Playback Theatre and the significance of intra-actions in staging social artistry

Abstract

The author draws attention to Playback Theatre’s ability to translate stories that speak to social injustice in South Africa. When the Playback Theatre ensemble intra-acts with stories, it encourages affective consciousness through social artistry. This is crucial in highlighting the potential of Playback Theatre to stage stories that steer away from reductionist portrayals. The author undertakes a diffractive analysis of two stories within the performance that concerns the contestation of gender roles and patriarchy in South Africa. Narrative reticulation and intra-actions are employed to reveal how performative translations in Playback Theatre provide an opportunity to magnify issues pertaining to social justice.