Careers

Opportunities with Us

We don’t have any open positions right now, but check back for opportunities to join the Playback Memphis team! In the meantime, we invite you to learn more about our vision and values.

Organizational Overview

Founded in 2008, Playback Memphis’ mission is to bring stories to life, in a safe space to unlock healing, transformation, and joy. Playback Memphis (PBM) trains and employs professional artists and facilitators to use the unique art form of Playback Theatre to engage diverse groups of people in a variety of settings. Playback Theatre is a healing, restorative practice that emphasizes deep and empathic listening to a community member who shares a personal experience or story. Through improvisational, embodied storytelling, ritual and music, that person’s story is given a voice, their humanity affirmed. Playback staff and contracted artists also employ a variety of experiential learning tools to create a process of shared exploration where people and organizations can nurture integrity and cultivate the courage to act on their core values and purpose.

Our vision for 2027 is to become a leading resource for developing community based, culturally responsive, transformative tools for social healing and community well-being, elevating Memphis as a national model for the transformative power of Applied Playback Theatre. In spring of 2022, we completed an extensive strategic planning process giving clarity and direction for expanding our mission-driven work in 2023-2025. We are in a time of exciting growth!

At Playback Memphis, we strive daily to cultivate a healthy and thriving organizational culture by living into the following practices:

• We practice presence and create a space for compassionate listening.
• We deepen dialogue and build trust.
• We acknowledge that each person’s story is a gift.
• We foster goodwill and strengthen communal bonds.
• We create ample opportunity for laughter and reflection.
• We practice ongoing self-evaluation and self-critique.
• We celebrate diversity and create hospitable spaces of equity and belonging.
• We work to address power imbalances by lifting up voices that have been marginalized.
• We develop partnerships with people and groups who advocate for those living on the margins.
• We inspire people to see themselves, one another, and their community in new and refreshing ways.
• We model the kinds of personal sharing we are inviting by opening our hearts and sharing our own stories.
• We respond with nimbleness to change.

Our core/flagship programs engage about 1,400 individuals per year.  All programs have evolved organically from the voices, stories, and dreams of community members.