London, 4th of August 2026

👋 Greetings, dear readers.

After some very hot but refreshing days in València catching up with friends, drinking horchata, and buying local theatre plays, I’m back in London. I can’t deny it feels good to be again in my safe haven with my cats.

It’s going to be a quiet month, but not too quiet. This Sunday we have a Playback Theatre open rehearsal with True Heart Theatre, and I’m still resonating with the one we had last month. Back then, a very young playbacker shared a story about their struggle when, during a playback reenactment, their scene partners didn’t follow through with the form as expected, which created a lot of anxiety for them.

I could totally relate to that. We’ve all been there when starting out in Playback Theatre, or at least I was. I don’t know if it was my autism or if I was a victim of the Dunning-Kruger effect, but as a newbie, I expected the forms to be executed as described and used as intended. Colouring outside the lines was something that made me fall in a pit of uncertainty.

Throughout my years of facilitating, I’ve often seen this need to nail every single form, sometimes in quite an unhealthy way. I’ve seen people struggle by trying too hard to do the form by the book, leading them to make more “mistakes” than other players and enter a spiral of self-deprecation. As a facilitator, it’s my duty to defuse these kinds of situations. Mind that I quoted the word “mistakes” because there’s no mistakes in playback, just different offers.

As a trainer, I must admit that I’m very strict about the execution of the forms. That’s why they’re called forms: they’re supposed to look a specific way. They are also our universal language as practitioners of the art form, enabling us to play with anybody. It is my duty to make sure everyone understands the basic Playback Theatre forms and they are able to implement them when needed.

As a practitioner, experience has taught me that forms are suggestions. Playing with equally experienced playbackers, whether from your own company or not, is joyful when you're pushing boundaries together in agreement. It's not just about colouring outside the lines, but using more than crayons to do so. That constant exploration is what makes Playback Theatre so joyful.

Following the logic of the Dunning-Kruger effect, the further we travel on our playback journey, the less self-conscious we become about our performance. Experience brings us back to the Socratic paradox: only knowing that we know nothing. This applies to improv as well, by the way.

If you’re starting your Playback Theatre journey and worrying about nailing everything, I’d tell you to get out of your head and start broadening your view to the whole stage. There are other players up there with you. You aren’t solely responsible for the “success” of a form. Playback Theatre is a choral art form, and we can only control our own actions. Getting frustrated because a form wasn’t successful due to another player “failing” to do as expected isn't a good sign if you’re aiming to become a Playback Theatre performer.

Anything can happen during a playback reenactment. Whatever happens, it’s up to you and your scene partners to make it work to accomplish the ultimate Playback Theatre goal: honouring someone’s story.

🫶 Stay hydrated, love to you all.

🎭 The Theatre bit

Last week, I had the chance to read the play that won the Ciutat d’Alzira Literary Prize in the theatre category last year, one of the most prestigious awards in the Catalan/Valencian language region. And they did a good job granting it.

Totes les Flors (All the Flowers), written by Catalan playwright Josep Julien, starts with what seems like a normal family setup that ends up in a shocking twist. The rest of the play makes us understand what led to it and why, while also showing that our perception of the characters was completely wrong.

The dialogues in this play are snappy, using repetition quite frequently to enhance the poetic feel of the conversations. With a cast of only three characters, most of the scenes feature just two. Each character has a powerful and deeply poetic monologue at a key moment in the play, tackling topics like corruption, revenge, and trauma.

This play is a great example of how to manage expectations and unravel information little by little at just the right time. Chef’s kiss.

📆 What is coming up

• 🇬🇧 8th of August - True Heart Theatre Open Rehearsal (London, UK). London artists, soon you’ll have another opportunity to practice Playback Theatre or to discover it if you haven’t thanks to True Heart Theatre. It’s free, register here!.

• 🇬🇧 14th of August - Acaprov at Shoreditch Balls (London, UK). August tends to be a void for those staying in the city, why not filling it with fun and music? Join us for a good time. Tickets here.

• 🇬🇧 11th of September - Acaprov at Shoreditch Balls (London, UK). For so many people, September is a time for another beginning. Kick off the academic year with a musical. Secure your sit.

• 🇲🇹 18th of September - Intro to Playback Theatre (Valletta, Malta). I´m honoured to be part of the facilitator roster attending the Improvizza! festival in Malta. I´m excited to introduce Playback Theatre to improvisers there. Tickets here.

📚 🎮 🎥 📺 The geeky dessert

It’s been a while since my last excursion to the movie theater to watch a superhero movie, but as a Spider-Man fan, I had to swing into the cinema to watch Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Geeky-me was happy. 🤓

After losing everything during the multiversal events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, we see a lonely, self-sufficient Peter Parker seeking refuge in his vigilante activities to cope with his life, offering a more grounded version of the character. We get a quick snapshot of where Spider-Man is at life thanks to an initial montage that recreates iconic covers from classic issues of the comic book series, something that shows the love for the source material and attention to detail.

The inclusion of The Punisher (played by Jon Bernthal) is curious, given the different tone of the two characters in the comic book realm. However, the movie manages to make the dynamic between Peter and The Punisher work very well, making it one of the highlights.

Speaking of new characters, I’m very curious about the future of Sadie Sink’s character despite the lousy effort to keep her identity a surprise during the promotion. The movie did manage, however, to offer some surprises that my inner geek enjoyed quite a lot.

Can’t wait for future adventures of the web slinger.