Students in my workshops and readers of my article published recently on Jo Salas’ site (and in this blog) have asked me about tools they can use to help identify the social dimensions of stories, either in the moment of telling or retrospectively, when reviewing performances. Here are some questions we can ask ourselves while listening to stories that we suspect may have social dimensions.

Since the 1990s many Playback Theatre companies have collaborated on projects designed to make space for the stories of people who have been oppressed. Those projects have worked with people from many marginalised communities, e.g. refugees, queer and disabled people, and in support of activists concerned about social and environmental issues. Even when a performance is not intentionally focussed on social justice issues, Playback Theatre’s activist potential is always present. If a story told in a mainstream performance touches on injustice or social harm, conductors and actors can choose to bring those dimensions to life on the stage, in appropriate, proportionate and safe ways.

Playback theatre’s defining gesture, the public enactment of a personal story, has political weight even in the context of trauma. To place a story into collective view is to declare that this experience deserves attention, legitimacy, recognition and response.

My playback work has often focussed on the role of social identity and social forces in shaping people’s lives. When stories are told in performances on themes of social justice, or in communities where social justice struggles are part of the fabric of everyday life, the relevance of those factors is obvious. However, in other settings, I have noticed that the social contexts of stories often go unrecognised and unacknowledged.