September 19-20th, 2026 (Valence, France)

Topic In this weekend workshop, led by Elsa Mauricio Childs and Gerry Orkin, we will explore the art of acting on the Playback stage.

Often, Playback actors simply replicate and amplify the actions, facts, thoughts and feelings described by the teller. Those techniques alone rarely deliver a transformative experience. In this workshop, you will learn to respond to stories in more creative, evocative, resonant and aesthetically satisfying ways. You’ll improve your listening skills and, as you play with familiar and new forms, learn to integrate language and movement to go beyond literality to make a more artful and meaningful connection with each story.

Whether you are a experienced practitioner or relatively new to Playback Theatre, this workshop invites you to expand your repertoire, challenge your assumptions, and embrace the potential of more poetic storytelling. Join us in this journey of exploration, discovery, and transformation, where participants will feel free to explore their unique artistic voices.

French versionAu-delà de la voix : faire résonner les mots par la poésie et le geste dans le Théâtre Playback

Nous vous proposons d’explorer le temps d’un week-end l’art de l’acteur-ice dans le théâtre Playback. L’atelier sera animé par Elsa Mauricio Childs et Gerry Orkin.

Parfois, lorsque nous reflétons une histoire, nous nous contentons de reproduire et d’amplifier les actions, les faits, les pensées ou les émotions partagées par le narrateur. Ces techniques peuvent être insuffisantes pour faire vivre au public et au narrateur une expérience de transformation. L’atelier permettra de travailler vos propositions de jeu de manière à les rendre plus créatives, évocatrices, porteuses d’un sens esthétique et de résonances. A l’aide de formes playback connues ou inconnues, vous travaillerez vos capacités d’écoute, ainsi que votre capacité à dépasser la surface des histoires en utilisant le langage et le mouvement de manière et à créer une connexion artistique unique avec chaque histoire.

Cet atelier est ouvert aux playbackeur·euses expérimenté·es ou débutant·es possèdant une première expérience de playback. C'est une invitation à élargir votre répertoire, remettre en question vos manières de penser et jouer et à vous aventurer dans la puissance de la poésie comme manière de raconter. Rejoignez-nous pour ce voyage combinant exploration, découverte et transformation, où chacun pourra explorer sa propre voix d’artiste.

L'atelier sera bilingue français/anglais.

The trainers
Elsa Maurício Childs is a CPT Accredited Playback Theatre Trainer, who has been practicing Playback for almost 10 years. She is a faculty member of the Iberian School of Playback Theatre, as well as a member of the board of the Iberian Playback Theatre Association. She did advanced practice training with Jo Salas, and leadership training with Jonathan Fox, Hannah Fox and Michael Cheng. In 2018, Elsa founded her own Playback company, InVerso, made up of professional actors. She is also a founding member, performer and trainer with Projecto Eco, another in-person Playback Theatre company, and part of the international online Playback group Perspektives. She is one of the co-founders of the HEED project, focusing on Playback Theatre for social justice and the question of access. Elsa has done multiple in-person and online Playback Theatre workshops and training with some of the most experienced playbackers in the world and taught Playback in many international settings, on subjects ranging from ethics and non-neutrality to artistry on stage. She views Playback as a tool for social justice and anti-oppression work and tries to bring poetry, dance and a deep aesthetic and ethical awareness to her practice. Elsa also has a masters degree in the field of Literature and works as an actor, an assistant stage director, a producer and a writer in non-Playback theatre. She is one of the founding members of A Corda, a non-profit cultural association that creates multi-disciplinary works crossing Theatre, Music and Literature, and one of the founders of the interseccional feminist group Eufémias, which created the biennial perfoming arts Eufémia Festival, on questions of identity, gender and resistance.

Gerry Orkin is an Australian Playback Theatre practitioner whose involvement with playback began in 1985. He was an actor, conductor and co-director of four successive Canberra Playback Theatre companies over a period of 25 years. More recently he directed a Playback company in Wollongong, New South Wales. Gerry has a special interest in training conductors, bringing artistry to the stage, and helping companies work with the social dimensions of stories and issues of social justice. He has led workshops in Australia, Singapore, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong, India, the UK and Portugal. Gerry is a faculty member and board member of the Australasian School of Playback Theatre and is also involved with community building in the region as well as internationally. He has a professional background in social policy and service development, and has worked on issues like homelessness, violence against women and child protection for government and non-government agencies.

Organisers This training is hosted by 'Place au Jeu' a young playback group based in Valence (France). There are fifteen of us, aged 25 to 40, mainly French and Lebanese, most of us queer, with mixed backgrounds and different levels of experience with Playback Theatre. We typically perform for local activists, communities, or non-profits.

Requirements The training is intended for playbackers who have completed a minimum of level 1 (30+ hours) or have been members of a playback group for over a year (see curriculum pathway Center for Playback Theater). Contact us if any doubts !

Finances Full price is 200€. To insure that money is not a barrier to participation, we offer a sliding scale starting at 20€. Let us know if you need to benefit from it.

Logistics The training will take place in Valence (Drôme) on September 19th and 20th, 2026. Exact timing TBC. Let us know if you need help arranging travel and accomodation. The training will be given in both French and English, with peer-transalation possible into Spanish and Arabic. Let us know if you need support or if you can support someone else in your language.

Cancellation policy

• over a month before : 90% refund
• over 2 weeks before : 50% refund

Any questions ? Write us at asso@place-au-jeu.fr
Our website : https://place-au-jeu.fr