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The Arts Beat is a weekly deep-dive into Memphis arts, music, dance, theater, fashion, film and events. Keep scrolling for a roundup of the best arts and culture stories from the week. Have a story idea? Send it to eperry@dailymemphian.com.
Virginia Reed Murphy describes playback theater as a “storytelling and witnessing practice.”
Performers re-enact the stories of attendees in a live setting.
Murphy, who was born in Memphis, trained in playback theater in New York and founded an organization employing the technique when she moved back to her hometown.
Since 2010, Playback Memphis reports giving more than 500 performances, working with more than 75 organizations, conducting more than 750 community training sessions, and serving more than 3,500 students.
“As an organization during the pandemic, we decided to invest in doing some deep, purposeful transformation work,” Murphy said in an early August interview.
“Our work up until that point, what we were widely known for was our Performing the Peace program, which was the program that brought law enforcement officers with justice-impacted individuals who were part of the re-entry program at Pipeline to Success.”
Murphy said the organization realized that after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd and the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization’s members knew they could not keep the same program structure.
The organization wanted to focus on who it was and what it was inspiring to be.
After a year-long rumination on the future of the organization, it has emerged with a new leader, a new focus, and a new name — Everystory.
Everystory is concentrating on delivering its programming to youth and youth-serving organizations.
“We’re in a season where we are working to bring playback theater and Everystory to more youth through more strategic partnerships, and while at the same time the community still has the opportunity to engage and grow as well through our public performances,” Murphy said.
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Its output looks different depending on the setting. For instance, in the Be the Peace Club, middle school students undergo several sessions with professional ensemble members using improv theater techniques and then perform for elementary students.
The goal is for the participants to build gratitude, non-judgment, curiosity, patience, trust and humor.
Everystory programs include those for individuals, teams and organizations; for students; and for teachers, school personnel, and youth service workers and advocates.
Its Listening for a Change programming is for professionals who work with diverse populations, such as educators, social workers, public health, and in business.
Community Matters and Memphis Matters performances are more generally community-based.
The next Memphis Matter performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at Everystory’s home base in TheatreSouth, inside First Congregational Church in Cooper-Young.
Murphy is now director of advancement, with former Girls Inc. President and CEO Lisa Moore serving as interim executive director.
Murphy’s role change is a step in succession planning to “pass the torch to the next generation.”
“I have been a big fan of Playback Memphis for over a decade, coming to Memphis Matters performances,” Moore said. “... I was deeply rooted in Frayser when I was with Girls Inc. and was very aware of the efforts that were happening there at that time. And so I’ve just always been a fan of the work and found it very powerful.”
In 2023, Moore left Girls Inc. When she transitioned into doing consulting full-time, Moore began working with Murphy.
Murphy and Playback Memphis’ board chair asked Moore to consider stepping into an interim executive director role.
“Coming in at a time where there is such a tremendous change is exciting for me,” Moore said about the new name.
Working with creative agency Baby Grand on organizational branding, Moore used her facilitation experience to help people give feedback.
The process found that even though the performance art and the organization’s training come from playback theater, the name was confusing to people. For instance, some people would mistakenly think that because of the “playback” name, the organization was music-related.
Because playback is a broadly used term, the name is also not unique enough compared to the organization’s actual use of playback theater, Murphy said.
“The name (Everystory) is really resonating,” Moore said. “It was quite a challenge to pick a new name. And I’ve gone through name change before. I went through the … name change of Girls Club of America to Girls Inc.”
Moore said the organization put in a year of work to realize that there was another name that could better represent the work the organization was doing and why.
She said that Everystory was a powerful representation of what can happen when people are provided an opportunity to use playback theater methods.
“People feel heard,” she said. “People feel seen. People feel connected.”
The organization has also had to build capacity to respond to daytime performance requests. Some ensemble members are part-time and work other jobs.
The organization now also includes three full-time ensemble members.
“They are deeply passionate men that want to give back to the community in the ways in which they were fed by the organization,” Moore said.
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