“Give me the courage to show
up and let myself be seen.”
Dr. Brené Brown
PlaybackTheatre
Playback Theatre (PT) is a form of improvised theater based on audience stories. This art-form corresponds with different disciplines such as Psychodrama, oral traditions, storytelling, community theater, social action and more.
Assael has trained with the creator of PT, Jonathan Fox, and with leading trainers around the world.
He is an accredited Playback Theatre Trainer (APTT) and is a graduate of the Central School of Playback Theater.
He has been performing, researching, conducting and teaching PT for over a decade. He combines his PT training, with his therapeutic training, as well as his fluency in Psychodrama, NLP and Improv, which creates a rich, multi-layered expression of this art form.
Assael teaches PT techniques for a wide variety of groups and organizations, aiming to improve group dynamics, allow creative reflection, and empower educators and leaders.
Since 2012, Dr. Romanelli, a certified APTT, has been developing and facilitating original themed Playback Theatre (PT) training, in Israel and abroad. Leading dozens of trainings, totaling over 500 participants around the world, Assael has acquired and imparted his expansive and comprehensive knowledge, cultivating rich and engaging trainings.
All trainings are built and explored using terminology and techniques based off theory relating to the topic.
Below is a list of trainings:
The Ninja Actor
The cornerstone and most popular topic of Assael's Playback (PT) theory and practice. This topic refines the PT company's artistic language and helps develop a more synergistic group, allowing for fluid improvised enactments. For further reading, see article on this topic here.
Differentiation-based Playback Theatre
An exploration of how to perform "slow playback" that relies on the here-and-now, intimate "heat" that is generated between the actors on stage. We will discover how the characters are only a 'thin veil' that covers our face and how we can dare to bring more of ourselves to the PT enactment.
Antagonism
Bringing clear, emotionally loaded characters to amplify the teller's journey. For further reading, see article on this topic here.
Chorus
“Riding the wave” of the group mind while maximizing this format in short and medium forms. For further reading, see article on this topic here.
Dilemmas
and conflicts
Old forms and new forms that maximize the creative potential of dilemmas and conflicts in PT. For further reading, see article on this topic here.
Sexuality and eroticism
Acting erotic and sexual scenes in a clean, professional and artistic manner. For further reading, see article on this topic here.
Scenes/open enactments
A clear, simple model that will help your ensemble improvise engaging, aesthetic scenes. For further reading, see article on this topic here.
Metaphors in PT
Generating and maximizing the use of metaphors in PT.
Stillness in PT
Exploring the use and impact of pauses and stillness for creation in PT short and medium forms.
Silence in PT
Utilizing silences as a tool for creative exploration and dramatization in PT.
Most of his theory of these trainings have been also published as articles and can be found here.