Donovan Dueck sat in the audience, watching a tense dramatization of a toxic relationship, when he left his seat and stepped into the role of someone breaking off a failed romance.<\/p>\n
The CSULB student had no script. When a performer, acting as a desperate partner, threatened self-harm if he did not stay, Dueck had to trust his gut and find the presence of mind to insist the relationship was over and walk away.<\/p>\n
It was all fictional, but in that moment, the emotions felt genuine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very aware that this could be real,\u201d said Dueck, a first-year public relations student.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was not expecting it, but it\u2019s also how it happens in real life,\u201d he also said. \u201cYou don\u2019t expect to hear threats.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is how interACT<\/a>, a Cal State Long Beach performance troupe, wields theater and improv against violence and bigotry. During interACT\u2019s fall 2025 Anti-Violence Event on campus, Dueck was one of several students who put themselves in the middle of emotionally charged scenarios designed to help audience members recognize, avoid and escape dangerous situations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re here to do today is prevent you from getting into a relationship that escalates to the point where there is violence,\u201d interACT managing director Kelly Janke said to the audience.<\/p>\n Students join interACT by enrolling in the Ensemble Performance class, offered through the Communication Studies Department<\/a>. The course prepares students to model and teach, via performance, verbal and nonverbal techniques that audience members can employ to stand up for themselves and others.<\/p>\n \u201cInterACT performances are a communication pedagogy, helping students move from a passive observer into an active bystander, and communicate in real-time,\u201d Janke said. \u201cLike in any interACT performance, communication is not merely something we say; it is something we enact physically, socially, and culturally.\u201d<\/p>\n Although this requires confronting stressful subject matter, Dueck said he was glad to have participated in an interACT event.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s common for people to feel like they don\u2019t know how to defend themselves or set boundaries,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of people could benefit from this.\u201d<\/p>\n InterACT students Matias Ramirez and Abigail Watson perform during an November 2025 Violence Prevention Event convened to help audience members be safe over the course of their dating lives.<\/p>\n Performance as rehearsal for real life<\/p>\n InterACT performances are crafted to inspire audiences to act against such ills as racism, homophobia, hazing, sexual assault, stalking and intimate partner violence. The troupe has a 25-year history of performing at The Beach, other campuses and military bases.<\/p>\n This fall\u2019s Violence Prevention Event at CSULB dramatized a toxic relationship. Between scenes, Janke paused the action to facilitate conversations about protecting oneself by spotting red flags, being unafraid to make a scene in public, using \u201cno\u201d as a complete sentence and otherwise refusing an unwanted pursuer. These breaks also provided times for audience members like Dueck to replay scenes and demonstrate assertive communication.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s kind of like practice,\u201d said Katelynn Morales, a fourth-year communication studies student and interACT member. \u201cIt\u2019s giving them the practice to be OK with setting a boundary.\u201d<\/p>\n InterACT aligns with Morales\u2019 interest in working in a field where interpersonal communication is central. She is interested in mediation and the prospect of serving as a community college instructor, teaching first-generation students like herself.<\/p>\n \u201cI get to feel like I\u2019m making a difference in the world,\u201d Morales said.<\/p>\n Educating with drama<\/p>\n InterACT has collaborated with Not Alone @ The Beach<\/a>, another College of Liberal Arts program with a commitment to preventing violence. Not Alone at the Beach provides crisis intervention services for sexual misconduct survivors and runs the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Training<\/a> program, which prepare student leaders to intervene when a peer is at risk of abuse.<\/p>\n Terrance Sylvas, a fourth-year communications studies student who has acted in musical theater and plays, is interested in acting professionally. He foresees that InterACT can enhance interpersonal skills that would be valuable in professions connected to the performing arts, such as working for a talent agency, a casting department or a marketing team. He is also committed to interACT\u2019s mission of informing audiences.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hope is making sure that they\u2019re educated, and not just watching this performance,\u201d he said. \u201cI really want people to take it seriously and value what\u2019s being said.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly Janke, faculty member of managing director of interACT, helps the audience stay engaged during a performance designed to impart lessons on effectively communicating personal boundaries.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donovan Dueck sat in the audience, watching a tense dramatization of a toxic relationship, when he left his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1818,1820,7,1815,1823,1821,1822,1819,131,133,132,1817,1816],"class_list":["post-87075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-49ers","tag-cal-state","tag-california","tag-college","tag-conoley","tag-csu","tag-csulb","tag-dirtbags","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-long-beach-state","tag-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}