Playback Centre

My Recent Trip to Bangladesh

Heidi R — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:36:10 +0000

~ By Jen Kristel

My recent trip to Bangladesh was very full and complex – Bangladesh itself is complex- socially, economically and politically. This trip however, had a little more complexity to it, than in my previous visits, in that it included a trip to the small village of Mirasarai to do anti bullying work using art, and Playback (using the No More Bullying model designed by Hudson River Playback Theatre Company) and to support continued grief and trauma work with a community that had experienced a horrendous disaster of losing 45 boys after a futball game last year. A team of 15 multi-skilled people met for intensive team-building and training, then traveled together to Mirasarai for 3 days of field work. Setting the stage for this kind of work was important. This project unfolded over the last 6 months and included extensive skypes and 2 assessment trips by a small group prior to my getting to Bangladesh. We worked to support people on a one to one, family, schools and community level around issues of grief and community wide bullying. Stories from parents included one of a man who worked with the team over the 3 days and shared that he felt a deep weight was removed with the help of our team, and a woman emotionally reconnected with her daughter for the first time since the accident. Children connected deeply on the ways to prevent bullying.

A lot of work and training goes into this kind of project. More work needs to be done, both team building and in Mirasarai. A deep understanding of Playback Theatre for one, counseling skills and of cultural/ethnic and religious differences are others. Our team was experienced in multiple ways and our toolbox for this project included basic, grounded counseling skills, art therapy, story telling and Playback Theatre. It truly was an eye opening and heart opening experience for all of us. For a more extensive look at what we did please go to www.jenniekristel.wordpress.com

Taking a Workshop Exploring Race

Heidi R — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:52:16 +0000

Why Should Playback Practitioners Take a Workshop Exploring Race?

No matter where you live, your life has and is altered by your racial identity and the racial dynamics in your country. Your level of awareness of the impact of race on you and others varies from person to person, depending on context, life experience, and where you are in your own development.

If you practice playback theatre and you would like your performances and workshops to be as inclusive as possible, then this workshop is for you. Race is such a huge issue, even though it may look different in different countries and regions, and it impacts all of us in different ways.

This is a rare opportunity for a cross race team to come together to work on issues of whiteness and internalized racism – and to be able to bring the work back to your companies.

If you can, we invite you to come with someone from your playback company who is racially different from you, so that one of you can participate in the people of color group and one of you can participate in the white group. The first day we will be working in separate affinity groups and coming together on the second day. So rarely do we have this kind opportunity for cross race work, especially in our playback community using our playback theatre tools to open up a deeper dialogue.

It’s a great way to practice working with the issue race so when you go back home you can support your companies in doing some of this work, so Playback Theatre can be used more broadly and with greater confidence in mixed race groups. Race work is hard and the only way to gain greater ease and skills is through practice in a supportive environment.

We welcome you and if you have any questions, please contact Pamela or Sarah – we’re happy to talk with you about the workshop.

To register for Healing the Wounds of Racism: Using Playback Theatre as a Tool for Social Justice please visit here.

The Centre is Heading to Singapore

Heidi R — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:30:54 +0000

In order to support the rapidly growing playback community in the Asian region, the Centre for Playback Theatre is coming to Asia with its first comprehensive residential training program with international trainers.

During this two week period there will be:
• Core Training in PT for beginners Sept. 29th – Oct. 2, 2012
• Social Awareness Sept. 29th – Oct. 2, 2012
• Active Conducting Oct. 4 – 7, 2012
• The Heart & Art of PT Oct. 4 – 7, 2012
• Models of PT in Schools Oct. 9 – 11, 2012
• Multicultural Multilingual PT Oct 9 – 11, 2012

This will take place at NACLI – the National Community Leadership Institute, near Kent Ridge Park, in Singapore. Fees will include accommodation in shared rooms and all meals during the period of the training. We encourage you to stay for more than one course, and are offering a 10% discount if booking two or more courses in a row. If you register before June 1st there is an additional 5% early bird discount.

More information for each course can be found on the individual course pages linked from above or you can download all the information here.

The Heart & the Art of the Story – Singapore

Heidi R — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 19:34:30 +0000

This workshop will focus on acting and performing skills; dramatic awareness; and the roles, forms and rituals in Playback Theatre. Our aim will be to explore and practice the Playback Theatre process. We will give special attention to artistry so that our performances will be a good, deep, meaningful, and satisfying experience for everyone – without losing any of our key values of spontaneity, fun and friendship.

Cost:
US$595; S$750; HK$4615
Fees include 4 nights and 4 days accommodation and all meals from dinner on Wednesday the 3rd to lunch on Sunday the 7th of October.

Prerequisite: Core Training or equivalent

Teacher:

Aviva Apel-Rosenthal

Aviva is the artistic director of Playlife in Tel Aviv, Israel, since 1991. She has a BA in Theatre Studies, an MA in Gender and Arts Studies, and Diploma in Arts therapy. She has just retired from the presidency of IPTN – the International Playback Theatre Network (2007-11). A graduate of the School of Playback Theatre in 2002, she is a director of the Israeli School of PT and a full time Playback Theatre practitioner teaching internationally, and delivering PT workshops and performances for artistic, therapeutic or business- oriented organizations.

Another Magical Winter Session

Heidi R — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:09:53 +0000

Often, in a playback theatre course, the group process that happens is something special and unique. It’s wonderful (literally full of wonder) how a group can come together at the beginning of a course, mostly strangers to each other, often tentative, somewhat nervous if not curious, and by the end be incredibly bonded, like a family, with connections that sometimes run deeper than many family bonds. These connections are a function of the process of sharing and enacting stories. This is the power of Playback Theatre.

At this Winter Session’s Core Training, students came from from Germany, Brazil, and both coasts and the Midwest of the US. They came with many different backgrounds and a rich diversity of interests and reasons for coming. Some were completely new to Playback. For some it was a homecoming, reconnecting to Playback after many years. The peaceful and nourishing setting of Falling Waters contributed to the learning, the process, the connections. This fine group is now connected to the large global family of Playback Theatre.

~Tim Van Ness, Core Training Teacher Winter 2012

From Participants:
About Falling Waters:
I can’t imagine a better location/place for this training. I’ll surely look to ‘come back’. The hospitality of the sisters, the ‘homeiness’, and the natural beauty – a homerun!

About the experience:
My weekend at the core training has changed me in a way that I cannot express. I feel that sparks that had been dormant for a long time were suddenly burning with a magnificent fury. It felt like everything that occurred before that weekend was part of a chapter of my story that was now closed and that I was on to begin writing the next one.
Besides having the experience of learning and practicing playback, my personal journey during our time at Falling Waters was epic. Without a doubt, I have experienced a transformation. It was just what I needed. I will always consider it to be one of the most wonderful times of my life, from start to finish. Having all of you there was so integral to my process, and I am so grateful to have each and every one of you in my life now. No matter where our paths lead us we will always have the bonds created during this magical time. A time that seemed somehow suspended in time and space, removed from every other part of the world.

Multicultural Multilingual Playback Theatre – Singapore

Heidi R — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:50:49 +0000

When our common language is playback theatre, let’s practice how we can build bridges of understanding across cultures and languages. This task is becoming increasingly important in our diverse communities and global villages. Those of us who speak more than one language also have a special responsibility and opportunity. Together we will explore ways in which playback in multilingual contexts can be entertaining and effective. And together we can explore the challenges of our multicultural differences.

Cost:
US$395; S$495; HK$3060
Fees include 3 nights and 3 days accommodation and all meals from dinner on Monday the 8th to lunch on Thursday the 11th of October.

Prerequisite: Core Training or equivalent

Teacher:
Veronica Needa

Veronica has been a playback practitioner since 1991. A Hong Kong-born Eurasian, she now makes her home in London and travels internationally sharing her passion and experience in Playback Theatre. She graduated from the School of Playback Theatre in 1995 and is past President of the International Playback Theatre Network (1997-2003). She is artistic director of True Heart Theatre, member of London Playback Theatre, coordinator of the School of Playback Theatre (UK), and sits on the Board of the Centre for Playback Theatre.

Models of PT in Schools – Singapore

Heidi R — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:13:25 +0000

Playback Theatre has wide applications in society, and particularly in the sphere of education. This workshop is for those of us who are interested in using Playback Theatre in schools. Case studies will be shared for different age-ranges of students. How should we deal with special issues such as violence and bullying? We will hear about the different educational contexts and needs presented by the participants, and will learn about appropriate design, delivery and follow-up of projects appropriate to our own situation and interests.

Cost:
US$395; S$495; HK$3060
Fees include 3 nights and 3 days accommodation and all meals from dinner on Monday the 8th to lunch on Thursday the 11th of October.

Prerequisite: Core Training or equivalent

Teacher:
Yu-Chen Kao

Yu-Chen Kao has been facilitating community theatre and drama education for many years. She has been a playback theatre practitioner since 2000, graduating from the School of Playback Theatre in 2006, and is currently President of Taiwan Playback Theatre Association. She has two Playback Theatre companies in Taiwan, and has trained more than five groups of ‘mothers’ and two groups of ‘teachers’ who perform for schools and the community in their area. She also teaches Playback Theatre and other forms of applied theatre at University-level in Taiwan. For more information please visit her blog here.

Active Conducting – Singapore

Heidi R — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:03:11 +0000

How can we be really good conductors of Playback Theatre? It’s such an important role and an on-going process of learning for us all!

How can we create good relationships with diverse tellers and audiences? How could we move the interview process forward and also conclude it gracefully? How do we direct actors in the most appropriate way? And also add insight and resonance! Do we know how to direct the group process? Do we have flexibility as a leader? How do we maintain our authentic selves within the role of conducting? This training will help us learn these skills so that we can become better conductors and group leaders, to deliver more effective and powerful Playback Theatre in the world.

Prerequisite: Core Training or equivalent

Cost:
US$595; S$750; HK$4615
Fees include 4 nights and 4 days accommodation and all meals from dinner on Wednesday the 3rd to lunch on Sunday the 7th of October.

Teacher:
Kayo Munakata

Kayo Munakata graduated from the School of Playback Theatre in 1995. She is the founder of Playback AZ – which is the most prominent playback theatre company in Japan producing over 30 performances a year. Kayo has brought her skills to many countries such as the USA, Australia, Germany, the UK, Singapore, Taiwan and China. In 1998 she founded the School of Playback Theatre in Japan, which now has 49 graduates at Leadership level.

Social Awareness in Playback Theatre – Singapore

Heidi R — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:36:52 +0000

Increasing migration and so many varieties of religious and cultural practices within many of our Asian countries, require us to open our eyes to our own identities and responses to difference in others. This workshop is for playback practitioners who want to strengthen our ability to use playback for social change. We will expand our awareness of social categorization, and how privilege operates in society. We will explore the social dimension in the stories that we share, and bring this understanding into our performance work. We will examine issues of diversity in our playback companies, and look at how we can make stronger connections to our audiences, enabling deeper sharing and the potential for peace-making in the world. This course is for experienced playbackers only.

Cost:
US$595; S$750; HK$4615
Fees include 4 nights and 4 days accommodation and all meals from dinner on Friday the 28th of September to lunch on Tuesday the 2nd of October.

Prerequisite: Core Training or equivalent

Teacher:
Pamela Freeman

Pamela is a psychotherapist in Philadelphia and a long time social activist in peace and social justice. She is co-founder of Playback for Change in Philadelphia, a graduate of the School of Playback Theatre, and a Board member of the Centre for Playback Theatre.

Core Training in Playback Theatre – Singapore

Heidi R — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:27:36 +0000

Getting a strong start in playback theatre means taking enough time to immerse yourself in the rich atmosphere and dynamics of the playback experience. In this four-day intensive, you’ll learn all the basics, with lots of opportunities to practice. Playback forms will be taught—scenes, fluid sculptures, pairs, tableau stories, and more. Each student will have a chance to try the roles of conductor and musician as well as actor. And of course, everyone will tell and enact stories together, in the spirit of fun and fellowship. This course is designed for beginners, and is also suitable for playbackers who would like to review basic principles and practice.

Prerequisite: None

Cost:
US$545; S$680; HK$4220
Fees include 4 nights and 4 days accommodation and all meals from dinner on Friday 28th September to lunch on Tuesday 2nd October.

Teachers:

Eddie Yu

Eddie Yu is founder and co-Artistic Director of Encounter Playback Theatre, Hong Kong. Trained in social work and dramatherapy, he is a graduate of the Centre for Playback Theatre (2007), and also board member & membership secretary (Asia) of IPTN – the International Playback Theatre Network. He has worked in educational settings, and the commercial sector, offering Playback in various contexts such as festive gatherings, school events, conferences and symposiums, staff training, wedding and birthday parties.

Veronica Needa