Our Story
Imagine performing in front of hundreds of people with no script, no props and only your intuition and talent for improvisation.
Imagine hearing a person in the audience relate a real life experience and then a minute later creating theatre from that story with an ensemble of actors and a musician.
Imagine being responsible for eliciting those stories from a group of people who have never seen anything like that before, especially at a conference or workplace.
Finally, imagine doing this for organizations and groups of people on hundreds of occasions.
This is the rich tapestry of experience in which Johanna and Max began their working relationship over 20 years ago in Playback Theatre Sydney.
Exhilarating? Exciting? Absolutely!
Their zeal for excellence has impelled Johanna and Max on to greater projects over the last ten years. They have facilitated Playback Theatre training for other groups and organizations and mentored other Playback companies.
It was their appreciation of the nature and power of the human story to effect change that led them on to develop creative projects with specified outcomes for organizations such as NAB, QANTAS, UTS and the Liverpool City Council.
Stories and creativity are the common threads throughout their journey and the inspiration for Anthill Culture and Knowledge Development (AnthillCKD).
AnthillCKD is founded on the principles and practice of Playback Theatre and the methodology of Appreciative Inquiry.
Let our stories guide the way
Let there be laughter every day
Discovery can be made through play
Change is just a story and a laugh away.
Johanna De Ruyter
Theatre has taken me across the world, making connections with different cultures and shaping new perspectives. Creativity has brought me laughter, joy and release. Stories have brought connection, insight and knowledge. This has been my inspiration.
Max Finlayson
What’s the story? For me the answer to that question is both vital and fascinating. I’ve been intrigued by the stories of people, places, things and events since I was old enough to listen. For the last twenty-five years I have also been helping people tell their stories through the use of theatre, performance and print. If there are two things that my experience has taught me its this: How to tell a story and how to listen.
Our Mission is to:
* Empower people
* Promote creativity
* Encourage laughter
* Breakdown barriers to communication
* Develop knowledge sharing potential
* Engage your personnel in the issue / topic
* Increase community and team spirit within organisations