A Taste of Playback Theatre
Founded in 2002, Tapestry Playback Theatre Ltd is a community theatre company in Singapore that practises a kind of improvisational theatre where audience or group members tell stories from their lives and watch them enacted on the spot. Their rich experience and expertise is evident when competent playbackers warm up audiences quickly with a few interactive exercises.
The theme for Tapestry Playback Theatre’s performance is “You never knew I was.” A theme designed to allow the younger generation to find out how their parents and grandparents grew up. Fortunately, there is no lack of story-sharers as many enthusiastic silver-haired folks and families are in attendance.
Interestingly the young performers are always able to capture the essence of each story despite it being shared by someone much older. The words and emotions resonate, perhaps a testament of how the joys and pains of growing up are shared by everyone.
The facilitator and playbackers do a good job of creating an atmosphere where audiences feel safe and secure. As the session progresses, more intimate stories are shared. This is quite an achievement considering how deeply personal some stories are and the fact that the group are practically strangers until an hour ago.
No doubt playback theatre is a valuable tool for surfacing stories and creating ties. Connections amongst those in the audience are built and strengthened. However, it remains to be seen if those connections are fleeting, existing only within the confines of the theatre. Or if it is able to find root outside the play and develop into a dialogue where transformative change can happen.