Our Human DNA is Hardwired for Story

May 31, 2016

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In March, we were invited to perform at a Greek Wellbeing Forum at the Hurstville Entertainment Centre. The day was geared to educate, inform and break the taboo in talking about mental health, especially depression. Somewhat surprisingly it was a truly joyous occasion.

 

Our troupe entered the Forum late, in a day of many speakers, as the concluding session. We were momentarily apprehensive as we saw a predominately older Greek audience – as we weren’t sure they’d warm to our style of performance and whether there’d be language barriers – but we had nothing to fear! They loved it! The show was a cacophony of sound from all corners of the room – crying, laughing, standing up, reciting poems, tossing stories around the room. A translator was on hand to assist the Playback Conductor (story facilitator) but they weren’t always needed, and through movement, English, Greek, gestures, music and emotions, it was a lively and passionate show.

 

Near the finale, a young man got up, who’d heard about the theatre show and had dropped his work tools in order to come along – he was interested in drama but hadn’t realized it was a mental health show – yet he spoke about his mental health, his disabled son, and his story. It was very real, intense and emotional – with people crying and moved. It was beautiful.

 

The show’s stories seemed fresh and new – as if people had not shared these stories before – and their emotions were released and fully heard by the theatrical reflection. There’s often stigma around mental health issues in any community, a shame and a stoicism, and having true, everyday stories expressed and demonstrated on stage was very powerful. There was a psychologist in the room but they weren’t needed – the group’s heartfelt reactions cushioned all emotion.

 

All our performances delve into our emotional lives – our stories are emotional as they are our thoughts and feelings in motion. A Playback Theatre show acts simultaneously as an evoker of emotion – as our human stories are ones that touch our hearts and minds, and as a safe container for strong emotions – allowing them to be fully heard and expressed through theatre and dialogue.  That’s possibly why Playback has been so successful, with active companies on all continents, applying our forum of engagement in a vast array of contexts. Remember – our human DNA is hardwired for stories.

 

In our performance debrief, which we do privately as an ensemble after every show, we also realized that the Greeks come from a long line of philosophy, theatre and emotion – so maybe our form of theatre is in their blood!

 

Call us to discuss how we can work with your team or

organisation on 0417 065 664. 


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