The Tell Tales Collective, a Playback Improv Theatre troupe located near Motueka, Te Tauihu (Top of the South Island) Aotearoa New Zealand. About Playback It is a form of improvisational theater where audience or group members tell their stories from their lives and they watch the stories getting played back to them. It can be used in many contexts, such as community building, for social change purposes, in education, and to mark special occasions. More specifically, Playback · Is an enriching community event that draws on lived experience and feelings · Builds rapport, connection, and understanding between people in a community or group · Increases accessibility of the arts to the community and particularly groups that would not necessarily have the ability, confidence, or means to access the arts · Performances can give people different perspectives on events, on others’ experiences, on their own lived experience · Offers groups and organisations the opportunity to hear from the people they serve (beneficiaries, clients, or members) · Increases empathy and understanding of another’s situation · A way to celebrate successes and acknowledge challenges · Can empower the storyteller |