The Sound of Words Without a Voice: Unlocking Artistic and Poetic Expression in Playback Theatre
September 19-20th, 2026, Valence, France
Facilitated by Elsa Mauricio Childs (Portugal) and Gerry Orkin (Australia). Sign up: http://place-au-jeu.fr/september. Feel free to reach out with any questions. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Contact asso@place-au-jeu.fr
In this weekend workshop we will explore the art of acting on the Playback stage.
Often, Playback actors simply replicate and amplify the actions, facts, thoughts and feelings described by the teller. Those techniques alone rarely deliver a transformative experience. In this workshop, you will learn to respond to stories in more creative, evocative, resonant and aesthetically satisfying ways. You’ll improve your listening skills and, as you play with familiar and new forms, learn to integrate language and movement to go beyond literality to make a more artful and meaningful connection with each story.
Whether you are an experienced practitioner or relatively new to Playback Theatre, this workshop invites you to expand your repertoire, challenge your assumptions, and embrace the potential of more poetic storytelling. Join us in this journey of exploration, discovery and transformation, where participants will feel free to explore their unique artistic voices.
On Artistry and the Social Dimension of Stories in Playback Theatre
October 3-4, 2026, Varna, Bulgaria
Contact Ivan Nikolaev Dimitrov iwanndimitrov@gmail.com
This workshop explores the intersection of personal and public meanings in stories told in Playback Theatre.
In Playback Theatre, we hear unique, personal stories, and sometimes those stories also have universal themes that resonate with our audiences. But in every audience there sits another kind of story - those that are shaped by the social identities and the social forces that have shaped the teller's lives.
Those narratives are not just personal but nor are they universal. They are, instead, the stories of only "some of us" (Freeman and Halley), that sit at the intersection of personal experience and social reality. They inhabit a unique space, often reflecting contexts of inequality and injustice (such as racism and sexism), systemic disadvantage and collective trauma. When those stories speak of suffering, that conceptual transformation more fairly distributes the burden of shame and responsibility away from the individual and toward the systems that produced the conditions of harm.
What ethical considerations must we grapple with if our purpose includes the recognition of stories of injustice and the amplification of excluded and silenced voices and communities? What kinds of awareness, and what kinds of artistic approaches help us to embody those stories? And what does a commitment to social awareness mean for our practice, our companies and the Playback Theatre community?
Solid as Rock and Flowing like Water: on the art of conducting in Playback Theatre
October 17-18, 2026, Berlin, Germany
Contact Yullia TerentevaUliya@gmail.com
Conducting a playback theatre performance can be a complicated task, but it can also be exhilarating! That's because the experience invites us to be fearless, flexible, thoughtful, spontaneous and even vulnerable, all at once - using skills that have presence and purpose in our lives more broadly.
At the heart of the conductor role is the art of group leadership. That includes the ability to recognise and meet the emergent needs of each moment during the performance, including the different needs of tellers, stories, performers and audience. With so much going on, how do we create the right atmosphere, build rapport, and hold a space that's both inclusive and accessible? When is it time to be like a rock, and when is it better to flow like water?
This workshop is for anyone who wants to understand the conductor's vital contribution to a performance's outcome - not just those already in the role, but also those who conduct in rehearsals now, or hope to develop their knowledge and conducting skills into the future.