FACULTY

Jonathan Fox, the founder of Playback Theatre, is director of the School. He was the artistic and executive director of the original Playback Theatre company from its inception in 1975.  He is the author of Acts of Service: Spontaneity, Commitment, Tradition in the Nonscripted Theatre; the editor of The Essential Moreno: Writings on Spontaneity, Psychodrama and Group Method; and co-editor of Gathering Voices: Essays on Playback Theatre. 

Jo Salas is a founding member of the original Playback Theatre company, and founder-director of Hudson River Playback Theatre, now in its 17th year. Jo co-produced and is featured in the DVD "Performing Playback Theatre". A core faculty member of the School since its inception, Jo also teaches playback internationally. She writes frequently about playback and is the author of Improvising Real Life: Personal Story in Playback Theatre. Her two CDs include Listen and Remember, a collection of songs for groups.
 

Penny Clayton has been an active member of Hudson River Playback Theatre since 1998; performing, leading workshops and administrating. Penny graduated from the School of Playback Theatre Leadership class the summer of 2006.

Hannah Fox is a professor of dance and theatre at Manhattanville College. She is artistic director of Big Apple Playback Theatre and the founder of Eugene Playback Theatre. Since 1996 Hannah has worked with young women devising original scripts around personal stories and is the editor of Akimbo: Scenes and Monologues of the Young Women's Theatre Collective.

Pamela Freeman is a psychotherapist in private practice in Philadelphia and a long time social activist in peace and social justice. She is currently working as an organizer and trainer for Spirit In Action, a national organization bringing spirituality into social change work. Pamela is co-director of Playback for Change in Philadelphia, and a graduate of the School of Playback Theatre. She is also on staff at Bryn Mawr College School of Social  Work and Social  Research.

Sarah Halley is a co-director of Playback for Change in Philadelphia and president of the International Playback Theatre Network. Sarah uses playback theatre and other experiential methods in organizational development work, including diversity change initiatives. She is also a lead facilitator for the Whites Confronting Racism series at Training for Change, a global training organization for activists, and an artist-in-residence with the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts.

Charles Schnarr is a Playback practitioner. Charles facilitates playback theatre in the greater Tucson area, both in academic settings with high school students, and with those recovering from addiction in treatment centers. Charles loves the spirit aspect of the desert and the power one may tap into from this sacred land.

Sarah Urech moved to the Hudson Valley in 1994 to study playback and stayed! A graduate of the School of Playback Theatre, Sarah has been performing and teaching with Hudson River Playback Theatre for 13 years. She is a board member of the International Playback Theatre Network and most recently taught playback in Japan and Latin America. Sarah is also a social worker and psychodramatist and directs a cancer support program at Benedictine Hospital in Kingston, NY.
 

Nina Wise, performance artist and writer, is known for her provocative and original performance works which have been produced in the United States, Europe and Asia.  Her pieces have garnered seven Bay Area Critics’ Circle Awards, and she has received, among other prestigious honors, three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. Her written pieces have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. She is the founder of Motion Theater and the author of A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life (Broadway Books). She teaches at Esalen Institute, and has been a visiting teacher at UC Santa Cruz, NY Open Center, SF State University, Stanford University as well as at international conferences and think tanks. She also teaches Buddhist practice at Spirit Rock meditation center.