This is one of ITAC Collaborative’s monthly Think Tank sessions, and this month we focus on Playback Theatre in Africa, hosted by the AFRICA CONNECT Group. This group is an IPTN (International Playback Theatre Network) Africa Region Project that brings Playbackers from Africa together to connect and exchange lived experiences through Playback Theatre.

In this ITAC Think Tank, Teaching Artists from the Global North had the opportunity to witness a Global South online applied theatre intervention through stories from Africa. ITAC participants were even invited to watch part of the AFRICA CONNECT Group rehearsal live, where they discussed their learning, goals, and ambitions for this practice.

The past two years have brought increased challenges for Playback practitioners in Africa to meet on African soil in a shared space. This disconnection sparked a conversation between Bonface Beti from Nairobi, Kenya, and Tarryn Lee from Johannesburg, South Africa, leading to the creation of a platform to CONNECT AFRICA through Playback story sharing and story listening.

Playback theatre is a non-scripted form of performance that invites the audience to share real-life moments and stories through a supportive and guided process, which are then transformed into theatre. This process of story sharing and story playing fosters community dialogue around specific socio-political contexts, and the Playback process adapts to the needs of the audience.

Tarryn Lee, who explored conversations with Bonface Beti, curated and led a 4-week AFRICA CONNECT GROUP ONLINE PROJECT experiment. The Playback community involved includes Playbackers from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Though the group is small, it is committed to growing this community dialogue space and hopes to expand and include more African Playback practitioners, prioritizing accessibility and equity. However, complex socio-economic challenges faced by Africa, particularly concerning online projects, regularly restrict the continuity of the project’s work.