From Fjords to Forests is an international professional training initiative funded by Nordic Culture Point under the Culture and Art Programme.
The project connects Nordic and Baltic Playback Theatre practitioners through intensive skill-building workshops hosted in Lithuania.
The initiative brings leading trainers from Finland and Norway to strengthen artistic quality, facilitation competence, and sustainable cross-border collaboration in socially engaged theatre.
Funding & Support
This project is supported by Nordic Culture Point, which promotes cultural cooperation and artistic mobility across the Nordic and Baltic region.
The funding enables:
- International trainer mobility
- High-level professional training
- Cross-regional knowledge exchange
- Strengthening long-term Nordic–Baltic cultural networks
Project Activities
Two intensive 2-day professional workshops will be conducted in Lithuania:
Playback Theatre in Genres
2-Day Intensive Training April 11-12, 2026
Trainer: Jori Linnamäki (Finland)
Playback Theatre can be played in many tones, textures and theatrical languages.
This workshop explores how genre awareness can deepen artistic expression, sharpen ensemble work and expand the expressive palette of performers.
Participants will work with:
- Comedy and Tragedy
- Thriller and Horror
- Detective structures
- Dramatic tension and stylisation
- Genre-based acting forms in Playback
How does a story transform when played as a thriller?
What happens when tragedy is stylised?
How does genre influence rhythm, physicality and musical choices?
Through practical exercises and performance experiments, participants will explore Jori Linnamäki’s evolving approach to genre-based Playback work — a methodology that strengthens precision, dramaturgical awareness and artistic flexibility.
This workshop is designed for Playback actors, musicians and conductors who wish to expand their creative vocabulary and explore new performative forms.
Conducting Playback Theatre
2-Day Intensive Training May 9-10, 2026
Trainers: Jan & Synne Platander (Norway / Sweden)
In Playback Theatre, the conductor holds the structure, the safety and the artistic direction of the performance. While actors and musicians transform the story on stage, the conductor guides the entire ritual — from the first welcome to the final closing.
This workshop focuses on strengthening clarity, presence and leadership in the conductor’s role.
Participants will explore:
- The arc of a Playback performance
- Interviewing techniques and deep listening
- Supporting tellers with care and precision
- Creating safety and inclusion in diverse groups
- Navigating transitions between stories
- Artistic decision-making in the moment
- Holding emotional intensity while maintaining structure
Through practical exercises, simulations and reflective practice, participants will gain hands-on experience in conducting and develop greater confidence, courage and grounded authority on stage.
The training is suitable for both emerging and experienced conductors, as well as actors and musicians who wish to deepen their understanding of the Playback ritual from the conductor’s perspective.
About the Trainers
Jan and Synne Platander have worked together in Playback Theatre since 1995. They founded Teater X in Stockholm and are currently active in Teater MOSAIK in Oslo.
They are accredited Playback Theatre trainers and co-leaders of Skandinavisk Playbackteater Studio, an Affiliated Playback Theatre School (CPT).
With decades of international teaching experience, Jan and Synne bring a grounded, playful and deeply respectful approach to conductor training — combining artistic precision, relational awareness and strong ensemble culture.
Impact
The project strengthens Baltic practitioners by transferring Nordic artistic methodologies and advanced facilitation tools.
It builds sustainable partnerships between Finland, Norway, Lithuania, and Latvia and reinforces the role of applied theatre in supporting dialogue and inclusion.
Acknowledgment
This project is implemented with the financial support of Nordic Culture Point.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the project partners and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the funder.
