k c a b y a l p

i haven't written about playback theatre in this blog...i think i have a reason to write about it now -sunday's performance at "asha nikethan", a home for mentally challenged people.

just to give an idea, playback is an interactive form of theatre where in the experiences of the audience received in the form of responses to the simple questions posed by the conductor (who is going to be one of the payback performance group) are played back to them as a theatrical performance.

to know more,
www.playbacknet.org/iptn/index.htm
www.theatrecapital.com

i was introduced to playback by a friend, dhi, and i completed my workshop sometime in 2004. the workshop concluded with a performance of which i was a part, along with my batch mates susan, ujwal and vinay (we called this group of 5, the 4 of us and our instructor umesh as "connections"), after this i can say i lost touch with playback.

but i wanted to do playback because i liked it.
i liked the very idea of acting out the experiences of the audience to them within a matter of a few seconds.
i liked it more when i realized that it makes a significant difference to them at the end of it.
i liked the people associated with it, they are not like the usual theatre crowd at all.

so, i joined them again sometime in feb 2005, have been a part of 3 of the performances till now.
the first one was at "bosco yuva kendra", home for the youth
that was a very joyous performance with the boys responding amazing well.

the second one was at "ashirwad", a spiritual place where the leaders from various religions meet up and hold meetings on equality, peace and things like that.
i was quite hesitant during that show as i was not able to relate to the audience well, i wasn't sure how they would take things and all. so, can say i didn't enjoy that one very much.

the third one was on last sunday at "asha nikethan", this one made all the difference.
though we didn't know what to expect from this performance, it turned out to be such a nice thing. the fact that we could actually act out the responses, thoughts that were shared by the mentally challenged persons is so unparalleled. and the fact that they responded so well to our acting is such a blessing. i feel they could respond, react and enjoy this show because, it was a playback performance, we acted out their own stories, their own experiences. we could see the smiles on their faces when we acted out what they had just said. i am glad to be a part of playback theatre.