Exploring the positive and negative experiences of supporting survivors of the Sri Lankan civil war: the 'lived' experiences of Playback Theatre practitioners

Playback Theatre is an audience participatory applied theatre form increasingly being challenged to address the psychosocial needs of individuals and communities exposed to war/disaster internationally. Evidence of its efficacy in such environments is anecdotal. Furthermore, there is no research that explores the experience of Playback Theatre practitioners teaching in high risk environments on the international stage. This study explores the positive and negative subjective interpretations of western Playback Theatre practitioners teaching in Sri Lanka post-civil war, supporting local practitioners within the Theatre of Friendship project. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and analyse transcribed scripts from five participants. One superordinate theme, Humility and hope amongst the rubble, encompassed five subordinate themes: Western naivety, the reality stick; The big itch; Expert rejected, a colonial overhang; Humble reciprocity; and Eyes opened/self-reparation. Actively striving to make sense of and negotiate their expectations versus the reality of teaching Playback Theatre in post war Sri Lanka, these participants interpreted their experiences by oscillating between many pairs of polar positions: war and excitement, good will and naivety, expert and fool, trust and suspicion, giving and receiving, grief and joy. Overall, these themes interpret the collision of western naivety with good intent that strives to define a more humble, wiser humanitarianism cross culturally. Future research, clinical implications, and questions relating to regulation and support within the overarching international Playback Theatre community, are discussed.