Playback Theatre Core Training photo Playback Theatre Core Training performance

ADA is setting up the School of Playback Theatre (Hong Kong) in association with the Centre for Playback Theatre in New York, the United States, to provide community cultural practitioners and educators playback theatre training programmes in line with the training path of the Centre.

Launched in 2006 by Jonathan Fox, one of the founders of playback theatre, the Centre for Playback Theatre is an outgrowth of the School of Playback Theatre. The Centre offers training courses in playback theatre, promotes multi-community projects, and provides administrative support to playback theatre companies. Its purpose is also to promote playback theatre throughout the world. The Centre has also organized a number of community programmes under the Libra Project such as playback theatre training in Angola and Burundi (2001-3) to work with local acting companies to help them use playback for purposes of social reconstruction, the Katrina Relief Project (2006) organized a major initiative to bring playback theatre to residents of the US Gulf region devastated by Hurricane Katrina, etc.

For more information about the Centre for Playback Theatre, please refer to: http://www.playbackschool.org/

Links:
Courses
Training Path
ADA and Playback Theatre


Other Playback Theatre Programmes and Information
Links:
Playback Tuesday
"Story 2008" Community Playback Performance by the Sunshine Playback Theatre Company
Articles about Playback Theatre
Books in Playback Theatre
Links



Courses

PhraseContent
Introductory (Level 1) Playback Theatre Core Training –usually a 4-5 day intensive training
Intermediate (Level 2) Intermediate Acting & Conducting (or previously known as Playback Theatre Experience), other selective workshops (e.g. Rituals in Playback Theatre, Conducting, Music in Playback Theatre, etc.) – usually a 3-5 day intensive workshop
Advanced (Level 3) PT Advanced Intensive (or previously known as Playback Theatre Practice) –a 2-week intensive workshop
Graduating (Level 4) PT Leadership – a 3-week intensive workshop

Remarks:
  1. Each level assumes mastery of core competencies in key aspects of the study of playback theatre, including: performance, conducting, music, ritual, social awareness, and theory.
  2. Students are granted advanced placement based on their prior playback theatre experience.
  3. Graduates receive a diploma.


ADA and Playback Theatre
Since 1997, ADA has been promoting playback theatre. Through the participation of people from different communities, ADA uses playback theatre as a platform to encourage communication and understanding of different people and create an inclusive society through the arts.

The vision of ADA is "Arts are for Everyone". We believe that everyone, with or without disability, should have equal opportunity to appreciate, learn and partake in the arts. We also believe that arts can be a medium to serve society.

ADA shares a similar vision with playback theatre. Playback theatre acknowledges that everyone can have a right to share his/her feeling and stories. It believes that everyone can become a citizen actor and serve the community through playback theatre.

Playback theatre is an original form of improvisational theatre founded in 1975 by Jonathan Fox, Jo Salas and others in New York, USA. Playback theatre was introduced by Veronica Needa to Hong Kong in 1996. According to Veronica, "ADA has been instrumental at supporting training for playbackers over the years, and for providing a context for integrating people with different abilities into our playback world. In this, the Hong Kong community are leaders. Working with diversity is a key direction of future global playback developments. Around the world – as well as playback for personal growth and social education – playback is also now working in many challenging contexts: with migrants and refugees, with racism, and integration of people with different abilities, of different sexual orientation, across generations, languages and cultures. We are accumulating more experience of working in emergency situations, too."

Playback theatre can be applied in many different contexts. Please feel free to contact ADA for your different needs in the following:
  1. Performance: for different communities, pre/post conference, as anniversary or memorial activity, etc.
  2. Training: playback theatre as a tool for team building, release of pressure, encourage team spirit and efficiency, encourage creative thinking and multiple intelligence.
  3. Theatre making: playback theatre as a means of theatre making and devising.



Playback Tuesday
From 11 November (Tue) onwards, the ADA Inclusive Arts Studio will become a hub for playback theatre! Playback theatre lovers can join us for various Playback Tuesday activities by sharing your stories or practicing together with us.


"Story 2008" Community Playback Performance by the Sunshine Playback Theatre Company
More details

Articles about Playback Theatre
(Under construction)

Books in Playback Theatre
IMPROVISING REAL LIFE: Personal Story in Playback Theatre by Jo Salas 1993
(available in English, and in Chinese)

ACTS OF SERVICE: Spontaneity, Commitment Tradition in the Nonscripted Theatre by Jonathan Fox 1986

GATHERING VOICES: Essays on Playback Theatre Ed. by Jonathan Fox & Heinrich Dauber 1999

CHORUS – Voices of the Playback Theatre Communities in Hong Kong, Macau & Mainland China Ed. Janet Tam & Michele Chung 2005 (in Chinese & English)

PLAYING THE OTHER: Dramatising Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre by Nick Rowe 2007

PERFORMING PLAYBACK THEATRE: first training DVD for playback theatre, designed for new and experienced practitioners, trainers, and educators.

Links
Centre for Playback Theatre http://www.playbackschool.org/

School of Playback Theatre United Kingdom http://www.playbackschooluk.org/

Scuola di Playback Theatre (Italy) http://www.playback-theatre.it/

Japan School of Playback http://www.playbackschool.org/japan/

Playback-Theatre-Netzwerk e.V. (German-speaking countries) http://www.playbackschule.com/

Beit-Ha'sefer le Teatron Playback (Israel) http://www.playbackschool.org/Training_affiliated%20schools.htm

Central European Playback Theatre http://www.playbackschool.org/Training_affiliated%20schools.htm

Escola de Playback Theatre no Brasil http://www.playbackschool.org/Training_affiliated%20schools.htm

Skandinavisk Playbackteater Studio (Sweden) http://web.mac.com/janpla/platander.nu/Start/Start.html

New Zealand Playback Theatre Summer School http://playbacknet.org/news/playback_NZ_SummerSchool_2009.pdf

International Playback Theatre Network (IPTN) http://playbacknet.org/

Enquiry (School of Playback Theatre (HK))
Andy Lo
Tel: 2777 8665 / 2777 8664 
Fax: 2777 8669 
email: andy@adahk.org.hk