The Surreal

Surreal. There is no other word for Macau, the once sleepy heritage town which balloons into Las Vegas everywhere we look. This is a city whose desires have so much outgrown her tiny body of inhabitants and their way of life, that living is more like drowning.

 

In this context, ATB was invited to Macau to share possibilities of returning to our body's inner coherence. Before arrival, facilitators were made aware of the particular cultural context of Macau and her pervading atmosphere. But meeting Macau in person was quite the surreal experience. True empathy is only possible when one is finally on the same ground with the others. On a daily basis and from moment to moment, the workshop programmes were adjusted to adapt to the participants' shifting receptivity. 

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The end of the ATB workshops was the beginning of the PBT programme. While Playback Theatre was a completely new art form to most of the participants, it was spontaneously absorbed into the body of the group as a shared language of connection and articulation, the alphabets and grammer of which had been wordlessly established during the ATB prelude. The stories shared and played back were deeply moving and empathetic.

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In a town where people are used to muted feelings and sealed lips, this is truly surreal.

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