A little bit of Armand

*Notes of attending a beautiful pre conference session with Armand Volkas*

by Jibrael Jos

A little bit of Armand

I take with me back

Will help me to shed light

On what I lack

I need to be driven

driven for a cause

I need to be living

living with my loss

Empathy which is real

Belief which is strong

Strength to heal

hearts which are wronged

His team is a reflection

Reflection of the man

The man is the image

of the work of his clan

"Healing the wounds"

His awareness of the pain

I felt myself change

As tears started to rain

A little bit of Armand

I take with me back

Will help me to shed light

On what I lack

Playbacker's Prayer

Written in 2009 when I attended Certificate Course in Playback Theatre , edited later to add new forms learnt

Dear Lord,
When life is in play
Teach me to act according to your way

When life is a freeze
What opportunity will I seize

When life is a machine
Teach me to make my repetitions fine
Happy even on a production line

When life is a tableau
Teach me to add value to every frame
And be honest not playing any game

When life is a fluid sculpture
Teach me not to rupture
The very fabric of your structure

Since life has no script
Teach me to speak when needed
And to remain silent when not

Life is full of encounters
Conversations that will open my blind
Teach me to open the one's in the mind

Life is full of stories
Some happy, some sad
Teach me to adapt for that I will be glad

Life is full of music
Only if I could hear
Teach me to listen and hum without fear

Life can be a chorus
If we all groove as one
Teach us to be together under the sun

Life can be like playback
If we are sincere and put our hearts out
Teach us to be genuine

When life is in play
Teach me to act according to your way

Jibrael Jos

Beings of Light and Dark

(Introspection after a playback workshop by Brian Tasker, Bengaluru 2019)

My dark side used to haunt me

and I was in search of a better self

But off late I have realised

That I need to embrace it as well

At times I have wanted all glory

And at times the respect of all

But now I realise my imperfections

cannot stop me from standing tall

I took a torch and looked at my shadow

and behold it was no longer there!

Then I realised, that the shadow

was in me and not on out there

Shadows that I have been hiding

Is very much a part of me

And maybe one day in the plains

Like a zebra I will gallop free

Seeing my story played back

Observation post sharing a vulnerable story during a playback theatre conference in Bengaluru, Home Group lead by Joke Rood

Written by Jibrael Jos

A story kept knocking

Inside my heart

Mind kept it locked,

lest it tears me apart

A leap of faith

After seven odd years

it had become the centerpiece

In the museum of my fears

Awareness which sunk in

With shooting pain

Knowledge of the loss

As tears swelled into rain

In the torrential monsoon

I saw it played out

Because I trusted my circle

After years of doubt

Once played back

I felt no longer a victim

I could accept my inequities

And reset my system

A wound I received

Which I refused to heal

Afraid my mask n fortress

Will crumble and peal

Perspectives of my story

And my shattered mirror

Distorted facets

Flowing in the playback river

Healer and the Potter

works in mysterious ways

Sometimes I am the wheel

But mostly I am the clay

Jennie's Workshop

Inspired after a session with Jennie Kristel in October 2015

by Jibrael Jos

Jenny and her quirks

Inspired us folks

To stretch the red thread a bit

What seems just a day

Has touched us in a way

That somewhere a flame has been lit

Fluidity of the sculpture

Soundscape and it's rapture

Our inner fabric has been re-nit

Let's watch to Let's Listen

Playbackers under Jenny's vision

Explore their stage presence and wit

Ummmm ...There's a feeling

There has been a healing

But I am not sure just yet