Portland Playback is moving! But not far …
Our monthly First Friday performances will now be held at CTN5, the community television network studio at 516 Congress Street, right next door to the Maine College of Art. This move will land us right into the middle of the First Friday arts district scene. The move will also provide us with professional theater lighting. (Hurray!) Although we anticipate collaborating with CTN on some video projects, our performances remain live and unrecorded.
Please join us for our first performance at CTN on Friday July 1st. Our theme will be “Bloopers” – stories of your favorite goof-ups and faux pas. Bring a friend! Remember, we’re nothing without you and the stories from your life!
7:30 p.m., just $7 at the door.
First Friday, May 6
Growing Up: Its Joys and Torments.
This month’s theme is Growing Up. Our memories of childhood range from the sublime to the ridiculous. When did you realize you’d turned the corner from childhood to being a “grown up”? Or what times have challenged you to think if you’d grown up at all? Grow up all over again with Portland Playback.
Every month Portland Playback Theater puts five talented actors at your disposal to play back the moments of your life, unrehearsed and on the spot. Now in our sixth year, we have brought hundreds of audience stories back to life. Find out more at www.portlandplayback.com.
We perform at the First Parish Church, at the intersection of Congress and Temple (just up from the Nickelodeon). Friday, May 6 at 7:30.
$7 suggested donation
This month we’re donating the proceeds from our monthly First Friday performance in April to crucial Red Cross efforts in Japan after the horrific earthquake and tsunami. Please come to support that important work and reflect on the power of nature.
First Friday, April 1
Theme: Tangles with Nature
The moods of Mother Nature range from the idyllic to the catastrophic. Perhaps you have your own personal story of an interaction with nature, whether benign or perilous. Come and share your story, and see it played back by our team of actor/improvisors. Portland Playback is in its fifth year and, on April 1st, will be a great way to gather round the communal fire, and contribute to the Red Cross’ vital work in Japan. Bring a friend!
7:30 PM at the First Parish Church at the intersection of Temple and Congress streets ( just up the street from the Nickelodeon Cinema). Admission is $7.
Greetings Friends of Playback,
Ouch! Love hurts! But along with the inevitable agonies, what bliss! In honor of Valentines Day, Portland Playback Theatre once again honors stories of romantic love, even though the steam has barely evaporated from our last trist with this theme last February!
This Friday, February 4th at 7:30PM at the First Parish Church (at the intersection of Congress and Temple (just up the street from the Nickelodeon Cinema. Bring a story from your life. Experience the unique satisfaction of watching it performed! Or just come to enjoy! As always with affairs of the heart, you’ll be spellbound!
Bring a friend! Just $7 at the door.
Timepiece, a new reader’s theater company started by Portland Playback Artistic Director David LaGraffe, is putting on a production of two cherished Christmas classics–A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas and A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. Celebrate the holiday season with these rich, warm tales enjoyed by children and adults alike. Just $10 at the door.
Cathedral of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland
Friday, December 10, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 11, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Email David for more information.
Join us for our annual honoring of your best–and worst–holiday moments. Diving catches for Thanksgiving turkey? Surprising Christmas gifts? Family memories? we’ve performed them all, and more. Please come to add your story to the mix and see it played back on the spot.
First Friday, December 3, 7:30 p.m., First Parish Church, corner of Temple and Congress, Portland
Portland Playback will be performing at Portland’s first annual Improv Fest at the St. Lawrence Arts Center! We’ll be performing on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 5, but several other talented improv groups from Portland will be performing throughout the weekend. Don’t miss it!
$12 at the door, or $10 in advance. Go to the St. Lawrence Arts website to find out more or to buy tickets.
Our First Friday theme for this Friday, August 6, is “Close Calls.” I remember the time my wife pulled me back just as I was about to step into London traffic (They drive the “wrong way” in England.) or when, on the same trip, I almost left my suitcase, containing my passport and clothes, on the subway. (I rushed in just in time to stop the doors from closing!) Whew!
Perhaps you have a story of a close call or near escape. Bring it in to share and see it “played back” by our improvisors. Portland Playback Theatre is now in its fifth year and has “played back” hundreds of stories. If you haven’t had your story improvisationally enacted you’re really missing something!
This Friday, August 6, 7:30 PM at the First Parish Church at the intersection of Congress and Temple.
$5 to $10 suggested donation.!
Our First Friday theme for this Friday, August 6, is “Close Calls.” I remember the time my wife pulled me back just as I was about to step into London traffic (They drive the “wrong way” in England.) or when, on the same trip, I almost left my suitcase, containing my passport and clothes, on the subway. (I rushed in just in time to stop the doors from closing!) Whew!
Perhaps you have a story of a close call or near escape. Bring it in to share and see it “played back” by our improvisors. Portland Playback Theatre is now in its fifth year and has “played back” hundreds of stories. If you haven’t had your story improvisationally enacted you’re really missing something!
This Friday, August 6, 7:30 PM at the First Parish Church at the intersection of Congress and Temple.
$5 to $10 suggested donation.!
Our First Friday theme for July 2 is “Light Bulb Moments.” Perhaps you’d like to share an “Aha!” moment – an experience that lit up your world and maybe even changed your life.
Portland Playback Theatre is just turning four years old and has “played back” hundreds of stories. If you haven’t had your story improvisationally enacted you’re really missing something!
This Friday, July 2, 7:30 PM at the First Parish Church at the intersection of Congress and Temple.
$5 to $10 suggested donation.
Greetings Friends of Playback!
Our First Friday theme for June 4 is Facing Fear. Our internal alarm system has served us well, but sometimes Fear itself is our greatest challenge. As a matter of cold fact, Fear, with a capital F, may be the most fundamental emotional background of what we are as human beings.
Do you have a story of a time when fear was front and center? We bet you do. Come and share your story – or just come to witness.
Portland Playback Theatre is just turning four years old and has “played back” hundreds of stories. If you haven’t had your story improvisationally enacted you’re really missing something!
Friday, June 4, 7:30 PM at the First Parish Church at the intersection of Congress and Temple streets in Portland. Still only 5 bucks at the door!