“The Art of Asking Meaningful Questions” for Playback Conductors

Limited spaces available. Wednesdays in June: 5-6:30pm ET.
June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29.

Sliding scale. All fees will support PNA.

Sessions are highly participatory and include coaching.

Topics we’ll cover:

• What do you choose particularly useful questions to help warm up the audience?
• How do you encourage tellers from different demographics to step forward, without putting people on the spot?
• How do you craft questions so they best support the Playback form you have chosen?
• What questions often asked in Playback are not useful most of the time?
• What questions help tellers to connect their personal story to the collective story?
• What are useful ways to check-in with tellers after an enactment–including when you judge the Playback did not serve the teller?
• What do YOU need to become an even more confident and resourceful conductor?  What gets in your way?

Christopher founded True Story Theater (Boston) in 2001 and coordinated the Playback North America network 2010-2021. He is currently on the International Playback Theatre Network board.

He has taught college courses on Playback for community healing at Simmons College and Lesley University, consulted with and trained dozens of Playback companies, and been in over 750 Playback performances and workshops. 

He has conducted hundreds of shows addressing social issues for people with disabilities, seniors, LGBTQ+, white people addressing racism, families with neurodiversity, and more. He and his wife, Anne, co-authored several guide books on Playback Theatre and co-edited the 2020 book: Playback Theatre for social impact, interviewing leaders from 16 Playback companies on their social impact work.