About us
Esther de Bruijn - Founder of The Untold
I’m a theatre maker, trained at the Theatre Academy in Tilburg (NL), where I graduated with distinction. For over ten years, I’ve made theatre with people who rarely get a stage: refugees and their new neighbors in Rotterdam, street youth in South Africa, people with a disability, people with a history of addiction, children in hospitals.
What has stayed constant, working across so many different sectors, is my starting point: curiosity. Who are you, what do you want to say, and how can I help you say it with confidence, without losing what makes you you?
My theatre background is the foundation of how I coach. Having stood on many stages myself, I understand both the nerves and the joy that come with speaking in front of an audience. That lived experience shapes every session I run.
For three years now, I’ve been based in Berlin, bringing the same craft to new stages: coaching exiled journalists, writers, scientists and storytellers, and creating evenings where their stories are heard.
We all live in our own bubbles, and we sometimes seem to forget how to really share with each other. A story, well told, on a stage, has the potential to open a door between those bubbles.
The team
Over the years, I’ve gathered a carefully selected team around me: people who know how to light up a room, how to craft a story, and how to help others find their unique voice.
Dyane Neiman
Story coach, host · English
Esther about Dyane
“To me, Dyane is the mother of stories. I’ve sat beside her in many coaching sessions, and every time she knows exactly what to ask to find the true story inside someone.
She is an artist of stories.”
NYC-bred, with a background in professional dance and choreography, Dyane knows how a body carries a story on stage.
As founder of THE BEAR, Berlin's stage for true stories, told live, she has brought more than 1,000 true stories to the stage. Over 14 years of working with scientists have made her an expert at turning complex knowledge into stories people remember.
Host, storyteller · English, Arabic (Levantine & Gulf)
Jana Malaeb
Esther about Jana
“Jana has a superpower: she turns strangers into friends. In any room where people don’t know each other yet, she steps up without fear: joyful, powerful and vulnerable at once. She gets every group moving.”
Impact, storytelling and curiosity, grounded in her Lebanese roots, have shaped both Jana’s professional and creative life. With a background in sustainability and diversity & inclusion, she has always put intercultural curiosity and relationship building at the heart of her work.
As a host, she brings that warmth to every room, designing evenings where nobody stays a stranger for long. She’s especially keen to bring Middle Eastern, international and newcomer voices to the stage.
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Training and coaching is available in English, Dutch, Arabic (Gulf/Levantine), French
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We work mainly in Berlin, but are happy to travel to your company outside of Berlin and Germany as well.
Esther also works regularly in The Netherlands, so it is also possible to book coaching and trainings there.