Playback Café is an original form of improvisational theatre in which audience members tell autobiographical
stories and watch them being acted out on stage. Each team comprises of actors, an emcee (or conductor/
director), and a musician. The first few “scenes” begin with call and response: the Emcee will ask the audience
for memories on a certain theme: love, family, hurt, etc. and the memory is then retold by the team on stage.
It is here, in the suspended moment of improvised creation, that the ensemble comes together: performer and
patron become one.
In Greenville, South Carolina the playback community has developed much more than just an audience. In a \
church cafeteria that serves the homeless, a ragtag group of performers gather on Wednesday nights to listen to
the men and women, many of whom live under bridges in the city, tell their stories.
There are no stereotypes in Playback. All
judgments are burned and used as kindling to
light the candle of creation. With no script or
costume to hide behind, the performer stands
vulnerable and raw. The audience, though
cautious at first, begins to shed their coats
along with their uncertainties. With all defenses
down, they too become exposed. They feel safe.
They are with family now, a family who treasures
and respects them. A family who delights in
them as a brother or sister. They become seen,
maybe for the first time, as an equal. By telling
their stories, barricades are broken and bridges
are built. A river of healing begins to flow from
the stage and into the soul.
One player in the Greenville audience shared
stories of her past struggle with drugs and
alcohol; the shackles she struggled to free
herself from. No longer a prisoner to these
substances, she stands stronger than before,
but her battle is far from over. Covered in
scars that maim her an addict, she had been
unable to qualify for disability funds. She
shared with Playback her stories of bondage
and deliverance. Her Playback family listened
and rejoiced with her. Their healing hands
embraced her story and pressed further.
Along with memories of triumph, they challenged her to envision who she longed to be in the future. The team
of performers played back her wildest dreams. Dreams of a home and a future. The team gave her a vision and a
tangible hope to hold on to. Strengthened by visceral images that personified a woman who was not held back by
her circumstances, she fought harder, gained her disability funds, and moved into an apartment in town.