Changemakers Play Fest: Creating Power through Play

The Global Play Brigade (GPB) is bringing the Changemakers Play Festival to the global stage of the Performing the World Conference 2025 with the theme: “Meandering in the Mess: Creating and Organizing Power.”

This isn’t just another workshop. It’s a play-powered movement space where activists, educators, healers, facilitators, and organizers gather to build power through joy, creativity, and collective experimentation. We believe play is not just an activity. It’s a method of organizing, healing, and transforming communities.


What to Expect

  • Interactive Playshops: Experience sessions where you will learn by doing through creative, playful exercises.
  • Practical Skill Building: Gain tools you can apply directly in your work as an activist, educator, or organizer.
  • Cross-Country Facilitation Teams: Work with facilitators from across continents, modeling the collaboration and global unity we aim to inspire.
  • Play as a Tool and Results: Learn how play can unlock innovation, enhance co-creation, and strengthen leadership in real-world projects.
  • Professional Development: Leave with renewed energy, actionable insights, and a global network of peers who believe in the power of creativity for change.

The festival is hosted within the Performing The World Conference platform, which operates on a “Pay What You Can” model.

➡️If you have the means, we encourage you to contribute.
➡️If you don’t, you can still attend.
Just select “Pay What You Can” at checkout and choose $0.

Because play is for all of us.

We’ll first gather together as one group (across many different countries and organizations) and then you’ll get to choose which 45-50 minute workshop you’d like to attend.

MEET OUR HOST AND PRESENTER

FACILITATORS AND PLAYSHOPS

The Art of Connected Conversations

Our worlds of work are filled with a lot of talk, meetings, emails, texts, etc. Lots of chatter back and forth. Sometimes it's fine, good, helpful, and sometimes (often), it's not. Our organizations have important social missions; to support their success, we need more listening, more understanding, and much more creativity, collaboration, and nourishment in the work environment. By utilizing creative practices and concepts that come from the fields of theater, improvisation, and creativity, you will learn new and powerful ways to create better work relationships and, therefore, more collaborative and productive work environments. This session is open to both organization leaders and team members.

Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork

This session will involve a little bit of theory about the notion of teamwork, and then lots of activities that will encourage us to feel the difference between getting things done and getting things done together. We will investigate our strengths so we can lean on them, we will exercise our listening and response skills, we will work as a team to solve problems in the most outlandish ways! It will be fun and informative. 

Power Games in the Workplace/Los Juegos de Poder en Ambientes de Trabajo

In this playshop, we will use theatre games to explore our personal experiences regarding power dynamics in the workplace, both those experiences in which we have been victims of abuse of power, violence, domination, or discrimination, as well as those experiences in which we have treated another person in an abusive, dominant, discriminatory, or violent manner. What can we learn from those experiences to help us build better work environments?


En este taller haremos uso de algunos juegos teatrales para explorar nuestras experiencias personales en cuanto a las dinámicas de poder en ambientes de trabajo, tanto aquellas experiencias en las cuales hayamos sido víctimas de abusos de poder, violencia, dominación o discriminación, como aquellas experiencias en las cuales hayamos tratado de forma abusiva, dominante, discriminatoria o violenta a otra persona. ¿Qué podemos aprender de esas experiencias, que nos ayude a construir mejores ambientes de trabajo?

WHAT IS A GLOBAL PLAYSHOP?

Play with strangers across the world

The Global Play Brigade hosts three (s) global events per year as part of our mission to make PLAY mainstream and available to all. So far in 2024, we have hosted Heart and Power; where we focussed on mental health and well being, and Playtelligence; where we explored how play and creativity is necessary for learning, development and education. Every attendee has the option of joining workshops of their choice. Our last Global Playshop was attended by over 200 people from 29 countries, including China, Nigeria, Argentina, Ukraine, Serbia, Israel, Kuwait, Gibraltar, Peru, Japan, and the UK. Will you join to build the movement?


How will it work? 


25-minutes - Welcome & playful warm-up exercise
50-minutes - Choose one workshop to attend (see above)

15-minutes - Reflections 




NOVEMBER 2025

THEME:

CHANGEMAKERS PLAY FEST - CREATING POWER THROUGH PLAY


FAQ



I’m super excited to join the workshop! But…What exactly will happen during this workshop?

Thank you for your curiosity! Here’s what’s gonna happen;


1. You will change your Name on Zoom with your first name and country

2. We will tell you about the event

3. We will explain what Global Play Brigade really is

4. We will introduce a lineup of the workshops ready for you

5. You will choose which workshop to join

6. You will join the breakout room for the workshop you’ve chosen

7. You will participate in the workshop for 50 minutes

8. You will come back to the mainroom after the workshop is over

9. We will have a reflection session as a whole

10. We will inform you about next GPB workshop and more events

How to Use Zoom

1. Oh wow…so much to happen!!!!! By the way, How can I change my name on Zoom?

You can hover above your picture until you see the three dots. Click the three dots and you should see the option to rename yourself. If you’re still having trouble, just drop your name and country in the chat.


2. Okay, I think I can do that, thanks. Hmm…How can I join a Breakout Room?

Don’t worry, it’s quite simple. First, please check the descriptions of each workshop above. Once you decide which workshop you’d like to take, you can rename yourself with the number of the breakout room you’d like to join.


Or, if you’re fairly comfortable with Zoom, you can just join the breakout like you usually do.


Here is a video that tells you how to join a breakout room

on zoom. Check it out!

Wonderful! Now I think I am ready. Oh, one more thing! Do you have any language support during the workshop?

We have a Zoom translation system that supports non-English speaking friends!

Help! Where is my join link?

These workshops are virtual and you will need a Zoom link to join.


You will receive the join link in your email after registering on Eventbrite or Zoom.

Email