What does one learn while practicing Playback Theatre?  Healing, joy, insight and stirring are all words that people use to describe their experience of a Playback Theatre workshop.  In fact, naming the "skills" and the "results" that come from this art is itself an art.  Archetypes, in the Jungian tradition of psychology, provide one compelling and dynamic matrix in which to understand the gifts of applied improvisational theatre.

In the form of Playback Theatre, players ritually enact stories told at that moment.  We take on different roles to uncover the "essence" of each story.  One player who has a strong direction on stage steps into her "Warrior" while another plays the "Joker" with his injections of lightness and humor.  Suddenly, as the scene reaches an ending, another player stands and begins to sing a phrase from a song that resonates with the story's core meaning.  As if by alchemy, the players have turned a story into gold - a relic that can be seen with new light.  The Magician has accessed her magic. 

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Theatre & Performance