sprouted after being raised in an emotionally repressed family that placed lots of emphasis on thinking, logic, appearances and walking the "expected path" but little emphasis on the body, soul or following one's heart. This awakened in Suraya a deep hunger to re-connect with her body and heart through multiple art forms, including theater, dance, music, and more. Through theater and the arts, Suraya was able to re-connect to and express all that she longed to express within her psyche. Not only did Suraya find personal healing through the arts, but she repeatedly found that the arts also had a profound capacity to foster collective healing, unity and connection amongst diverse people. As Suraya followed her heart's guidance to study and train in theater, drama therapy and expressive arts therapy, she also discovered another passion: life story theater. Read below for more details on how Suraya's family history and life journey ignited her interest in life story theater. Connect with Suraya at surayasusana@gmail.com

Suraya's History

Born and raised in New York to a mixed ethnic family, Suraya's childhood was shaped by intense mental illness amongst family members, PTSD, family secrets, emotional cutoff and denial. Suraya initially learned to cope with the dysfunction by hiding her feelings and not rocking the boat. Later in life, she became passionate about expressing her truth and unravelling generations of family pain by writing and performing life story theater. The process of doing so brought empowerment, insight and healing to Suraya, and she became inspired to support others to do the same. Suraya works with people from all walks of life to uncover their "soul story" - or any story that someone's soul longs to share with the world in the form of a life story theater performance. www.suraya.org

About Soul Story Theater

Our History

Soul Story Theater was founded by Suraya Keating, Registered Drama Therapist, Actress, Theater Director and passionate advocate for the power of stories and creativity to heal, connect and transform us individually and collectively. When we honor our own and each other's life stories, we cultivate connection to each other as a human family - a much needed medicine during these divisive times.

Our Mission

At Soul Story Theater, our mission is to inspire all people to celebrate their inherent creativity and express their voice by writing, rehearsing and sharing a solo performance piece that reflects a meaningful aspect of their soul's journey.

Our Programs

We offer workshops and performances designed to free your wild creativity, open your hearts, and connect us as a human family. Whether you're a seasoned performer or a first-time storyteller, Soul Story Theater provides the tools and support needed to bring forth a story from your life that your soul longs to share and craft it into a SOLO THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE PIECE of 5-20 minutes (or sometimes longer). Soul Story Theater currently offers 2 SOLO PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS for you to develop your story and then perform it on stage:

1) SOUL STORIES SOLO PERFORMANCE:: You will be invited to share a story on a theme of your choice, such as navigating illness, loss, love, a big life transition, having children, and more.

2) MENOPAUSE STORIES SOLO PERFORMANCE: You'll be invited to craft a solo show inspired by your journey through perimenopause and menopause with an emphasis on this time of life as an important rite of passage.