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ESSENTIAL INFO
If you purchase a ticket for this course, all the information on this page will be emailed to you with your ticket.
👥 Suitable for: Adults only 18+
📍 Venue: Bellingen Public School (mobility aid accessible)
📈 Level: BEGINNER to INTERMEDIATE skill level
⏰ Schedule: Mon–Fri, 9am – 12pm (5 Half-Days)
⚠️ Extra info: This course includes an opportunity for public performance. Students may opt out if they wish.
🚗 Check your venue: If you are booking multiple courses, we are unable to provide transport between venues.
Required skills & experience
No experience required, but a willingness to be seen and heard an advantage.
Course involves physical movement, voice and communication.
Supplies that you need to bring to class
Notebook & pen
Water bottle
Hand towel
Wear comfortable easy to move in clothing
Small snack
For the final day - bring a Black or Dark Navy T-Shirt.
Learning outcomes
Students will leave with practical Playback skills, greater confidence in improvisation, and a strong sense of ensemble connection.
They’ll also receive a Certificate of Completion recognising their participation and the Playback skills they’ve developed.
COURSE PLAN
DAY ONE: Safety, Connection & Play
We begin by building a creative container through games, movement, and group expression.
Students explore “yes, and…”, making and accepting offers, and working with spontaneity.
Introduce the foundations of Playback and try out simple short forms.
DAY TWO: Creative Expression & Deep Listening
Explore embodied emotion and develop movement vocabulary for solo and ensemble work.
Students practice listening with all their senses and interpreting what they hear.
Playback short forms continue, including On the Boxes.
DAY THREE: Elements of Playback
The ensemble works with music, sound, and rhythm to support stories.
We explore metaphor, objects, and imagery as tools for shaping scenes.
Further practice On the Boxes strengthens timing, presence, and collaboration.
DAY FOUR: Golden Moments
Move into deeper layers of expression, exploring emotional truth and the social context of stories.
Students practice recognising and shaping “golden moments” within Playback forms and ensemble improvisation.
DAY FIVE: Stories in Motion
Bring all elements together, focusing on the arc of a Playback performance.
Students practice transforming real stories into short scenes with confidence, presence, and ensemble connection.
We finish the week with a relaxed sharing for invited family and friends, celebrating the skills we’ve developed together as we honour the stories they bring.
COURSE TUTORS
Michele Balharry
Michele Balharry is a performer and facilitator based in Bellingen, NSW, with a lifelong love of movement, music, and story.
She has trained extensively in Playback Theatre, including completing Advanced Practice with the New York School of Playback Theatre, and brings twenty years of ensemble improvisation and community storytelling to her teaching. Michele is currently the Artistic Director of Bellingen Playback Theatre Company and is an experienced actor, conductor, and trainer. She most recently appeared at the Woodford Folk Festival Streets Program, performing and conducting across seven shows with a dynamic eight person ensemble.
Michele’s workshops blend movement, voice, and play to develop creative expression and the improvisation skills particular to Playback Theatre, creating a focused and supportive space for exploring personal stories through spontaneity and genuine connection.
Benn de Mole
Benn has been exploring, learning and teaching improvised performance in its various forms for over 20 years. Contact Improvisation dance, Physical Theatre, Music, Performance Improvisation in the lineage of Al Wunder, Character Skits, Playback Theatre & more.
He was a founding member of Physical Theatre company Strings Attached from 2006-2013, devising and performing, and composing music for 5 full length shows and many festival appearances.
As a multi-instrumentalist musician, dancer and actor Benn is a member of ImproLab, known for their long form group improvisations, and of Bellingen Playback Theatre Company. He also curates TIC-The Improvisation Collecting that occasionally brings together teachers, performers and new-performers to create large group shows in small time frames.
For over 10 years in Bellingen, Benn has been teaching and holding space for Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement and Performance Improvisation. Creating and sharing ways to enter the embodied state of presence where inspiration and creative impulses can flow gives him great joy.
To check out Benn DeMole’s music visit Soundcloud, Bandcamp and the streamings...
“Thank you for a beautiful experience of Playback Theatre. I loved the gentle guidance as we explored different elements. I particularly enjoyed the warm-ups. We had so much fun together. There was such a sense of safety I felt I could dive into any process, including the performance for our loved ones. Looking forward to having another go.”
“Playback is such an interesting and accessible form of theatre; no acting experience is needed! The workshop I attended was fun and creatively inspiring. Michele and Nicole created a warm and safe environment for us to explore freely, all in a very short time-frame. I left feeling energised and I can’t wait to do another workshop!”
