Alternate Performance Methods: Playback Theatre

           Playback theatre is a unique art form that combines both storytelling and collaborative theatre. It unites the audience members and the performers in an interesting collaboration. Audience members are selected one at a time to share a story from their life. These stories can be any experience the person wishes to share from the mundane to the extraordinary, tragic to comedic, recent to remote, and anything in between. They next choose which performers will play the roles mentioned in their story. Then, the story is enacted and improvised on the spot. A non-naturalist approach is most often used in the re-creation of the stories. The performers often employ chorus, metaphor, narration, song, and movement to portray the story. 

          In the picture to the left we can see the basic set up of a playback theatre stage. While it may vary from place to place and production to production, the performers are usually only aided by basic props such as wooden boxes, musical instruments, and pieces of cloth.  Two chairs are usually set up somewhere on the stage for "the conductor" and "the teller".

          The conductor acts as a host or emcee. This person is responsible for selecting the audience members that will share their stories, or the tellers. Once a person has been chosen, the conductor will invite them onto the stage to share their story. The conductor will act as interpreter asking questions to clarify parts of the story. They are also responsible for moving the auidence members through the process keeping them informed and involved.

        The following video has clips from one night of playback theater done by Playback Theater West of Boulder, Colorado. It further illuminates what you could expect to see and experience at a playback production. 

          Furthermore, playback theatre is not your average improvisational theatre. The content is all true human events that have been experienced by someone who is present. Playback theatre isn't done just for laughs, it is a tool used to find the true heart of a story and to see things from a new prospective and in different ways. By seeing ourselves in others we are able to gain insight and build community. Because of this, playback theatre companies often have themed productions getting stories from different people on the same event, subject, tragedy or so on. This can also serve as a coping and rebuilding mechanism for many people.
          While playback theatre is a relatively a new form, first founded in 1975 by Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas, below we can see it has spread internationally. The first company, titled just Playback Theatre Company, was located in New York State just north of New York City. As shown in the map below this original company inspired many followers.

View Playback Theatre in a larger map