Last month, my husband and I went to see two performances at the same theatre two nights in a row. One was seeing the “Carolina Chocolate Drops”(www.carolinachocolatedrops.com), an absolutely wonderful old time African American string band from North Carolina. Yet they are much more than that. This group which includes a cellist, learned much of their music by listening to, and playing in the company of elders, especially Joe Thompson, who, in his 90’s still mentors them. Through their learning and understanding of the music, they manage in a joyful, high energy and stunningly deep way, to portray and translate and speak to the complex issues of the day, be it in the late 1920’s or today.
The next night we went back to the theatre to see 90 year old Robert De Cormier conduct the Vermont symphony Orchestra and Choral in two Requiems (Faure and Mozart) Again, a lovely evening with wonderful music, if, a bit more traditional and western. Both nights there were standing ovations, hoots, hollers and recognition of a job well done.
Yet how different! And complex. In the end, we wondered if perhaps it was so rich and culturally diverse, that it made it challenging to actually process. Each in their own way touched me deeply. Each group in their own way were responding to a culture of the past that brings us forward into the present. By understanding our past, honoring our roots, we are more able to see in what way we go forward.
Playback Theatre training, Chittagong, Bangladesh
I am aware too, that the work I do in theatre and art, and therapy is often very culturally rich and complex. Not only when I’m traveling, teaching and working and most obvious (white women with grey hair tend to stick out in Asian countries….) but teaching at my local college and sitting with a client in my private practice. Blending in is hard and in fact often not desirable. Responding to our shared and different histories can often be challenging, scary or threatening. Finding a way to respond that honors history and allows us to revel in our uniqueness, is much of the work I do. Helping people to talk and connect, and play despite their differences, whether verbally or not- through art or theatre is the underlying goal in everything I do. Playback Theatre offers us the ability to explore our shared stories, stated through our unique ways of experiencing it; This is a healing process through witnessing and connecting in ways we do not ordinarily. The pleasure that I derive is from watching whole groups of people- not too unlike the audiences I participated in at the theatre that weekend- revel in the magic of experiencing, making connections and coming to some understandings of our world. Standing ovations in our case- in the Playback world- is for me when audiences choose to stay, talk, eat and connect more after a performance. For me- that is the best ovation one could ask for – and one which I know, that despite our differences, whatever they may be- There is something to be said about connecting through our stories.
Jennie kristel's Blog 
In a time when complexity seems out of vogue, and empathy in short supply, the arts offer a rich alternative to the everyday emptiness of non-stop news and entertainment cycles. Playback, and other forms of improvised live performance, seem to build bridges between audience members. The long arc of shared narrative encompasses many shared human experiences.