General Education Requirements
Course Description
During this course, we will tell, listen, and play together, and on the way we will learn and train in the playback technique. Additionally, participants will process their experiences through diary writing.
Playback is an art form that combines elements of theater, community work and storytelling. In a playback show, a group of actors and musicians meets with an audience to create an improvised show based on the participants’ personal stories. Attending a playback show, and in particular participation as a storyteller, brings about a powerful listening experience and a meaningful sharing in the tapestry of human interaction.
A group of people training in playback quickly becomes bonded and supportive. The weekly meeting in an environment that allows playing together, telling one’s story to others, and receiving its reflection from them, can develop into a deep and meaningful experience.
Playback training gives scientists who engage in it tools for listening, creative thinking, empathy, and a new perspective on the people and environment in which they live.
Meet the Instructor: Omer Reingold
"I am a CS professor at Stanford. I am also the artistic director of the Yanshufim playback theater troupe and was a member of BamaIvrit theater group and of the Weizmann Playback ensemble. My theater experience started in Talma Yalin art high school in Israel. This course is part of my long-term agenda of bringing more humanity into academic settings such as that of Stanford. While we often discuss the knowledge content of our fields, we rarely discuss the humans that carry out research in those fields. My homepage is at https://omereingold.wordpress.com/."
