Saturday, March 14, 2009

Expanding Playback in 2009!

The Open Door Playback Theatre is expanding in 2009! We've begun regular weekly playback workshops with patients at the state hospital. It's been an interesting journey as far as finding the most useful ways to engage patients with playback. We have adapted playback forms and generally "loosened" our workshops to accommodate frequent shifts in attention and keep patients engaged. In the near future, I plan to offer a longer post regarding our experience in adapting playback for persons with mental illness.

Our playback group also has two exciting performances upcoming. We will have a playback performance for North Texas State Hospital Family Day on Saturday, April 4th, 2009. We hope that playback will be a venue that families can use to hear each other's stories, discover common bonds, and maybe even strike up some friendships. Playback is a natural tool that should help families reflect on their experiences in loving and caring for persons with severe mental illness.

Our second upcoming playback event is going to be at a state forensic conference in Kerrville, Texas. On Thursday, April 23rd, the Open Door Playback Theater will offer an evening performance for attendees of the conference. The following day, April 24th, we will offer a more informal playback workshop. At the workshop, we will demonstrate and discuss ways that playback has been useful in working with persons with severe mental illness.

It's going to be fun to flex our playback muscles after lots of work and rehearsals. Check this space for more information about future playback events!