Playback Theatre: Exploring our Common Humanity

with Mallika Rao

The First Sunday of the month, from 6:30 to 8:00 pm April 6th, May 4th, June 1st
$15/session

Playback theatre is a type of improvisational theatre in which people share real moments from their lives and watch it played back by peer citizen actors spontaneously in sound and movement, in a way that is meaningful and can help them feel seen and understood. In this form of theatre, the conductor asks for teller to share a moment, interviews them getting details for the sharing while actors listen, then the actors improvise the playing back of the teller’s story. In this way, a playback theatre event creates community connection, can be therapeutic, and can inspire social change.

Rather than talking and thinking, playback offers a way to express and feel into the joys, challenges, and questions of our common humanity. Whether you are familiar with this form of creative interaction, or are a complete novice, this is an opportunity to engage in a enlivening form of community play and conversation (at your comfort level).

Playback theatre was founded in 1975 by Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas who started International Playback Network, and since then has become a widely used form all over the world. Pam Gold brought this form to Tucson and created Tucson Playback Theatre. After she retired from leadership, the troupe loosely became known as Tucson Community Playback and has had various permutations since then.

Mallika Rao is a long time Tucson resident who worked in community gardens work, public secondary education, hospital rehab therapist, but now works as a pelvic floor physical therapist in a community health setting. Her training in Playback Theatre form started in 2000 when she joined Pam Gold’s playback troupe. She has also done trainings with International Playback Network and with Playback North America. Her hobbies include playing tabla for kirtan, dancing, backpacking on the Arizona Trail, and hanging out with her spouse and dog.