-
The Yuva Ekta Playback Theatre Group
September 30, 2019The Yuva Ekta Playback Theatre group is the only active playback group in Delhi. We came into formal existence in 2018. Our training in the Playback form, however, started much earlier when actors, facilitators, and volunteers associated with The Yuva Ekta Foundation trained under Mr. Brian Tasker from Bristol, United Kingdom. We furthered our training under Mr. Gerry Orkin from the Wollongong Playback Theatre Company, Australia through his visits in 2017 & 2018, encouraging us to engage more consistently with the Playback form.
We now have actors and Expressive Arts facilitators from different socio-economic backgrounds, who meet and practice regularly.
Our first-ever application of Playback was a community theatre performance in a project with ‘Youth At-Risk’ in Jahangirpuri, an urban slum in North-West Delhi. We used Playback to bring into active awareness, issues faced by community members. It was an eye-opener for us as audiences spoke about concerns regarding living conditions and their children’s safety in such circumstances. Once our performance was completed, the community members expressed a need to come together to solve issues that plagued them: rampant drug abuse, crime, and communal tensions.
Keeping in mind the larger intent of The Yuva Ekta Foundation, all our performances have been conducted in spaces where one would least expect a session: juvenile prisons and conference halls of government buildings and corporate offices. The idea is to use Playback in real-time settings and to start addressing issues where they exist.
We are looking forward to sharing our experiences and learnings at the IPTN conference in December 2019, where Playback practitioners from across the globe will gather for the first time in India to discuss the present and future of this art form.
