Personal Stories in Public Spaces

JONATHAN FOX was artistic director of the original Playback Theatre company from its inception in 1975. From 1993 until 2010 he was director of the Centre for Playback Theatre in New York. He earned a BA from Harvard University in English, where he studied the oral tradition under Albert Lord; an MA in political science from Victoria University in New Zealand, studying under a Fulbright scholarship; and in 2008 a D. Phil. h.c. from the University of Kassel in Germany for his artistic and scholarly contribution to theatre. He is also a Trainer, Educator, and Practitioner of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. Jonathan is the author of Acts of Service: Spontaneity, Commitment, Tradition in the Nonscripted Theatre; Beyond Theatre: A Playback Theatre Memoir; and The Playback NR Workbook. He also edited The Essential Moreno: Writings on Spontaneity, Psychodrama and Group Method; and co-edited Gathering Voices: Essays on Playback Theatre. Since 1980 he has been teaching Playback Theatre in a variety of settings around the world.

Playback Theatre is a form of interactive performance and community engagement created in 1975 in the Mid Hudson Valley of New York, and now practiced in 70 countries in a wide range of contexts. Teams of actors and musicians listen to stories told by audience members then act them out without script, score, or rehearsal, building dialogue and connection.PERSONAL STORIES IN PUBLIC SPACES: Essays on Playback Theatre by Its Founders gathers together, for the first time in one place, key essays, articles, talks, and reminiscences by Playback Theatre's founders, Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas. Covering a body of work that spans almost five decades and locations from war zones to great cities, this anthology takes the reader on a journey from the earliest days of Playback Theatre to the present day, and includes several essays written specifically for this collection.