Our Mission
The Central VT Playback Troupe weaves together
movement, music, and metaphor to bring audience stories to life.
Our playback practice is in service of co-creating a just, equitable, and playful Vermont and beyond.
movement, music, and metaphor to bring audience stories to life.
Our playback practice is in service of co-creating a just, equitable, and playful Vermont and beyond.
Our Manifesto
Witness is powerful:
Bearing witness and being witnessed are pathways to transformation
We care for one another’s magic, complexity, & vulnerability
Our creativity can be trusted:
Improvisation and spontaneity are tools to build resilience and collective insight
We commit to boldness, taking risks, and imperfection
A more just world is possible:
We commit to anti-racism and collective liberation
We seek to celebrate the voices and lived experiences of all people
The content of our lives is meaningful. Our stories are worth telling.
Bearing witness and being witnessed are pathways to transformation
We care for one another’s magic, complexity, & vulnerability
Our creativity can be trusted:
Improvisation and spontaneity are tools to build resilience and collective insight
We commit to boldness, taking risks, and imperfection
A more just world is possible:
We commit to anti-racism and collective liberation
We seek to celebrate the voices and lived experiences of all people
The content of our lives is meaningful. Our stories are worth telling.
Ensemble Bio
The Central Vermont Playback Troupe came into being in November 2019
under the leadership of Lucy Schmid, who is our current artistic director.
Our ensemble of ~9 performers includes teachers, social workers, somatic movement educators, medical providers, landscape designers, therapists, advocates, community organizers and more.
As a troupe, we believe playback has the capacity to support healing, to change the ways we relate to each other, create new cultural possibilities, and to embody our values in the world.
We are delighted to be exploring playback together
and to be a part of the greater international playback community.
under the leadership of Lucy Schmid, who is our current artistic director.
Our ensemble of ~9 performers includes teachers, social workers, somatic movement educators, medical providers, landscape designers, therapists, advocates, community organizers and more.
As a troupe, we believe playback has the capacity to support healing, to change the ways we relate to each other, create new cultural possibilities, and to embody our values in the world.
We are delighted to be exploring playback together
and to be a part of the greater international playback community.
Ensemble Members
Past Troupe Members / May Make Guest Appearances
What Is Playback Theater?
Playback Theatre is an original form of improvisational theatre in which audience members tell stories from their lives and watch them enacted on the spot. The actors use sound, embodied movement and song to express the emotional essence of the teller's story. Playback Theatre, as we know it, was first developed by Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas in Upstate New York during the applied theatre movement.
The original Playback Theatre Company came together in 1975 and was founded and developed by Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas. This was part of the applied theatre explorations of the 1970s. Theatre companies and practitioners were searching for ways to reach out to their audiences, bring theatre closer to the everyday reality of the community, and break away from the scripted literary tradition of theatre performance. Jonathan Fox was influenced by his experiences in the Peace Corps in Nepal, where he witnessed ritual and theatre deeply embedded into the rhythms of community life.
Since 1975, Playback Theatre has spread across the world with companies and practitioners in over 26 countries. It thrives in a variety of settings, existing as community theatre gatherings as well as a professional service to both the business and social sector.
-- adapted from Playback Theatre UK
The original Playback Theatre Company came together in 1975 and was founded and developed by Jonathan Fox and Jo Salas. This was part of the applied theatre explorations of the 1970s. Theatre companies and practitioners were searching for ways to reach out to their audiences, bring theatre closer to the everyday reality of the community, and break away from the scripted literary tradition of theatre performance. Jonathan Fox was influenced by his experiences in the Peace Corps in Nepal, where he witnessed ritual and theatre deeply embedded into the rhythms of community life.
Since 1975, Playback Theatre has spread across the world with companies and practitioners in over 26 countries. It thrives in a variety of settings, existing as community theatre gatherings as well as a professional service to both the business and social sector.
-- adapted from Playback Theatre UK
Let's Collaborate
We've offered workshops and performances in partnership with: Mosaic Vermont, the Youth Action Task Force (YATF), The Vermont Network, and the Vermont Workers' Center.
We would love to talk with you about bringing the art of playback theater
to your community or organization.
Please be in touch.
We would love to talk with you about bringing the art of playback theater
to your community or organization.
Please be in touch.