Playback Theatre applications: A systematic review of literature

Abstract

Playback Theatre (PT) was created as an improvised form of theatre based on the sharing of personal narratives by members of an audience that, in turn, are reciprocated by playback actresses and actors (“playbackers”) in the form of theatre-like artistic performances. From the beginning, its characteristics as a group process and therapeutic potential have been discussed. As this increasingly more common approach to storytelling most often seeks to stimulate individual and/or communal emotional growth/healing, the literature on it is also increasing. However, a significant portion of said literature has been focused on anecdotal type of reporting. Given the latter, we put together a systematic review of the literature on PT, geared towards identifying the literature sources that report evaluations, either qualitative or quantitative, of PT applications. Hence, our aim was to produce a comprehensive summary of the effects that have been reported in evaluation-centered studies of PT applications of all scopes. We searched four major electronic databases (PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus) for PT interventions between 1990 and June 2023. The quality of the studies gathered was evaluated by considering both the existence or absence of a control group and the reliability of the evaluation strategies employed, thus controlling for the risk of bias, consistent with the PRISMA protocol (Liberati et al. (2009)). The database search successfully identified 79 peer-reviewed articles on the subject of PT. Of these, 18 were English-written articles that reported on the use of evaluative measures concerning PT programs. The populations that benefited from these programs included children, adults, and older adults. Additionally, these articles included the application of PT in different contexts, from improving language skills to the promotion of mental health among individuals and/or communities. The results gathered lend support to the successful use of PT in enhancing cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Recommendations to increase and improve the reporting of PT effects are discussed.