College Residencies

college residencies

Playback Theatre is an important development in social change oriented theatre that is also an exciting, challenging and useful offering for students. [More about playback theatre]

Many institutions of higher learning are already assigning playback theatre books. [See list]

Playback theatre's flexibility allows for an unusual degree of creative programming, often involving a number of departments.

TRAINING MENU>> Below is a menu of 9 possibilities. Please review these choices and combinations before contacting the Centre to discuss a residency for your institution.

Workshops All training workshops involve the sophisticated balance of artistic instruction, group building, ritual theatre, and storytelling that is the hallmark of the playback theatre approach to improvisation.
1.	Basic Playback Theatre--2day: intro to enacting real stories in playback theatre and one pt short form
2.	Basic Playback Theatre--7day: intro to basic pt forms, with background on theory and practical experience	This workshop can be focused to give participants a good understanding of how playback theatre promotes dialogue and conflict resolution; it can also be focused to illustrate the teller’s experience as an act of critical consciousness and identity development—how the playback theatre process stimulates individual agency.
3.	Process & Product--5-7 days	For any student of educational and community theatre, this workshop will teach, through the vehicle of playback theatre, how to find an effective path through the often conflicting objectives of mood and program.
4.	Our stories, ourselves--5-7 days	This workshop focuses on devising material from student actors’ own life stories; it usually culminates in a performance.
Performances
5.	Town meeting performance focus: trained students perform for college community.	Playback theatre performances are an excellent way for members of a community to hear each other, as they share concerns and honor mutual experiences; can be focused on a particular issue of concern.
6.	Community performance focus: trained students organize community performance and perform	Students organize a performance as well as focus on the performance, choosing a specific group to play for, making contact, building trust, and communicating the potential value of the performance experience for the audience
Lectures
7.	Playback Theatre as a Learning Medium	Jonathan Fox explicates how playback theatre promotes learning.
8.	Playback Theatre in Africa--crossing the divide	Jonathan Fox talks about playback theatre in Burundi and some of the practical and ethical challenges in using theatre across cultural and economic boundaries.
9.	Emergency Playback Theatre--the New Orleans experience	Jonathan Fox discusses bringing theatre to regions experiencing natural and civil disaster.
10.	Anti-bullying theatre program in schools	Jo Salas discusses a highly successful playback theatre schools program that has reached 15,000 children.

Staffing: Staff possibilities include Jonathan Fox, founder of playback theatre, Jo Salas, co-founder of playback theatre, Core Faculty members of School of Playback Theatre, and a professional playback theatre acting team.

Q&A:
What is a “community performance”?
Student actors set up and perform playback theatre in the general community. Organizing the performance helps sharpen focus of faculty and students on community issues, including conflicts. Embodying stories of community tellers helps build student awareness and increase empathy between town and gown. Such performances can be good college public relations.

What is a "town meeting" performance?
Imagine a performance at lunch time with students, faculty, administrative staff, and even cleaning staff present. Playback theatre is a very effective modality for enabling different segments of the college community to appreciate each others’ perspectives as their experiences of campus life are embodied on the stage.

Why bring in experienced professional actors?
A trained performing team can model playback theatre at a standard that benefits from years of ensemble work. Additionally, the professional actors can join student actors on stage, making earlier public performances possible.

I’d like a two-day training followed by a performance—is this possible?
In two days students learn basic forms and some theory, but they are not ready to enact public stories, except with the support of trained actors in intimate settings.

What if the stories get too serious?
Tellers usually know what stories to tell in what settings, providing a natural safety mechanism. At the same time, the prospect of a group of empathic witnesses can stimulate a teller to tell a core story. The performing team needs to be ready for these stories.

How can I take advantage of playback theatre’s multidimensional appeal?
Often a playback theatre residency is sponsored by different departments, including theatre, education, social work, communication, and teacher training, as well as conflict resolution and peace institutes