History of Playback Theatre
The Simple Desire to Be Heard
"There are many people who are not always listened to. Even more numerous are those whose stories, in one way or another, are too terrible for others to want to hear.
"If oppressed persons can be defined as those who have nowhere to tell their story, our mission has been to provide a space for anyone and everyone to be heard."
- Jonathan Fox
Founder,
Playback Theatre
Poughkeepsie, NY, 1994
Playback Theatre was founded in 1975 by Jonathan Fox who was studying improvisation
and psychodrama in the Hudson Valley area in upstate New York. For a brief
time, Fox had lived in Nepal and experienced first hand how community rituals,
theater and storytelling were deeply embedded in the rhythms of everyday
life.
With Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas as founders and guiding spirits, the first Playback
theatre company called "Community Playback," developed the basis
of the playback form to encourage the attending to stories
from individuals
from all segments of society.