Playback Theatre Sydney 1st show for 2010 - Change

Get back to basics - SAY YES!

Hello my first 'hello!' in 2010 and it's already February. We've been very busy so far this year rehearsing, performing, training, building our new website and getting our 2010 promotional flyer finalised.

We started 2010 with our annual weekend retreat up north at Wamberal Beach - lots of work, planning and play which was a great start for the year. Then our regular Monday evening rehersals began.

The festive break was terrific though stepping back in as a playback performer was a little more challenging than I had anticipated. So what is the transition? What are some of the steps?

One step is adjusting how I listen (not that I haven't been listening to friends and family- promise!) but listening as a playback practitioner is quite different from your usual listening.

When listening as a performer you have to really empty yourself of your own thoughts so you can totally fill yourself with the person's story you're hearing. It's tricky as you can't deny your responses as they enable you to understand and you do need to take note of the images you may 'see' in response to what you're hearing so you can use them to create the theatre.

Then the next step is to be that person onstage, to represent them in an, dare I say it, authentic way. Remember we don't have the luxury of time - its improv so it's immediate and on the spot we have to get into it NOW there is no tomorrow!

I can't tell you how resistant I was to getting into character - I wanted to just stay comfortable in my familiar behaviours and expressions but no that won't work! I had to let go and jump into the story, boot and all, it didn't come naturally as I was dusty and rusty along with the team.

At rehearsal, when we were discussing and debriefing a story we had created as a team something very basic became clear for all of us -SAY YES TO ALL OFFERS! - this is an improv mantra and something in life I think we all can find challenging at times.

Had we actually SAID YES to ALL offers and taken our time with one offer at a time (I admit this is harder than you think) it would have helped us all get connected or be 'in relationship' with the other performers and thus more connected to the role and the story.

So getting back to the basics is not a bad thing to remember when you've been away - what basics might you get back to energise and reconnect in this new year?