Improvising Real Life cover

Improvising Real Life

by Jo Salas

"Improvising Real Life: Personal Story in Playback Theatre by Playback Theatre cofounder Jo Salas is the basic text used by new and seasoned Playback practitioners, trainers, and in university courses. The 20th Anniversary edition includes a foreword by Roberto Gutiérrez Varea of Theatre Without Borders and co-founder of the Performing Arts and Social Justice Program at the University of San Francisco. Entertaining and thoughtful, Improvising Real Life is illustrated with photos and real-life stories told in performances and workshops." -- Amazon. "In a Playback Theatre performance, audience members tell stories about their lives -- memories, dreams, tragedies, and farces -- and a team of actors improvises theatre pieces on the spot. First developed in 1975 in upstate New York, Playback Theatre is now practiced around the world, in theatres, schools, refugee camps, prisons, community centers -- anywhere there are people with stories to tell." -- Cover.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?