Street theatre for Metropolitan’s Cover2Go

Launching a next-generation insurance product on the streets of Umtata – allegedly the most saturated insurance market in South Africa – would be a good test of our skills and their application. Swamped by noise, heat and pollution, we would have to both attract and retain the attention of passersby long enough to deliver on their interest, transmitting information in a manner that satisfied the requirement of trust that is integral to the purchase of any insurance product.

The first thing we did, working with Shirley Lowe from Strategic Partners, was to get the right people involved – Fleur du Cap Award-winner Chuma Sopotela and Third World Bunfight veteran, Lefa Letsika – gifted and agile, spontaneous, caring, robust and versatile, these two wonderful people clicked into a phenomenal team. We then built an ‘interactive taxi’ from a backpack frame and a few other things, and went into a short rehearsal process. Our final design involved us singing traditional songs to get members of the public dancing the conga in taxi ranks and shopping malls, before they learnt the benefits if the product and how it worked.

A short performance (we played with a few different stories to keep the show fresh) was followed by interactions with the public, helping us to gather invaluable information that was fed back to the client, thus influencing the further design and rollout of the products.