Reflections: Story Circles for Community Connection in Yolo

“The oral tradition is one of the most powerful and effective transmitters of culture in the history of humankind. At the center of most of the world’s cultures and religions is story. At one time stories lived in the memories and in the ritual telling of the people. They had both aesthetic and utilitarian dimensions. They enthralled and taught. Today, in most western European traditions, education is often concerned more with the accumulation and imparting of written “facts and figures” than with the search for meaning through story. Roadside Theater focuses on the oral tradition, not to replace or ignore the written word, but to search for its soul.”

Roadside Theater Story Circle Methodology

On March 18, 2025, Imagining America hosted a Story Circle in collaboration with our partners at the International House Davis. Using the powerful story circles methodology created by artist John O’Neal from the Free Southern Theater, the event provided a space to build empathy and connection.

All story circles involve people sitting in a circle without the clutter of our busy human lives, such as phones, computers, desks, or paperwork. Just people sitting in a circle together telling and listening to each other’s stories, one at a time, without debate or argumentation.

At the IA/I-House Story Circle, participants shared personal stories based on the following prompt:

We invite the Yolo community to share stories of moments when they have felt cared for and connected to others, or when experiences of care and connection were sadly missing. 

The result was an empowering hour and a half session, where deep listening and compassion were on display. All participants agreed that this was a powerful exercise, and we left the event brimming with energy from the intimacy and vulnerability that had been shared between us.

We encourage IA members to hold Story Circles in your own communities to unleash the power of everyday storytelling and to create practices of mutual support during these tumultuous times. Here are a few resources to get you started:

• The Free Southern Theater’s Story Circle Process, Lizzy Cooper Davis (in Creating space for democracy, pp. 128-139. Routledge, 2023): In this essay, Davis (IA National Advisory Board member) offers her own process of learning the Story Circle methodology as a way to introduce readers to its history and guidelines.
• Story Circles: Deep Listening and Bride Building on Issues that Matter, jesikah maria ross (for Capitol Public Radio, 2018): This downloadable guide covers how to host a Story Circle so that you can cultivate listening and bridge-building on housing or other issues in your neighborhood, organization or community. It’s written for public radio stations, community organizations, and other groups who wish to listen to, learn from and build trust with the communities they serve.