To say that we enjoyed the morning with you and the women would be a complete understatement.
“Today was very beautiful and powerful. I am surprised how powerful it is. I was in crying corner -joining in to. Not feeling my own pain. But crying at the release and the holding the women had been through. The desperation, the amount of pain, isolation, the un-allowed anger and fear. I am ok when I teach as I carry that energy of facilitating but today was the story not caught up in the head stuff.. powerfully dealt with, which had a huge effect.. The playback theatre is mind blowing.” Trainer.
“Playback is utterly brilliant and Tarte Noire create such a wonderfully female space which feels so life affirming with all its crap as well as the good stuff. For me, it’s about being alive, it’s like seeing the world with more clarity. What matters, what’s got worth, what’s powerful, what’s nurturing.
How would these women be if they could have something like this on a regular basis? How high would they soar?
The courage that the women possess is awesome….to be able to open themselves to the course and today….to feel such pain and despair but to survive it and still hold on to hope and happiness and stand tall and together…massive.
How fortunate to have shared this morning with such wonderful women and what treasures they found in the forest” Trainer
The women said that it was a wonderful experience and it gave them a sense of their own power especially as a group. They said it was a great way to end the course as it showed them how far they had come and their achievement in doing so.
Pattern Changing courses aim to support individual women to rediscover the trust in themselves and self belief that they can take back control of their lives and in doing so make positive choices about the way they want to live. Therefore it is important that they are given the opportunity to gain skills to help them to do this. However Pattern Changing also acknowledges the importance of validating what they have been through and offers them a safe space within which they can explore what has happened to them and what it feels like. Playback Theatre works so well alongside Pattern Changing as it does something very similar but using a different creative medium to do so. PC works as women are part of a group and the group experience becomes a power and strength in itself. The women realise their own potential but how this is also linked to being part of something else and that this can bring support and strength. They don’t have to manage on their own, they can reach out and find acceptance and understanding which is a sustaining force. The sharing of the experience both PC and Playback Theatre with each other is an important part of the womens’ journey to recovery and wellness.
All the women said how lovely it would be to have more Playback, maybe half way through, at the end and a few months after the end. A bit like Janet mentioned, a wake up call from time to time.
I thought that this time, Playback was a celebration…of survival, friendship, women, support, hope and possibility.
Heartfelt thanks to you all.
Written evaluation from women survivors of domestic violence
We hope you enjoyed the Playback Theatre performance? We feel that it gives women a wonderfully unique way to celebrate the ending of their pattern Changing course and all their achievements. It is a powerfully affecting experience which offers the opportunity for everyone to come together and share feelings and stories.
In order for us to try and continue to provide a service which fits with the needs of the women we work with, we would appreciate your feedback regarding your Playback Theatre experience. Please use the space below to say how you feel about the morning and remember you can be honest.
“I didn’t know what to expect when you told me there was theatre company would be coming along. I found this experience AMAZING!! Thank you so much for your hard work!
I cannot express how each of you has made me feel, and since your performance have thought about it frequently and felt such relief! I would sum the experience up as feeling UNDERSTOOD!! Something I didn’t even realise I was aching for. I have told a couple of my very closest friends about my amazing experience that Thursday morning and I would like you all to know I am so grateful.”
“What a sympathetic and quite brilliant therapeutic session… moving, caring and kind… Clever insight, but empathetic presentation for all. well done and thank you.”
“To begin with it was a very strange thing to watch and experience but the moment I began to see myself in the things they acted out it began to make sense. To be honest at certain points it felt too emotionally traumatic and I wanted to leave but forcing myself to stay made me finally let out some carefully tied up emotions. Sharing this with the other ladies was a further way of drawing us together, and there were further lessons I learnt through these women playing back our experiences. Although strange and uncomfortable to begin with I think this was a valuable and important part of the course. I’m glad I got to attend it. Thank you.”
