A piece of ice with a melting drop of water about to fall.
THE bEAR presents: From Hard to Soft – A Night of Autobiographical Storytelling
"That’s the trouble with March—the warmth never lasts. There’s that narrow stretch when it parades as spring, just enough for you to thaw if you’re sitting in the sun, but then it’s gone. The sun has moved on. The shadows have swept in."
— V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
March teases us, then takes it back. It’s a season of shifts—of softening, of rigid lines blurring into something new.
What softens us?
How do we change from hating classical music to crying during Mahler’s Adagietto? From avoiding group holidays to finding unexpected joy on a bus full of tourists? From swearing off motherhood to feeling its pull at 39?
Tell us about the moment when a steadfast no became a hesitant maybe. When an idea, a move, an opinion, or a way of life you never questioned—suddenly shifted.
This month at THE bEAR, we invite storytellers to share moments of softening—when their stance melted, their world cracked open just enough to let something new in.
Like March, we’ll glimpse the thaw, warming up together with true, personal stories told live—without notes. We come as strangers, and over the course of ten five-minute stories, live music, and lively audience interaction, we leave somehow more connected.
As AI reshapes the world, stories remain timeless. They remind us what matters. They make us human.
Join us on March 21st.
DATE: Friday, March 21st
TIME: Bar opens at 7:30 pm; Show starts at 8 pm
VENUE: Theatersaal im Danzigerstr. 50, 10435 Berlin
SHOW HOST: Dyane Neiman
MUSIC: TBA
TICKET DONATION: 12.50 € General; 10.00 € Reduced; 2 volunteers gratis tickets (not incl. ticket fee and VAT).
Show host
DYANE NEIMAN
Show host Dyane Neiman on stage at THE bEAR; photo credit: Martin Bering.
Founder & Director of THE bEAR
True stories. Erzähltes Leben.
Dyane is from Philadelphia but has become the most German-like American you’ll ever meet. A former theater director and choreographer, she once told stories through movement—now, she creates with words.
By day, she helps people find their voice as a speaker coach through her business, Moving Speaker. She’s also the co-founder of Female Speaking Berlin, a venture she launched with Esther de Bruijn to empower women to speak up and stand out.
And every third Friday evening, she hosts, charms, persuades, and—when necessary—twists arms to get Berliners on stage, sharing their stories at THE bEAR.
"I believe stories help us make sense of this chaos called life."
Check out her latest passion project, created in collaboration with the True Stories Berlin podcast team: truestoriesberlin.com
Say hello: dyane@thebear-storytelling.de
Show host
JAMES HARPER
Musician James Harper on stage at THE bEAR, Theater im Delphi, Berlin; photo credit Emmi Mascher.
is the creator of award-nominated podcast Filter Stories, a show that uses our morning coffee as a lens to understand the world. His narratives explore history, science and sustainability, and he writes the piano music that underscore the stories.
His podcasts have been heard hundreds of thousands of times, and he has produced narrative podcasts for a wide array of clients, including Porsche (Driven Minds), Duolingo (Spanish Podcast), World Coffee Portal (5THWAVE), Specialty Coffee Association (World Coffee Championships), and others.
Growing up half Italian in Sydney, he’s lived in Hong Kong and Rome and began his career working for the Bank of England in 2009. However, his passion for coffee was simply too strong to resist, and in 2016 moved to Berlin to become The Barn Coffee Roaster’s Wholesale Manager, and then in early 2018 hopped on a flight to Guatemala to dive deeper into the world of specialty coffee as a documentary podcast producer.
When he is not traveling around the world, James generously accompanies storytellers at THE bEAR adding another delicious layer to our evening.
THE BEAR presents is made possible by the generous performances of our storytellers, our team of volunteers, and the “Verein zur Förderung der Kunst des biographischen Geschichtenerzählens e.V.” .
Special thanks to our partners Berlin Erleben on Youtube and the public speaking training companies Moving Speaker and Female Speaking Berlin.
If you miss this show, you can have front row seats to beautiful stories made by THE bEAR with love on our bi-weekly podcast wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
Informative videos @ Berlin from 35-year experienced city guide Michael Rost.
Women supporting women
Enhance your public speaking skills with our empowering seminars, workshops, and in-company trainings.
Why just speak? Inspire! Training in storytelling & public speaking that moves listeners to action.
Stories connect us.
Because we all have stories to tell.
Please support our mission to bring compassion into our communities through the Art of Autobiographical Storytelling.
We thank you for your generosity.
Verein zur Förderung der Kunst des biographischen Geschichtenerzählens e.V.
IBAN: DE25 8306 5408 0005 2236 28
Or you can buy the team some cups of coffee for those long nights… Thank you.