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1. Creating Conversations: Acceptance & New Thinking
Playback within Organisations: Earlier this month, a Local Government Council in Sydney assembled Community Service Providers – those affected by 2016 funding cuts – to learn what was planned and possible changes. Playback Theatre Sydney was invited into their larger forum to raise awareness and discussion around how this news was impacting individuals – both professionally and personally.
The Playback session allowed the group to share their thoughts, fears and hopes and their stories were played back onstage. This allowed a deeper understanding and reflection of people’s reactions to the changes. The Playback ensemble led the Elephant right into the room (so to speak!) to normalise it. By confronting people’s vulnerable emotions, the audience was able to commune, collaborate and acknowledge their feelings.
Bringing the service providers together, from all over the local area, was a proactive step in a potentially bleak situation and the participants stepped up. What clearly emerged was although there was fear, grief, confusion and other negativity around the funding cuts, the participants were able to articulate and reignite their passion around their service offering and value. By raising possible alternatives to ‘business as usual’ – ideas of how to best to adapt to the situation – such as partnering with other organisations with similar goals or changing the way they were doing things – meant they began to empower themselves and view their service in a fresh new light.
Playback’s ability to illuminate stories and see the ‘Elephant’ gave the group a chance to express themselves, consider alternative angles, connect with eachothers’ experience and refresh their thinking. The show was a positive session in the larger forum – bringing to mind a saying – Better to Light a Candle, Than to Curse the Darkness – Confucius
2. Team Building & The Big Stick!
It may sound counter-intuitive but Improvisational Theatre requires training – so Playback Theatre Sydney rehearses every week. During rehearsal we do storywork (tell and playback our own stories) and team build to create a stronger ensemble. This month, we’re sharing an exercise we found challenging and enlightening – so maybe you can try it in your workplace to see what emerges.
The Helium Stick Exercise is a simple and deceptively powerful tool to learn how to focus and work together. All you need is a long wooden stick (a wooden dowel from the hardware) and a team. The aim is to lower the stick to the ground, in unison, whilst holding it only with your index fingers – all fingers must be touching the stick at all times and if anyone’s finger loses contact with the stick, the exercise restarts. Sounds easy huh? Well, we thought so too… Due to the delicate nature of the task, team dynamics get heightened dramatically so a debrief or discussion, post exercise, is essential.
In our post-excercise discussion it was clear that the task raised questions around people having different approaches to completing the same task – is one way better than the other, or just different? Can we achieve the same result, or a better result, if we are sensitive to everyone’s approach? The task encouraged us to ask ourselves ‘Do I lead?’, ‘Do I follow?’, ‘Do I trust?’ These reflective questions are very useful to consider within a team environment. Upon completing the exercise – finally! – we articulated what surprised us and what we’d do differently next time – certainly a dynamic discussion! We’ll try the exercise again soon. I hope you can too!
3. Up Close and Personal
Our ensemble members are committed and versatile. This month we put the spotlight on one long-term Playbacker- Steve Meagher.
Q1. Where and when did you first come across Playback?
A1. At Sydney’s Drama Action Centre in the early 90s, being taught by one of the Founders of Playback in Australia, Bridget Brandon in the Drama course
Q2. What attracted you to it and when did you join Playback Theatre Sydney’s ensemble?
A2. I liked the improvised nature of it, the company life (supportive as opposed to other drama companies where often it is dog eat dog) and the chance to parade about on stage!
Q3. What’s the most outrageous character you’ve improvised onstage?
A3. ‘Outrageous’ draws a bit of a blank, maybe because we’re always striving to find the inner voice. I’ve played God, a testicle, the Monty Python Black Knight getting his arms and legs chopped off, a philosopher snail and most animals you could think of.
Q4. Is there a story that moved you that you still think about today?
A4. Yes, when we were doing a show for a group of Prison Chaplains I got chosen to play a convicted child molester who was’t allowed out of prison for his daughter’s funeral. It was incredibly tragic on all sorts of levels.
Q5. What do you like doing when you’re not doing Playback?
A5. Gin and tonics, travel, listening to Jazz, hiding behind the door in my GP surgery drinking coffee and anything I haven’t done before.
Q6. In your opinion, where does Playback have the greatest impact?
A6. When it is transformative theatre rather than transportive – when people are changed by what they hear and see. Sometimes that happens in Public Shows, sometimes in corporate or social service type shows, but it will generally be when a voice that hasn’t previously been heard is truly represented on stage. Then people go “Wow, I never knew” and something inside of them (and often in us on stage as well) shifts. We get to go places and meet people on a deep level that we would otherwise never or rarely cross paths with – Refugee Shows, the Transgender Alliance, the Office of the Public Guardian… the list is many.
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