6038 Wissahickon Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19144
A member of the International Playback Theatre Network
What is Playback Theatre?
"Playback Theatre is spontaneous - it is theatre created through a unique collaboration between performers and audience. Someone tells a story or moment from their life, chooses actors to play the different roles, then watches as their story is immediately given artistic shape and coherence...Playback Theatre honors people's stories and connects them to each other, creating a deeper sense of community." -from the International Playback Theatre Network (IPTN)
The Vision of Playback Theatre (from the IPTN)
"We in Playback Theatre embrace the unfolding of life and the inherent spontaneity in individuals and communities. We recognize the universal longing for affirmation and connection with others. The spontaneous enactment of personal experience in Playback Theatre builds connection between people by honoring the dignity, drama, and universality of their stories."
Playback for Change, Philadelphia
Our Vision
We in Playback for Change recognize that although all stories are meaningful and important, some individuals and communities are heard more than others. To address that, our vision is to create a multiracial, multicultural, and intergenerational company of performers who will use their unique skills as artists and activists to create exciting, compelling performances and community events that carry the power to transform, making the teller's chair truly accessible to all tellers.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide performances and workshops for communities, schools, non-profits and organizations, using Playback Theatre to help individuals and groups gain insight, understanding, and skills to create more just and inclusive communities.
We acknowledge that we all have many social identities, that we are a composite of many cultural and social influences, and that our personal stories are also a reflection of these social influences. And depending on who is in power in any given situation, these identities bring with them certain privileges and oppressions. We see Playback Theatre as a compelling way for people who are rarely if ever heard by mainstream U.S. culture to tell their stories and be witnessed and heard by everyone.
And not only do individuals have stories to tell, but whole communities and groups have "collective" stories to tell, stories that are essential for all of us to hear and honor if we truly want to know each other and live peacefully and justly together. We can't move forward as a society until we heal the past, which includes hearing the stories which have been selectively omitted or altered in the history books. We are coming to think of this healing process as "the reconstruction of collective memory."
Most of the stories of what really happened, the stories that have survived despite their omission from mainstream historical records, have been passed down through the oral tradition from generation to generation. Playback Theatre is rooted in the oral tradition, and weaves in music and movement, two forms of expression that are very much integrated into the lives of indigenous peoples from around the world. We at Playback for Change are concerned that as the older generations die off, these essential histories will be lost, as younger people are not picking up the oral traditions.
We call to mind the Truth and Reconciliation Process that South Africa undertook when dismantling Apartheid, and the healing power that came from telling and witnessing the truth of the atrocities that happened in that country during it's racist past. How for example, might the U.S. be different if we, as a nation, could have stopped for such a process, in the 1860's? And not only have the horrific stories of our collective past been watered down, but so have the stories of resistance and rebellion, the stories that help us to remain hopeful and empowered to make change. We know, for example, about Harriet Tubman and her part in resisting slavery, but can we name any of the white people who also struggled against slavery, and do we know what the consequences were for them if they were caught? Our belief is that our collective dream of "liberty and justice for all" cannot be realized until we, as a nation, confront and heal our past, and that Playback Theatre has an integral part to play in that process.
One of the things that Playback's founder Jonathan Fox says in his book "Acts of Service" is that Playback companies don't rehearse -- they are in a process in which the members are continually in a dialogue with each other. We see this process of opening up to and hearing each other as the seed and foundation of realizing our great dream. Our intention therefore, is to create a multicultural, multiracial, intergenerational company of actors who have the desire to work together on issues that we, as individuals, family members, citizens of the US, and the world have inherited. That through this process, we will begin to make a change in history, creating a better world for all beings.
We also believe that as we work through these issues with each other in the company - that as we grow in our skill and desire to "sit in the fire" with each other - that we will be developing important tools that can be used with individuals and groups in conflict. Our experience has been that people who are in conflict can find humanity and understanding in the enactment of a story, even when they cannot hear the story directly from the teller, and that it takes a great deal of courage and trust as actors to take on and play back such stories.
These issues manifest in our stories, in our life experiences, and in our relationships with one another. How, for example is power taken, given, and shared in our company, and in our relationships? What stories do we understand, and what stories are more difficult to understand? Why? What roles do we easily play and what roles are more difficult to take with authenticity? To what extent does our cultural lens and personal rank affect our artistic work and personal relationships? How can we use our unique skills as artists and visionaries to create exciting, compelling performances and community events that carry the power to transform?
These are some of the questions we will be asking and dialoguing about in Playback for Change. The success to which we can do this with each other will directly affect our ability to genuinely playback the disavowed, hidden, and untold stories of our audience members, the stories we ALL need to hold, with love and acceptance, in order to heal and move forward.
For more information about Playback Theatre around the world, www.playbacknet.org
For more information about Playback for Change contact
Pamela Freeman Sarah Halley
(215)844-7566 (215)842-1492
PFree12334@aol.com pbphil@erols.com
This new company will be a non-profit organization. We will put together an Advisory Board which will be representative of the members and the communities we would like to serve with our work. The Advisory Board will be there to support us, offer their expertise and eldership as we develop the work, fund raise, organize community events, act as a liaison with communities, and help with the leadership of the company.
**Multiracial, multicultural, and intergenerational "core" troupe** (Other troupes, formed for specific communities and projects, like Philadelphia Queer Playback could also be under the umbrella of this non-profit).
The following criteria are for the "core" troupe:
Initial Training: Members who are new to Playback Theatre will need to go through a core training to learn the basic forms of PT. This will happen over a weekend, to be scheduled in late winter / early spring 2005.
Weekly rehearsals, which focus on artistic training, relationship building, ensemble building, and group process. (Balancing art, social interaction, and ritual aspects of Playback along with social change components). Together we will come up with an acceptable # of absences each season.
Periodic longer meetings outside of rehearsal time, to do more in depth work educating ourselves on issues, and to clear / process if needed. (Estimated 2 - one day sessions a year).
Kick off session and closing session each season, which would be mandatory (barring emergencies - like everything else).
Collective process: we do work together. This includes doing intentional work around race, class, gender, homophobia, ageism, rank and privilege, etc. and deciding together what to focus on. This work is seen as an integral part of building trust with each other AND building our listening skills with increasingly diverse audiences. Collective process also means that we share the work of making things happen (tasks, etc.).
As a troupe, we commit to addressing conflict in the group, and to developing the skills require to do that well. This means refraining from processing in small, informal groups and dyads outside of the company, except for emotional processing / healing and clearing issues between 2 members that can adequately be cleared by them outside of meeting. This is because if things are spoken of outside the group (especially in the form of "gripes"), they may not make it back to the group and we all miss out on the opportunity to learn and grow from the interaction. If one member has an issue with another member, we all agree to encourage that person to talk to the other person directly and we commit to supporting that process.
Troupe members will also commit to having some sort of emotional processing support outside of the troupe (such as therapy, 12-step group, support group, spiritual counseling, Re-evaluation Counseling, or some other method that works for you).
We each agree to educate ourselves on the Playback form and skills that directly relate to it. This might include: Playback classes, courses at the School of Playback Theatre, theatre improv classes, reading Interplay (the IPTN journal, available online at www.playbacknet.org). Not everyone will be required to go through the entire program at the school, but each member will make a commitment to doing 1 training at the school or with an international Playback leader (learning from a Playback elder, and getting exposure to the wider, international community).
NOTE:
Individuals will be expected to pay for some of their training,
and as a company, we will work together to make sure that everyone
can afford to get the training they need (fund raising, scholarships,
work exchange, annual campaign, etc.). This may mean fundraising
to bring an international PT leader to us, here in Philadelphia.
Additional common tools and language:
Together as a company, we will have a longer diversity session sometime in the first year, to build skills and a common language / framework for understanding the dynamics of diversity, as they relate to our group and the work we are doing.
Once a year we will do a "diversity tune up", to assess how we are doing and see how we can deepen our learning and understanding (as one of our longer meetings).
We will meet to rehearse in affinity groups, by race and by gender, as needed (at least once each year)
Each member will commit to some minimum # of hours of service to the company a month, to help things run. This might include: leading warm ups at rehearsals, hanging flyers, updating the mailing list, designing postcards, making outreach calls, handling PR, etc.
THANK YOU for your interest in Playback for Change.
| Pamela Freeman | Sarah Halley |
| (215)844-7566 | (215)842-1492 |
| PFree12334@aol.com | pbphil@erols.com |
PHILADELPHIA QUEER PLAYBACK
PHILADELPHIA QUEER PLAYBACK has ended.
PLAYBACK FOR CHANGE will embrace all social change topics at performances.
Our lives have been incredibly enriched as you entrusted us with your life stories. What an honor. Thank you for all your support.
Love,
The Philadelphia Queer Playback Troupe