Playback Theatre Talks

Tzveta Baliyska is an actress, conductor and Playback Theatre Trainer, founder and director of Playback Theatre “Here and Now” and '"Dramedy Playback Theatre". She is a member of the board of directors of the Center for Playback Theatre since 2021. Founder and director of the annual Bulgarian Playback Theatre Gatherings from 2014. Tzveta was also the director and leader of the team of the European Playback Theatre Gathering 2022 in Sofia.

In this episode of playback theatre talks, I am talking with Tzveta about her experience organizing a playback theatre conference in a time of instability.

Tzveta and I also talked about crises, conflicts and leadership and about establishing and supporting a local playback community. Tzveta also told me what it's like to teach playback to her daughter.

Nonviolent Communication is a set of communication tools that priorities the quality of our relationships over being right or wrong or over winning or losing.

In the current episode I am talking with Myriam Verzat, a playbacker and Nonviolent Communication trainer from Canada.  

Myriam and I will be talking about playback theatre and nonviolent communication, which we will refer to as NVC during the interview.

Please join us and learn about NVC and the connection of the method to playback theatre.

You can find more information about NVC here
You can find more information about Myriam here

The current episode of Playback Theatre Talks is a part of a new series dedicated to playback companies from around the world.

In this episode I am talking with the members of Yonder- Roman Kandibur (Ukraine), Andrey Utenkov (Ukraine), Igor Lubitov (Russia) and Marat Mairovich (Israel).
Yonder is a Russian speaking ensemble that is operating online and exploring topics like myths and archetypes using playback theatre. In the current episode of playback theatre talks we will talk about the effect of the political tension between Russia and Ukraine and the impact it has on the group. We will also talk about what it's like being a men's PT troupe. And we will hear about Yonder's upcoming performance "The Edge".

For more details about Yonder, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/TAMplayback/

Hani Al Rstum is a Syrian playbacker, psychotherapist and activist that is living in Belgium.

In this special episode Hani will share with me his experience as a refugee and the role that playback theatre played in his life while he was living in exile.

The first part of the episode is dedicated to Hani's story as a refugee in Syria.

In the second part of our talk Hani and me will talk about playback theatre in conflict zones and about what should we keep in mind when doing playback theatre with refugees.

In the current episode of Playback Theatre Talks I am talking again with Jori Linnamäki (Jori Pitkänen).

Jori is a playback conductor and actor from Finland and he is also the former IPTN president. Jori just recently started his new (important) career as a father to a little baby girl :)

Jori and I will define and describe some familiar playback theatre forms and we will also answer the following questions-

-What is the process of matching a form to a story?
-What are Narrative forms and non-Narrative Forms?
-What is the role of short and long forms in a performance?
-How can one invent a form or adapt a form to one's needs?
-Are there any wrong forms?
-What form should we use when hearing a traumatic story?
-What should we do when we're making a mistake while playing a form?

If you are looking for more information about playback forms, here are some books that contain descriptions of several Playback Theatre Forms:

A Playback Theatre Toolkit: through the lens of one company's experience and about the impactful playback group. Anne and Christopher Ellinger

Improvising Real Life: Personal Story in Playback Theatre. Jo Salas

Stage for Everyone- Teaching Playback Theatre. Einat Mashaal Nitzan (Will be published later-on this year).

In the current episode of Playback Theatre Talks I am very honored to have Jo Salas, the co-founder of Playback Theatre. 

After More than 40 years, Jo is still fascinated by the magic of playback theatre.

Jo was the artistic director of Hudson River Playback Theatre, which she founded in 1990 and she has written extensively about Playback Theatre.

Jo and me will talk about Jo's and Jonathan Fox's new book "Personal Stories in Public Spaces: Essays on Playback Theatre by Its Founders" and we will focus on trauma stories in playback (we start to talk about trauma after 29 minutes).

Jo and I will try to answer the following questions

-In which way trauma stories are different from other kinds of stories?

-What is the difference between different kinds of trauma Stories?

-How should we, as playbackers, work with Trauma stories?

-How can we attend to the audience or to ourselves when hearing a traumatic story?

We will also talk about gender in playback theatre and Jo's experience being co-founder of playback theatre with Jonathan Fox.

Thank you for Joining us.

Will Chalmus, also known as Will C. is an adjunct professor at Brandeis, that founded several playback theatre companies and served on the board for the Center for Playback.

Will C. and I will talk about politics, identity and race in playback theatre.

Will C. and I also tried to answer the following questions:

-Should we as playbackers be political?

-Can we use playback as a political tool?

-How can we deal with racism, sexism etc., in the stories that we play and in our communities?

-What should we, as a community, do in order to be more inclusive?

Thanks for joining us!

In 1975 in the Hudson Valley of New York, a young man was asking a group of strangers to play back each others' stories for the first time. This man presented a group of strangers what later will be known as "Playback Theatre".

In this Episode of Playback Theatre Talks I am very honored to talk with the creator and co-founder of Playback Theatre, Jonathan Fox.

Jonathan and I will talk about Jonathan's personal journey, from his childhood to his life today as the creator of the Listening Hour.
We will also talk about meaning in Playback Theatre and the fuzziness and indirectness that accompanies the playback experience.

Thank you for joining us!

In this special episode of Playback Theatre Talks I am joined with top playback leaders -  Aviva Apel-Rosentha (Israel ), Karina Bettina Gisler (Switzerland), Jori Linnamäki (Finland) and Michael Cheng (Singapore).

This is an open and honest talk about the struggles and the hardships that Aviva, Karin, Jori and Michael had to go through as leaders, as well as the solutions, the skills and the meaning they found in order to be able to lead their prospers groups and communities for many years.

Please join us as we conclude 2020 and discuss leadership in times of change.

As mentioned in the episode, here is a valuable quote one must keep in mind when practicing leadership- "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."  Reinhold Niebuhr

All  guests were on the first episodes of Playback Theatre Talks and you can listen to their individual interviews on the podcast:
Aviva is the founder of "PLAYLIFE" ensemble. She is a former President of the IPTN and she is teaching playback around the world.
Karina Bettina Gisler is a playback conductor and performer with 30 years of experience. She founded playback theatre Zurich and is also teaching playback all over the world.
Jori is the president of the IPTN and a playback conductor and actor in several groups.
Michael Cheng  is the chairman of the Centre for Playback Theatre. He is also the Artistic Director of Tapestry Playback Theatre.

You can find the full video recording of this talk  on YouTube-   https://youtu.be/-ZJ7bLUdf3o

In the current  episode I am talking with Sheila Donio about playing Characters in playback theatre.

Sheila is a playbacker from Brazil and the founder of "Cria Playback". She is also the former Chair of the Center for Playback Theatre.

Sheila and me will discuss:

-What should we keep in mind when we play characters in playback?

-How can we avoid stereotypes?

-How can we play social forces as characters?

-How can we balance the three circles of playback (art, ritual, social)?

Sheila and me will also talk about making playback accessible to everyone and about Sheila's journey to playback.

Please join us!

In the current episode  I am talking with Igor Lyubitov  about  Archetypes  in Playback Theatre.

Igor is a psychologist, a psychodramatist, a playback practitioner and trainer from Moscow. He is a cofounder of the Russian Central Playback Theatre School and a board member in the Center for Playback Theater.

Igor and I are talking about Archetypes and how they can contribute to our work as playbackers.

We are also talking about the development of the playback scene in Russia and about the surprising power of clichés.

Please join us for another playback theater talk!

Unlike musicians in other types of musical performances, the playback musician must have the capacity to attune to the teller and to fellow company members while structuring and shaping the playback ritual.

In the current episode of Playback Theatre Talks I had the pleasure of talking with the talented Ernie Gruner.

Ernie has been a playback theatre musician in Melbourne Playback Theatre Company since 1999.  In the last 30 years Ernie worked with a wide variety of musicians, bands and communities, and is regarded as Australia’s leading klezmer violinist.

Ernie and I will discuss the following questions-

What is the musician role in playback theatre?

How can a musician support a scene?

What skills and training should a PT musician have?

What can a playback group do if they don't have a musician but they still like to have music?

What are the best instruments for a playback performance?

How can we combine music when doing PT online?

Please join us for another playback theatre talk!

Debe Edden is the vice chair of the center for playback theatre, she founded her PT company, The Heartsparkle Players, in 1991 and she is working extensively with children and people with developmental disabilities.

In the current episode Debe and me will focus on conducting skills and especially on how to conduct the interview with the teller.

We will talk about-

-What is a good way to invite a teller to share a story?

-How to shape and frame the story during the interview?

-How should we open or close the interview?

-What can we do if we don't understand the story or if we are facing other challenges during the interview?

-What can we do as conductors if the teller doesn't seems pleased with the enactment?

-How can the conductor influence the atmosphere in the performance?

Please join Debe and me for another playback theatre talk!

Larry Ng, is an actor, director, movement coach and a drama therapist that is practicing playback theatre in Hong Kong in the last decade. 

In the current episode, Larry and I will talk about physical theater and playback theatre. 

We will answer the following questions-

What is Physical Theater?

How can we incorporate more physicality in our playback acting?

Which exercises can help us in implementing physicality in our playback acting? 

How can we balance between structure and flow? 

How can it be possible to do playback when freedom of speech is restricted?

Please join us!

In the current episode I will talk about Playback Acting with the one and only, Hannah Fox!

Hannah is a professor of dance and theatre, she is the director of the New York School of Playback Theatre and the founder of Big Apple Playback Theatre. She is also the daughter of the founders of Playback Theatre, Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas.

Hannah will talk about-

-What was it like for her to grow up in the Fox-Salas household?

-What is unique about playback theatre acting?

-What does the term "Citizen Actor" mean?

-What are the main values of playback acting?

-What should we keep in mind when we are doing playback online?

-What playback theatre and yoga have in common?

Please join us!

Ronen Kowalsky is a clinical psychologist, practicing and teaching playback theatre in Israel for almost 30 years.

Ronen is also one of the founders of the Israeli Institute for Psychotherapeutic Playback Theatre. 

Ronen and me will be talking about therapeutic elements in playback theater and about the method that Ronen developed with Nir raz named- Psychotherapeutic Playback Theatre.

We will also discuss-

-The differences between performative playback work and non performative playback work.

-Unconscious communication in the playback group.

-The psychological impact of structured playback forms and unstructured playback forms.

-What is unique in the method- Psychotherapeutic Playback Theatre.

To read more about the method, please visit the website- https://www.playback-therapy.co.il/home

Please join us for another interesting and insightful talk!

Anne and Christopher Ellinger are the founders of  True Story Theater and Playback North America.  They have published several books about Playback, the most familiar one is  A Playback Theatre Toolkit: through the lens of one company's experience.

In this episode we will discuss -

-Types of groups.

-How to evaluate a team's morale?

-How to prevent conductor's burn out.

-Leading a group together as life partners and spouses.

-How the toolkit can help you create an impactful group.

If you want to learn more about Anne and Christopher's activities please visit:  https://playbacknorthamerica.com/ and https://truestorytheater.com/

Please join us!

Anastasia Vorobyeva is a playbacker from Moscow who specializes in combining playback and movement.

In our talk we will answer the following questions-

-How can we translate certain playback theatre forms to be based on movement?

-What types of movement can serve us when we're practicing playback?

-How can we avoid repetition and break patterns?

-What is required in order for us to fulfill our potential as dancing playbackers?

We will also talk about Anastasia's personal journey to playback, her social activism and the different roles that she's playing in Vozdukh Center and in the International Playback Theatre Network.

Please join us!

Can playback theatre be used for social change?

In this episode, Ben Rivers is sharing some of his experiences as a social activist using playback to prompt social change.

Ben and me  discussed some of the following questions-

-Can playback be used as an effective tool to promote social change?

-What are the advantages of playback theater on other methods like theatre of the oppressed?

-Are we as playbackers exposed to secondary trauma when working with complex stories?

-How can we use playback theatre to fight climate change?

Dr. Ben Rivers is a psychotherapist and educator.  He has practiced and taught in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, working extensively with communities impacted by violence, trauma and adversity. He is Executive Director of Dawar Kitchen and Dawar for Arts and Development (Cairo, Egypt). He holds  a PhD in Peace Studies

Michael Cheng is a playbacker from Singapore, he is the chairman of the Centre for Playback Theatre. He is the Artistic Director of Tapestry Playback Theatre and one of the founders of the playback community in Singapore. Michael is also the founder and admin of the biggest playback group on Facebook (Playback Theater Around the World).

Here are some of the questions Michael and me will be discussing:

How can we build a group or a community as playbackers?

What is the impact of being a member in several groups at the same time?

What is the role that Facebook is playing in building a community?

Does social media give a true representation of the playback community?

How does online playback affect the community of playbackers these days?

Please Join us for another playback theatre talk!

How does playing for children is different than playing for adults? What should we keep in mind when working with a younger audience?  
I had the pleasure to talk with Chetnaa Mehrotra about playback for children and got to learn SO much about it. This episode is fascinating even if you are not performing or teaching children (But I must warn you that you might want to start doing that after listening).

Chetnaa is the founder of Rangbhumi, an Applied Theatre organisation based in Mumbai. She is training children in Playback Theatre in schools and communities and preforming mainly to children with her playback group  Ghumakkad.

Please join us for another playback theater talk!

"A person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new" Albert Einstein once said.

In this week's episode I am hosting the International Playback Theatre Network (IPTN) president, Jori Pitkänen, in a compelling dialogue about the concept of mistakes in playback.

What is consider to be a mistake in playback? How can we work with a mistake we made? What mistakes can we do when working with traumatic stories? Can we "fix" mistakes?

Me and Jori will be talking about that and also about romance in playback (yes, again...), duo playback, taboos in playback and Jori's journey to playback.

Apart from his role at the IPTN, Jori is a talented playback conductor and actor, PHD student and a game designer. He is kind, wise and sensitive. I highly recommend you to get to know him through this playback talk.

Karina Bettina Gisler is a playback conductor and performer with 30 years of experience. She is also teaching playback all over the world.

Karina and I will talk about her personal journey as a playbacker which includes humor, romance and fighting for equality.

We will discuss Narrative Reticulation (starting at 0:25) as a tool that allows us to evaluate and understand better playback performances.

Aviva is the founder of "PLAYLIFE" ensemble. She is a former President of the IPTN, a teacher in the international leadership training and a legendary playbacker.

What is the role of innovation in playback and where does Aviva is placing herself on the spectrum between classical playback and innovative playback?

Please join our playback theater talk to find out!

This podcast is for playbackers, playback fans, art therapists and performers.

The purpose of the podcast is to share knowledge, to learn and to empower and support the playback theater community.

I will be hosting playbackers from all around the world to talk about different aspects of playback theatre and about their journeys as playbackers.