Rehearsal More than Just "Dress"

We've just five days to go before our debut public performance of Healing York Playback, and i dare say, after last night, it seems clear that we're ready.

The very real stories and seamless playing reminded me that even in "rehearsal", we're serving people in their real stories.

The power and seriousness of the stories and playing surprised everyone, including us. And for those of you who were there, it showcased our work and the community's diverse stories for a curious and captive media. Below is a link to the front page story on the York Dispatch about Healing York Playback.

I was surprised to see people hesitant to talk about the opening mundane questions i asked, but eager to talk about the serious questions. After a bumbling start to the conducting, I asked about the recent recognition of Martin Luther King's assassination forty years ago this week, and woom, out the stories came, one after another, packed with emotion and nuance. In hindsight, i see that the current-ness of that question and issue gave the force that propelled the stories. It will be hard to provoke similarly powerful stories in a large performance without a big, common, current issue of concern. The stories, like the theatre, depend on the moment.

Daina Klimanis covered the performance as well as i've ever seen anyone describe Playback Theatre in words. Here's the link to her article, including an attached photo gallery from one of the fluid sculptures.

http://www.inyork.com/local/ci_8839099