Activities
PLAYBACK THEATRE SHORT EXPERIMENTS
Number of participants
Objectives
● To explore and express participants’ current feelings through movement and metaphor.
● To encourage self-awareness and reflection on emotions.
● To foster relations among the participants and co-creation.
● To foster attention and go beyond automatic movements and ways of thinking, increasing spontaneity and improvisation
Where does the activity take place within the process (beginning, middle, end)
Duration
Material needed
Chairs
Preparation
Ask the participants to make a large circle with the chairs.
Step by step description
1. Start by asking participants to sit comfortably in their chairs, feel their feet on the ground, and scan their bodies.
2. Encourage them to stretch if they feel the need and take a few deep breaths.
3. Ask participants to express their current energy level with a movement and sound, and then invite the other participants to mirror it, repeating it. Explain that this helps connect with their physical and emotional states.
4. Invite the participants to think about how they feel with exact words.
5. Ask whoever from the group is ready to share it directly (e.g.. “I am sad”, “ I feel tired”) and which animal would represent their current feeling (e.g. If a participant feels tired but curious, they might choose a rabbit with closed eyes and ears moving).
6. Ask the participant to think out loud about where this animal is right now and describe the context and scene around it (e.g. The rabbit is in a park, in a bush, there are some trees or other bushes, etc.)
7. Select one participant from the rest of the group to play the chosen animal (e.g., the rabbit), while other participants join in as the bushes, the wind, or any other elements as needed. The goal is to create a visual representation of the feeling.
8. Explain that the participant who shared their feelings has now the opportunity to watch the performance.
9. Ask the participant what they see and if this metaphor accurately represents their current feelings or life in general.
10. According to the number of participants in the group, ask several participants to share their feelings, create a visual representation, and try to involve as many group members as possible in the activity by assigning them roles in the scene.
Closing up
Conclude the activity by asking the participants:
● How was it for you? Which role were you in and how was it (easy, difficult, strange, etc.)
Explain that using creativity, body expression, and metaphors is really helpful to express emotions and gain self-awareness.