About us
A piece of history
The original London Playback Company was founded in 1991. Anna Chesner and Veronica Needa were members and continued to teach Playback and mentor other groups until forming the highly successful Playback AME in 2000. The present London Playback Company was formed in 2007 with a new team and management.
Our vision
London Playback Theatre Company works with audiences in the telling and re-playing of their stories. We offer performances and workshops which provide a safe space for individual voices to be heard and collective themes to emerge. Through the spontaneity and vibrancy of improvisational techniques, we create theatre which engages audiences – body, mind and spirit. Our work offers opportunities for participants to deepen their understanding of each other and to develop authentic ways of communicating. We honour the multiplicity of voices in any group or context.
Company Members
London Playback Theatre Company is a team of internationally experienced, professional theatre practitioners, consultants, educators, and therapists.
Anna Chesner
Anna works as a freelance psychotherapist, trainer and consultant. She is co-director of the London Centre for Psychodrama Group and Individual Psychotherapy, where she co-runs the Psychotherapy Training Programme and runs the Creative Supervision Programme. She has many years experience working in and for the NHS on a consultancy basis, and is widely published in the fields of group work and action methods. She graduated from the School of Playback Theatre (USA) in 2001. Her group analytic training informs her contribution to the company.
Simon Floodgate
Simon has had years of professional experience in a variety of national and international educational and community theatre contexts. He is a lecturer in theatre, and directs a programme for deaf & hearing students at the University of Reading. He graduated from the School of Playback Theatre (USA) in 2006 having actively been involved with various Playback companies since 2001. He joined London Playback in 2004 and takes the lead in the artistic development of the Company.
Davina Holmes
Davina joined London Playback in 2009, and has been performing Playback since 1995, training in her native New Zealand and performing and directing with several companies. Since moving to London in 2004, she has performed with True Heart Playback and has been teaching within the School of Playback Theatre (UK). She currently works as a Dance Movement Therapist with children, families and adolescents, and has extensive experience in teaching in schools.
Jane Hoy
Jane has worked in university continuing education for most of her working life and is now a freelance consultant and trainer. Her most recent project was on self harm minimisation She specialises in active learning and integrates participatory theatre approaches into her work with education, health, youth and social services. Jane is trained in forum theatre and has been with London Playback since 2006. She is a keen performer of latin and ballroom dancing on the LGBT scene.
Veronica Needa
Veronica is a theatre professional & has been a playback practitioner since 1991. A graduate of the School of Playback Theatre in 1995, she was President of the International Playback Theatre Network (1997-2003), and teaches internationally. Co-founder of London Playback Theatre she is also director of True Heart Theatre, serving the UK Chinese community, and Coordinator of the School of Playback Theatre (United Kingdom).
Lillie Stoute
Lillie has been a Drama and Movement Therapist since 2005. Before this she worked with women in the criminal justice system as a support manager in the adult education sector; as a social and youth worker. She has managed a unit for children leaving care, and works with vulnerable young people and women using the creative arts. She completed the Playback Theatre core training in January 2006; and was invited to join London Playback Theatre in April 2007. Since this time Lillie has continued to enjoy, be challenged and inspired by Playback Theatre.