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. In 2008 he was awarded an honary doctorate from the University of Kassel in Germany for artistic and scholarly achievement in theatre.

Jo Salas is a founding member of the original Playback Theatre company, and founder-director of Hudson River Playback Theatre, now in its 19th 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 and Do My Story, Sing My Song: Music therapy and Playback Theatre with troubled children. Her two CDs include Listen and Remember, a collection of songs for groups.

Will Chalmus graduated from Brandeis University with honors in 2007. He is the founder and coach of the Brandeis Playback Theater Society.

Hannah Fox is a professor of Dance and Theatre at Manhattanville College. She is the founder and artistic director of Big Apple Playback Theatre. Since 1996 Hannah has worked with young women devising original scripts around personal stories. She is the author of the “Playback Theatre: Inciting Dialogue and Building Community Through Personal Story,” published in a recent issue of The Drama Review.

Sarah Halley is a co-director of Playback for Change in Philadelphia and past 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.

Randy Mulder is a graduate of New York University master’s program in drama therapy. He is the former clinical director of Rehabilitation Through the Arts, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing theatre based programs to men and women incarcerated in prisons throughout New York State. Since 2002, Randy has been the artistic director of Village Playback Theatre in New York City. Randy serves on the board of directors for the National Association for Drama Therapy.

Tjitske Muller, founder of Theater Draad (Theatre Thread), has been working professionally in playback since 2001. Her company has around 100 performances a year. Her motto is “effort will be honored.” She is educated as a drama therapist.

Joke Rood, co-founder of Wordt Vervolgd (“To Be Continued”) works for playback part-time. Wordt Vervolgd has around 40 performances a year. Joke is also a manager of an arts education centre and familiar with marketing. Her motto is “PT is worthy of serious business.” She has trained as a drama teacher.