The Theater of Witness is unlike any theater you will ever visit. There are no professional actors or even community theater actors. Yet the performances are as raw and powerful as anything you will see on Broadway and leave many audience members shaken and in tears.

The company presents an innovative form of testimonial theater in which the true stories of people whose voices have generally not been heard in the media or on stage are shaped into original theater and films that are performed by the people themselves.They share their own true stories of trauma, pain, tragedy, marginalization, resilience and transcendence.

Developed by founder and artistic director Teya Sepinuck, Theater of Witness will present the production “GrandWomen,” June 11 to 13, at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in Center City

“The purpose of this work,” Sepinuck said of the company’s mission, “is to open the hearts of audiences to humanize ‘the other’ and bring people together across divides of difference. Theater of Witness is authentic, raw storytelling that cultivates compassion and understanding while celebrating the resilience of the human spirit.”

One of the performers in “GrandWomen,” Chestnut Hill resident Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, 80, told the Local last week, “I am a friend of Teya’s, and we were both surprised when she asked me to be part of ‘GrandWomen’ and even more surprised when I said yes.

“It has been a wonderful experience,” Weinberg said, “especially meeting the diverse, loving, fascinating elder women who make up the cast of six. I honestly never would have met any of them before, and now we feel like sisters.”

Weinberg described watching Sepinuck create the production as inspiring. “GrandWomen” focuses on older adult “women and our lives, which have many joys and many sorrows, are amazingly different and also amazingly similar,” she said. “We highlight the significant changes seen in this lifetime. It is really hard to imagine how it will all unfold, but I know that it will be very moving and heartwarming for any and all who attend.”

Born and raised in the Bronx, Weinberg was interested in Judaism but did not consider becoming a rabbi until later in life, after the calling became a viable option for women. While living in Mt. Airy for 12 years as a single parent raising two children, Weinberg enrolled in rabbinical school at a time when women in the profession were still rare.

Weinberg served as a congregational rabbi for 17 years and has also worked in the fields of Jewish community relations and Jewish education and as spiritual director to a variety of Jewish clergy, as well as students and faculty at Hebrew Union College in New York City. Weinberg is creator and co-leader of the Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Program.

She also created a CD, “Preparing the Heart: Meditations for Jewish Spiritual Practice,” and is the author of “Surprisingly Happy: An Atypical Religious Memoir,” “God Loves the Stranger” and “Let Us All Breathe Together.” The latter work is a collection of spiritual messages, insightful poems and perceptive essays that explore ways to unite faith with reality.

In a previous interview with the Local, Rabbi Weinberg said, “I tell my students, ‘We are not in charge here, folks; put it in the hands of a higher power.’ As for aging, I think some of us do it well, and some of us have luck. If we are surrounded by the right people and have practices that deepen our sense of well-being and strengthen our values, then that’s good because otherwise we can easily feel lost and feel like a stranger.”

Karen Anderson, a retired nurse, West Mt. Airy resident and volunteer for Theater of Witness, told the Local last week, “It is such a pleasure to see Teya coax the stories in ‘GrandWomen’ to life. I feel like a small part of an important and meaningful project. Each woman’s story touches my heart and gives me hope for my future. The benefits of volunteering, one year post-retirement, are many for both my physical and mental health.

“The chance to do something so different after 46 years of nursing is tapping a part of me that is more expansive and artful. Meeting the six ‘Grand Women’ has let me know that there is a next chapter for me that will be filled with laughter and tears. Going to the theater and helping set up the scenes, cue music, applaud loudly and hug often is a gift.”

Rabbi Weinberg and her husband, Maynard Seider, have three married children and six grandchildren.

For more information about “GrandWomen,” visit theaterofwitness.org. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.