Playback Theatre Talks

This episode of playback theatre talks is a special episode.  This time I, Noa Leibu, will be interviewed by Chetnaa Mehrotra, a playbacker and a friend who has been on the podcast in the past. This time, Chetnna and I will talk about Solo Playback Theatre, which is a playback Theatre practice with only one person who is acting. I will share my experience practicing solo playback and I will answer...

Tzveta Baliyska is an actress, conductor and Playback Theatre Trainer, founder and director of Playback Theatre “Here and Now” and '"Dramedy Playback Theatre". She is a member of the board of directors of the Center for Playback Theatre since 2021. Founder and director of the annual Bulgarian Playback Theatre Gatherings from 2014. Tzveta was also the director and leader of the team o...

Nonviolent Communication is a set of communication tools that priorities the quality of our relationships over being right or wrong or over winning or losing. In the current episode I am talking with Myriam Verzat, a playbacker and Nonviolent Communication trainer from Canada.   Myriam and I will be talking about playback theatre and nonviolent communication, which we will refer to as NVC dur...

The current episode of Playback Theatre Talks is a part of a new series dedicated to playback companies from around the world. In this episode I am talking with the members of Yonder- Roman Kandibur (Ukraine), Andrey Utenkov (Ukraine), Igor Lubitov (Russia) and Marat Mairovich (Israel). Yonder is a Russian speaking ensemble that is operating online and exploring topics like myths and archetypes&nb...

Hani Al Rstum is a Syrian playbacker, psychotherapist and activist that is living in Belgium. In this special episode Hani will share with me his experience as a refugee and the role that playback theatre played in his life while he was living in exile. The first part of the episode is dedicated to Hani's story as a refugee in Syria. In the second part of our talk Hani and me will talk about playb...

In the current episode of Playback Theatre Talks I am talking again with Jori Linnamäki (Jori Pitkänen). Jori is a playback conductor and actor from Finland and he is also the former IPTN president. Jori just recently started his new (important) career as a father to a little baby girl :) Jori and I will define and describe some familiar playback theatre forms and we will also answer the following...

In the current episode of Playback Theatre Talks I am very honored to have Jo Salas, the co-founder of Playback Theatre.  After More than 40 years, Jo is still fascinated by the magic of playback theatre. Jo was the artistic director of Hudson River Playback Theatre, which she founded in 1990 and she has written extensively about Playback Theatre. Jo and me will talk about Jo's and Jonathan F...

Will Chalmus, also known as Will C. is an adjunct professor at Brandeis, that founded several playback theatre companies and served on the board for the Center for Playback. Will C. and I will talk about politics, identity and race in playback theatre. Will C. and I also tried to answer the following questions: -Should we as playbackers be political? -Can we use playback as a political tool? -How...

In 1975 in the Hudson Valley of New York, a young man was asking a group of strangers to play back each others' stories for the first time. This man presented a group of strangers what later will be known as "Playback Theatre". In this Episode of Playback Theatre Talks I am very honored to talk with the creator and co-founder of Playback Theatre, Jonathan Fox. Jonathan and I will talk about Jonath...

In this special episode of Playback Theatre Talks I am joined with top playback leaders -  Aviva Apel-Rosentha (Israel ), Karina Bettina Gisler (Switzerland), Jori Linnamäki (Finland) and Michael Cheng (Singapore). This is an open and honest talk about the struggles and the hardships that Aviva, Karin, Jori and Michael had to go through as leaders, as well as the solutions, the skills and the...

In the current  episode I am talking with Sheila Donio about playing Characters in playback theatre. Sheila is a playbacker from Brazil and the founder of " Cria Playback" . She is also the former Chair of the Center for Playback Theatre. Sheila and me will discuss: -What should we keep in mind when we play characters in playback? -How can we avoid stereotypes? -How can we play social forces...

In the current episode  I am talking with Igor Lyubitov  about  Archetypes  in Playback Theatre. Igor is a psychologist, a psychodramatist, a playback practitioner and trainer from Moscow. He is a cofounder of the Russian Central Playback Theatre School and a board member in the Center for Playback Theater. Igor and I are talking about Archetypes and how they can contribute to...

Unlike musicians in other types of musical performances, the playback musician must have the capacity to attune to the teller and to fellow company members while structuring and shaping the playback ritual. In the current episode of Playback Theatre Talks I had the pleasure of talking with the talented Ernie Gruner. Ernie has been a playback theatre musician in Melbourne Playback Theatre Company s...

Debe Edden is the vice chair of the center for playback theatre, she founded her PT company, The Heartsparkle Players, in 1991 and she is working extensively with children and people with developmental disabilities. In the current episode Debe and me will focus on conducting skills and especially on how to conduct the interview with the teller. We will talk about- -What is a good way to invite a t...

Larry Ng, is an actor, director, movement coach and a drama therapist that is practicing playback theatre in Hong Kong in the last decade.  In the current episode, Larry and I will talk about physical theater and playback theatre.  We will answer the following questions- What is Physical Theater? How can we incorporate more physicality in our playback acting? Whi...

In the current episode I will talk about Playback Acting with the one and only, Hannah Fox! Hannah is a professor of dance and theatre, she is the director of the New York School of Playback Theatre and the founder of Big Apple Playback Theatre. She is also the daughter of the founders of Playback Theatre, Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas. Hannah will talk about- -What was it like for her to grow up in t...

Ronen Kowalsky is a clinical psychologist, practicing and teaching playback theatre in Israel for almost 30 years. Ronen is also one of the founders of the Israeli Institute for Psychotherapeutic Playback Theatre .  Ronen and me will be talking about therapeutic elements in playback theater and about the method that Ronen developed with Nir raz named- Psychotherapeutic Playback Theatre. We wi...

Anne and Christopher Ellinger are the founders of   True Story Theater and Playback North America .  They have published several books about Playback, the most familiar one is  A Playback Theatre Toolkit: through the lens of one company's experience . In this episode we will discuss - -Types of groups. -How to evaluate a team's morale? -How to prevent conductor's burn out. -Leading...

Anastasia Vorobyeva is a playbacker from Moscow who specializes in combining playback and movement. In our talk we will answer the following questions- -How can we translate certain playback theatre forms to be based on movement? -What types of movement can serve us when we're practicing playback? -How can we avoid repetition and break patterns? -What is required in order for us to fulfill our pot...

Can playback theatre be used for social change? In this episode, Ben Rivers is sharing some of his experiences as a social activist using playback to prompt social change. Ben and me  discussed some of the following questions- -Can playback be used as an effective tool to promote social change? -What are the advantages of playback theater on other methods like theatre of the oppressed ? -Are...

Michael Cheng is a playbacker from Singapore, he is the chairman of the Centre for Playback Theatre. He is the Artistic Director of Tapestry Playback Theatre and one of the founders of the playback community in Singapore. Michael is also the founder and admin of the biggest playback group on Facebook (Playback Theater Around the World). Here are some of the questions Michael and me will be discuss...

How does playing for children is different than playing for adults? What should we keep in mind when working with a younger audience?   I had the pleasure to talk with Chetnaa Mehrotra about playback for children and got to learn SO much about it. This episode is fascinating even if you are not performing or teaching children (But I must warn you that you might want to start doing that after...

"A person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new" Albert Einstein once said. In this week's episode I am hosting the International Playback Theatre Network (IPTN) president, Jori Pitkänen, in a compelling dialogue about the concept of mistakes in playback. What is consider to be a mistake in playback? How can we work with a mistake we made? What mistakes can we do when working with tra...

Karina Bettina Gisler is a playback conductor and performer with 30 years of experience. She is also teaching playback all over the world. Karina and I will talk about her personal journey as a playbacker which includes humor, romance and fighting for equality. We will discuss Narrative Reticulation (starting at 0:25) as a tool that allows us to evaluate and understand better playback performances...

Aviva is the founder of "PLAYLIFE" ensemble. She is a former President of the IPTN, a teacher in the international leadership training and a legendary playbacker. What is the role of innovation in playback and where does Aviva is placing herself on the spectrum between classical playback and innovative playback? Please join our playback theater talk to find out!