Playing the Other: Dramatizing Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre

210 Pages·2007·0.79 MB·English

by  Nick Rowe

Playing the Other
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Playing the Other
Dramatizing Personal Narratives
in Playback Theatre
Nick Rowe
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
First published in 2007
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
116 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JB, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright © Nick Rowe 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including
photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or
incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner
except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the
terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London,
England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this
publication should be addressed to the publisher.
Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim
for damages and criminal prosecution.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Rowe, Nick, 1954-
Playing the other : dramatizing personal narratives in playback theatre / Nick Rowe.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-84310-421-6 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-84310-421-0 (alk. paper)
1. Improvisation (Acting) 2. Drama--Therapeutic use. I. Title.
PN2071.I5R69 2006
792.02'2--dc22
2006032988
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 1 84310 421 6
ISBN eBook pdf: 1 84642 582 4
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Athenaeum Press, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
This book is dedicated to Major Dennis Rowe and Mrs Anne Rowe,
my dear parents, whose kindness and love sustains me still.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9
SPECIAL NOTES 9
Chapter 1 Setting the Scene 11
Chapter 2 Openness and Ethics 31
Chapter 3 Personal Stories in Public Places 43
Chapter 4 Narratives and Memory Work 61
Chapter 5 A Very Different Kind of Dialogue:
The Symbolic in Playback Theatre 79
Chapter 6 On ‘The Narrow Ridge’:
The Performers’ Response to the Story 99
Chapter 7 The Exploration of Occasion:
Improvisation and Playback Theatre 119
Chapter 8 The Ensemble 135
Chapter 9 The Ethical Limitations of Playback Performing 143
Chapter 10 Reflexivity and the Personal Story:
Playback Theatre as Social Intervention 159
Chapter 11 Concluding Thoughts 173
APPENDIX 1 PLAYBACK THEATRE: A SHORT STORY 185
APPENDIX 2 ‘SHORT FORMS’ USED IN PLAYBACK THEATRE 193
REFERENCES 197
SUBJECT INDEX 203
AUTHOR INDEX 207