Seeking the Magician - Self-Discovery through Playback Theatre

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. 

On September 10-12, I will be leading a skill-building retreat to tap that Magician in you, to practice its "magic" and to prepare for applying those same skills to life beyond the retreat.  It's a personal journey for each participant. - reflecting on the various roles one tends to play - and neglect to play in daily life.  And it's a collective journey since we can only take roles - for real or in practice - in the context of a group and a story.

Playback Theatre is a group process of listening, telling and playing stories.  The skills of storytelling, of deep listening and deep play are often lost and undervalued in a digitally-paced, results-oriented world.  But attention to just these human processes - and honing the lightening-fast skills of improvision - enables us to actually engage in our modern world competently.

"Where is your magician?"  How can you find, recognize, talk to and be-friend the transforming power within you?

Playback Theatre is a path - using all our senses and skills - through which we can collectively tap into our Magician.  I am looking forward to this exploration of modern-day alchemy..  See also:  http://jubileearts.net/events.

Chris Fitz, River Crossing Playback Theatre

Theatre & Performance