In addition to being a member of District Community Playback, Andy Stoffel is the theatre teacher at DC International School, a public charter school in DC. He graduated from Georgetown University in 2012 with a degree in Culture & Politics, focusing on the intersections of theatre and conflict transformation. He loves the way Playback Theatre can be used to strengthen bonds of community for those who take part in it.
Caroline
Caroline joined Synergy Playback in 2010 for a year. She is excited to re-engage with Playback theater with District Community Playback. Caroline is an actor in the DMV (District, Maryland, Virginia) area. She is the owner of Black Star Entertainment, LLC (acting, coaching, workshop). Caroline’s acting career includes Stage, TV, Film, Industrials, and local Commercials. She worked with medical students, and with doctors (communication, role-playing) and is a member of SAG-AFTRA. Caroline graduated with an Associate of Arts Degree in Theater from Prince George’s Community College, and went on to study at Studio Theater Acting Conservatory, and The Theater Lab. Caroline’s first venture with improvisation was with S.T.A.R Improv Company. Caroline worked with Arena Stage as a Teaching Artist with their Student Playwrights Project. She also worked with Young Playwright’s Theater as a Reader for their 10-minute play festival featuring original plays written by elementary, middle, and high-school students. In that same program, Caroline worked as dramaturg to the student in order to prepare the play for production. She is very curious about people and enjoys hearing stories, as well as telling them. Playback Theater is a way to do both. Playback can be therapeutic, but it is not therapy. However, stories show us how we are different, how we are alike, and can give us a new perspective. Caroline is grateful to God for opportunities. She is also grateful to family and friends for support and encouragement!
Deborah
Deborah Zavos has been performing Playback for over 30 years, and this form of theatre still feels fresh and new. She was co-founder of DC Playback Theatre, where she performed and conducted for 12 years. Deborah then started a Jewish women's company called ShemaMa Playback Theater, after which she performed with Synergy. She is now delighted to be with District Community Playback. Her personal mission is to embrace, nurture, and celebrate the holiness between people and within herself which is for her, the essence of Playback Theatre. It is where people enter the room as strangers, and through the experience of telling stories and sharing thoughts and feelings, the audience becomes a community. Sharing the magic of Playback has made her a very rich person!
Erin
Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Erin Whalen joined her first Playback company in the fall of 2010, and is now delighted to be a member of District Community Playback. Since 2009, she has worked as a freelance actor, trainer, and role-player, usually in the realm of medical education. In her first experience with Playback Theatre, Erin fell in love with the art form. She appreciates the therapeutic effect that Playback has on its audience members. For an audience member, there is something so satisfying about having your story, your inmost thoughts and feelings, given artistic life right before your eyes. As an artist, there is such satisfaction knowing that by creating this art, you have helped audience members reach clarity, emotional healing, and a sense of peace.
Jametta
Bio coming soon..
John
John A. Johnson is a native Washingtonian and an Actor/Poet/Playwright. He is a proud graduate of the University of the District of Columbia and holds a B.A in Theatre Arts. He is also a recipient of the "Artist Fellowship Grant" awarded by the D.C. Arts Commission. John currently produces plays which promote social change and partners with the local school districts in DC, Maryland, and Virginia with his creative workshops.
Kim
Kim Mann joined District Community Playback in July 2020. Her interest in playback theatre stems from her work and studies in applied theatre. She completed an MA in Applied Theatre: Drama in Educational, Community and Social Contexts from Goldsmiths, University of London. She also studied Conflict Analysis and Resolution and Theatre at George Mason University. Kim is an elementary school theatre teacher, and prior to that she was the Operations Director of a non-profit organisation called Global Camps Africa, which supports youth affected by HIV and AIDS through life skills camp programs. Kim has worked as a teaching artist and facilitator of arts programming in a number of different contexts, including adult and youth programs in the United States, England, and South Africa. She has a passion for using the arts as a tool to build community. Playback acting feels like coming home to the stories of others, and Kim is so honored to be a part of this community.
Peter
Bio coming soon...
Tamika
Bio coming soon...
Asali
Asali McIntyre, violinist and singer for over 20 years, enjoys sharing music in many different ways. She is a freelance artist, playing and performing for weddings, receptions, private parties, church celebrations, concerts, and recitals, and she has a number of private violin students. Since learning the amazing art that is Playback Theatre over the past 7 years, Ms. McIntyre has pursued excellence in both its acting forms and its musical accompaniments. She has a deep respect for Playback Theatre and welcomes every opportunity to, in essence, take audience members who were once strangers, and turn them into a community of people who have many things in common. In this way, Playback is a most powerful tool.
Courtney
Courtney Dowe is a DC area native. Growing up, her family was known as the Dowe Family Players and visitors to their home knew that poetry, song, and theater were to be expected as a matter of course. In early adulthood, she continued to explore theater as part of the WOW Cafe Theater production of Black Girl Ugly in the Lower East Side of New York City in 2010. She is honored to be a member of District Community Playback Theater and grateful to be allowed into the lives of others through the sharing of story and song.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Murphy joined Synergy Playback in January 2013, and is so excited for new adventures with the company under its new name District Community Playback! Elizabeth is the Theatre Arts teacher at Holmes Middle School in Fairfax County, VA. Locally, Elizabeth has also taught theatre at The Lab School of Washington, City of Fairfax Theatre Company, St. Mary's School & Aldersgate Church. Elizabeth has a Master of Arts in Theater Education from The Catholic University of America and a BA in Musical Theatre from Manhattanville College. Elizabeth feels blessed that her studies at Manhattanville included multiple semesters of learning Playback from master Hannah Fox, the Artistic Director of Big Apple Playback Theatre. Elizabeth is most drawn to Playback because of the sense of community that is created simply through the sharing of stories.
Gregory
Gregory Ford is an actor, director and singer. As a Playback actor he has performed with DC Playback and Synergy in Action. He is founder of Positive Image Performance Project (PIPP), a Playback Theater company that began at Us Helping Us, an AIDS services organization that served men of African descent, and under that organization's auspices performed at retreats and other events for people affected by HIV/AIDS. He is a clinical practitioner of psychodrama and was the 2003 Neil Passariello Memorial Workshop presenter at the ASGPP conference. He currently serves on the board of The Welders, a playwrights collaborative.
Jason
Bio coming soon...
Jose
Bio coming soon...
Karin
Karin, a transformational mindfulness-based coach and spoken word performance artist is drawn to Playback because of its organic ability to support healing and community. Karin specializes as a mindfulness and guided visualization meditation teacher, mindfulness curriculum designer, therapeutic belly dance instructor (kArInA) and an empowerment workshop and retreat facilitator. Karin’s creative gifts combined with her theatrical background are instrumental in her teaching. She has extensive experience in transformative practice as evidenced through the numerous classes and workshops she designs and implements for both adults and children. Karin is certified by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. She is a graduate of the Training in Mindfulness Facilitation program at University of California Los Angeles, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She received a Certificate of Completion in Spiritual Life Maintenance from Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development in Silver Spring, MD. Karin has a Master of Science from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts from Drew University. Karin is on the faculty at Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development. She teaches Sacred Movement at Iyanla Vanzant’s Women’s Retreats for Inner Visions Worldwide. She is a guest instructor at Sahara Dance and a weekly mindfulness facilitator at The Center for Mindful Living in Washington, DC. Karin has performed in Martha’s Vineyard, MA, New York, NY, Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA. In 2016 she created BREATHE, an exploration of the breath meets Black Lives Matter performed at the Built on Stilts Dance Festival 20th year anniversary in Martha’s Vineyard.
Pamela
Pamela Jafari started acting at age seven with the DC Recreation Dept. As a loyal thespian, she’s worked here in Washington with Arena Stage, ACTCo, Studio Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Color Me Human Players, A.C.T., Theatre Alliance, and DC Queer Festival. She’s also the former Executive Director of Serenity Players. Nationally, she worked with Walk Like a Man, and internationally at National Theatre of Ghana. Her playback credits include DC Playback, the Positive Image Performance Project, and Synergy Playback. Pamela is co-proprietor, of Undaunted Productions and has also worked with several arts organizations, including the International Association of Jazz Educators, Rhythm and Blues Foundation, National Girl Scout Jamborees, Sasha Bruce Youthworks, and Capital Pride. As an Art Administrator, Pamela has taught, consulted, collaborated, directed, and now considers herself a budding playwright. She currently works as the Front of House Manager at the historic Atlas Performing Arts Center. Pamela believes all arts are healing and playback stories awaken us to the understanding that we all share the same sky. With a deep love of the art, she feels blessed to be a member of District Community Playback.