Personal Stories in Public Spaces: Essays on Playback Theatre by Its Founders

Playback Theatre is a form of interactive performance and community engagement created in 1975 in the Mid Hudson Valley of New York, and now practiced in 70 countries in a wide range of contexts. Teams of actors and musicians listen to stories told by audience members then act them out without script, score, or rehearsal, building dialogue and connection.

PERSONAL STORIES IN PUBLIC SPACES: Essays on Playback Theatre by Its Founders gathers together, for the first time in one place, key essays, articles, talks, and reminiscences by Playback Theatre's founders, Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas. Covering a body of work that spans almost five decades and locations from war zones to great cities, this anthology takes the reader on a journey from the earliest days of Playback Theatre to the present day, and includes several essays written specifically for this collection.

About the Author
Fox, Jonathan: - JONATHAN FOX was artistic director of the original Playback Theatre company from its inception in 1975. From 1993 until 2010 he was director of the Centre for Playback Theatre in New York. He earned a BA from Harvard University in English, where he studied the oral tradition under Albert Lord; an MA in political science from Victoria University in New Zealand, studying under a Fulbright scholarship; and in 2008 a D. Phil. h.c. from the University of Kassel in Germany for his artistic and scholarly contribution to theatre. He is also a Trainer, Educator, and Practitioner of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. Jonathan is the author of Acts of Service: Spontaneity, Commitment, Tradition in the Nonscripted Theatre; Beyond Theatre: A Playback Theatre Memoir; and The Playback NR Workbook. He also edited The Essential Moreno: Writings on Spontaneity, Psychodrama and Group Method; and co-edited Gathering Voices: Essays on Playback Theatre. Since 1980 he has been teaching Playback Theatre in a variety of settings around the world.Salas, Jo: - JO SALAS is the cofounder of Playback Theatre and the founder of Hudson River Playback Theatre. She graduated from Victoria Uni¬versity in Wellington, New Zealand with a BA in English literature, and from New York University with an MA in music therapy. Jo has taught Playback Theatre workshops in 27 countries and was a key¬note speaker at the academic symposiums on Playback Theatre held at the University of Kassel, Germany, and Arizona State University. Jo's publications on Playback Theatre include numerous articles, contributions to anthologies, a TEDx talk Everyone has a story, and the books Improvising Real Life: Personal Story in Playback Theatre, now published in ten languages and a 20th anniversary edition, and Do My Story, Sing My Song: Music Therapy and Playback Theatre with Troubled Children. She co-edited the bilingual publication Half of My Heart/La Mitad de Mi Corazón: True Stories Told by Immigrants. She has also published short stories and a novel, Dancing with Diana.