Why personal stories

We live within a storytelling culture, constantly we hear stories, ever since we were kids from parents, grandparents, school, books, tv, movies newspapers, internet. These stories can shock us, confuse us, they can move us, they can enlighten us and they connect and define us within our culture and cultures we live within.

Stories are a very human currency and when you think about it we are in fact always telling our own personal stories - at work, with friends, family, people we don't even know well. We tell stories for many reasons; they communicate something about us - our values, our identity, a story can help build relationship with others and it's just plain fun to tell a story. Usually the stories we tell are stories that involve us or have some meaning to us - these are the types of stories Playback Theatre invite you to share when you come to a performance.

But I am still not answering why personal stories.

We were doing a performance recently at a conference with many different stakeholders. The large group had met quite a number of times previous and there were some tensions and misunderstandings between the various groups.
During the performance we heard a number of personal experiences about the work they do.Afterward we had the opportunity to speak with audience members and people said things like ' I have met ... before and this is the first time I have understood what it is like to do that job'. In that statement I heard a barrier of misunderstanding bridged, empathy felt and new perspective gained.

I think all I can say is that is the power of a personal story

Personal stories told can resonate with us as humans like the toll of a bell or a ripple in the water from a stone landing or a leaf falling.

Working together

So we have been busy rehearsing and doing shows, at The Newtown Theatre, organising new shows at conferences and training events and revisiting/reworking the ways in which we perform the stories we have heard.

Whenever we listen to your story each performer must consider the essence to the story. Since there is no one truth or meaning to a story, each performer needs to be able to listen/ feel or sense/connect to this story in some way and then be able to express this via improvisation. This is the exciting challenge for us as Playback performers - how do you do this within a team of six, when everyone has their own ideas and impulses?

Will the story when Playedback be just a mish mash of individual ideas - ideally no (and this is why we rehearse weekly). Ideally the level of listening whilst onstage - to each other and oneself - combined with the skill in receiving theatrical offers from other performers, - by musician or another actor - will mould and craft a multilayered reflection of the teller's story. And why do we do this? What is the relevance of listening and reflecting these life stories to an audience? A very good question for next blog! Until then.