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!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Monday, April 28, 2008
the company
Angie, Arthur, Renee, Murray, Lisa, Barbara, & Kevinnot pictured: Gretchen, Debbie, & Nancy
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Playback Theater - from the Feb 2007 North Texas News
The BMTP drama therapy program has been utilizing an interactive style of drama called “playback theater.” In this art form, a small group of actors and musicians listen to stories told by audience members and then re-enact these stories on the spot. The actors may play the stories back literally, metaphorically, or, they may spotlight only the emotional essence of these moments.
About four months ago, a group of BMTP staff members formed the Open Door Playback company and have been meeting once a week during lunch to rehearse. Because playback is built around listening and honoring a person’s story, one of the aims of this company is to offer people who have typically not had a voice a place to be heard. Tellers are mirrored and validated. Audience members hear universal truths and discover commonalties with each other. They also begin to develop sympathy, empathy, and a sense of compassion. All of these things have great therapeutic value, especially for people who have historically had difficulty in these areas.
Open Door Playback has invited patient groups to tell their stories and be part of the playback process. In each open workshop or performance offered, the audience has responded positively by becoming “tellers” and offering their stories to the group, applauding spontaneously to the enactments, and remaining attentive to the stage during these short performances.
Company members have also remarked about playback’s effect on their lives and work. Members say they have seen their level of spontaneity increase and that they are more aware of maintaining a balance between instinct and intellect. These skills, cultivated in playback, cross over nicely to the world of the therapist.
While still relatively new to NTHS, this is not the first time BMTP has seen playback theater. In the spring of 2005, a group of actors comprised of patients and two drama therapy staff also rehearsed and offered several shows for patients and staff. It was as equally well received then, but the group, named “Images,” dissolved as company members began discharging from the hospital. With the exception of one staff person, all of the original members have left the hospital.
About four months ago, a group of BMTP staff members formed the Open Door Playback company and have been meeting once a week during lunch to rehearse. Because playback is built around listening and honoring a person’s story, one of the aims of this company is to offer people who have typically not had a voice a place to be heard. Tellers are mirrored and validated. Audience members hear universal truths and discover commonalties with each other. They also begin to develop sympathy, empathy, and a sense of compassion. All of these things have great therapeutic value, especially for people who have historically had difficulty in these areas.
Open Door Playback has invited patient groups to tell their stories and be part of the playback process. In each open workshop or performance offered, the audience has responded positively by becoming “tellers” and offering their stories to the group, applauding spontaneously to the enactments, and remaining attentive to the stage during these short performances.
Company members have also remarked about playback’s effect on their lives and work. Members say they have seen their level of spontaneity increase and that they are more aware of maintaining a balance between instinct and intellect. These skills, cultivated in playback, cross over nicely to the world of the therapist.
While still relatively new to NTHS, this is not the first time BMTP has seen playback theater. In the spring of 2005, a group of actors comprised of patients and two drama therapy staff also rehearsed and offered several shows for patients and staff. It was as equally well received then, but the group, named “Images,” dissolved as company members began discharging from the hospital. With the exception of one staff person, all of the original members have left the hospital.
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