Working with our associates nationwide, we designed a session that would be rolled out in different centres – consistently, and keeping travel costs to a minimum. So, after a very “head-orientated” morning, with delegates discussing vision, strategy, values and other tasty things, we instructed invited them to take off their shoes and get comfortable…

In an overwhelmingly results-based working environment, it presented a real challenge for most people to ‘let go’, moving into a space of little or no control. Resistance – fear, nervousness, anxiety – became very apparent – as some people felt that they ‘couldn’t be creative’ and that they would be  ‘wrong’ somehow… Then we started moving, and within minutes everyone was laughing, and it was all downhill from there… Finally, pretty much everyone was grinning from ear to ear and extremely grateful to do something human, dynamic, creative and spontaneous, where delegates were able to reflect on their feelings, and create possibilities for change.

One of the things that came home to me powerfully in the sessions was the value of resistance – as something to be respected and worked with. Without it, there is no journey.

TakeAway Theatre was recently contracted by Sanlam to provide unique multimedia for both their Senior Management and Future Leaders Conferences held in Cape Town. What made the job such an enjoyable one was the client’s deep acceptance of the experimental nature of the work.

During registration, a pair of actors posed as delegates, complete with identifying lanyards and a (very loose!) backstory of how they fitted into the business. Naturally, there was a fair amount of preparation involved, and the performers were very carefully chosen for their profiles, their warmth and appeal, as well as their ability to improvise.

They were equipped with a video camera, with which they filmed their ‘colleagues’ -  posing questions about the conference and what the expectations were… basically, how did people feel about being here, and what did they want to get out of it? After registration, the footage was edited in one of the hotel rooms for broadcast later in the day… An exhausting and meticulous process, after viewing the footage and organising it into themes and a storyline. {For confidentiality reasons, we unfortunately can’t show the films here. You’ll just have to take our word for it that they were funny, insightful and very nicely put together. VERY nicely put together!}

The performers told delegates, if asked, that the camera was there because they simply wanted to make a film about the conference for their partner, who had gotten a little peeved at all the travelling they were doing and was on the verge of asking if there was another woman or man on the scene…

What we found was that pretty much everyone responds to a warm smile and a welcoming approach. People are interested in each other – we were reminded that trust and openness come naturally to some people – certainly, to those who need to lead. There was much laughter at the screenings – and our brief – to shift people’s ideas, helping to make them feel that this would be a conference with a difference – enabled us to have some fun with what we did.  Thanks to Sanlam for the opportunity, and for all the room service!

With an ‘attractor loop’ featuring the performer, Celia Ncalane from Artists1, whispering to passersby in the visitor centre, the short video is then triggered by motion sensors and plays from a mock-up doorframe between exhibits.

Working on a tight budget and with a brief to develop interest amongst younger visitors in a career in nuclear science, we used the theme of ‘magic‘ to describe the sub-atomic world, playing to the idea of infinite possibility both within the nuclear realm and within a career in the industry.

Michael’s animation was the magic element … So have a look. Tell us what you think…

Simultaneous launch events in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban saw teams of freestyle footballers, refs and linesmen ambush the workplace, interacting with staff and handing out invitations to matches, in the shape of dedicated tickets, that functioned as competition entry forms.

Here we see Keeno-Lee Hector ‘hectoring’ a few of the locals in between some more futbol wizardry, and handing out some of the cherished entry forms…

Staff were encouraged to watch matches at work, and all staff in smaller centres were couriered fan packs sourced and designed by TakeAway, containing vuvuzelas, crazy glasses and wigs, facepaint, soccer balls and other paraphernalia. These went down a treat – and, in the month of futbol madness, we all felt that deep sense of belonging that makes the heart of any community beat a little faster, and more proudly.

Well, after building the new terminal in Cape Town, they naturally contacted TakeAway Theatre… “We need to motivate our people for the World Cup!” came the call… We learnt that lots of people would be working lots of overtime in the month of futbol madness, for not many more extra shekels, in often trying circumstances. With big language barriers. Which is all fantastic material for a show. But…

Industrial Theatre does not really motivate people. Or if it does, it does so fairly subtly. It’s not a propaganda song-and-dance – although this is exactly what some poeple want. Some clients, for example, want industrial theatre to ‘get everyone to go for HIV testing.’ In this example, the nature of the testing services offered is usually the determining factor. Telling people, rather than asking what is in their best interest, often causes dissent and a fair amount of disillusionment – people will feel manipulated, and of little value. Which makes a challenging situation even worse!

So what can Industrial Theatre offer in this situation? Well, it can be used to communicate certain things, in a very arresting, unique and memorable way. BUT (that’s a big but) the vital buy-in of the audience is only going to happen with plenty of honesty and telling it like it is (see below.) And once the audience feel respected, heard, and that they’re human, important, and valuable, then the show can do plenty.

Industrial Theatre can also act as a dynamic focal point for key issues that can be debriefed or discussed afterwards. It can speak the unspoken,  it gets issues out into the open, without prejudice. (However, beware glib endings and neatly stitched conclusions… It’s a tricky beast to do well and get right.)

Humour is another must-have ingredient. Not just the odd pun, or retreaded physical joke, but real humour. Below the belt stuff. Laughing at the sacred cows of the workplace is a great way to empower people to calibrate their own perspective on things, instead of being told what to do…

The staff at Cape Town International got a great taste of what to expect during the World Cup, and we believe we played a strong role in supporting them to get ready for the event. Thanks to Gareth and Dierdre at ACSA for the opportunity and for their support, and Mark Elderkin, Keeno-Lee hector, Phumza Tshem and Brent Palmer (director) for a fantastic and very funny show – which just may have motivated a few people!

How could we produce a once-off intervention that would celebrate the merger announcement – made just prior to the event (yes,that’s right!) – while incorporating and respecting resistance, and acknowledging the insecurities and potential difficulties ahead?

Contracted by Fresh Consulting, whom we have partnered with to great effect many times before, we spent some time throwing ideas around until we hit on the perfect one… a merger is like a marriage, right? Perhaps an arranged one…

So we engineered a real ‘vow moment’, and workshopped our script around the needs and expectations of each partner, endowing volunteers in the audience as bride and groom.

Petals were flung at the beautiful couple, a garter was thrown, and love was sown…

Most weddings are a lot of fun and this one was no exception. We left feeling proud of the happiness and laughter we managed to inspire at a key moment in the company’s evolution. The powerful imagery of the wedding and the transparent acknowledgement of the potential difficulties involved were combined into a truly interactive experience, which we know will endure as a rather special and unique tool with which to understand fear and doubt, and see expectations and opportunities in perspective.

I especially liked kissing the bride…!

And the coffee is very, very good.

A reasonably valuable session with a few key insights shared, it was also a thinly veiled sales pitch, it turns out, with the affable Gazza apologising for the fact that, as a non-professional in the communications field,  he wouldn’t really be able to answer many questions… Nonetheless, he was very generous with what he did have access to, and a big thanks to Joann Julius of the IABC for organising the event.

So, we quickly forgave Gary being here to drum up new business. Everyone has to eat, even the British. (The CEC is a subscriptions-based conglomerate dedicated to sharing best-practice models and case studies with its clients.)

The thesis of the presentation was that ‘the global economic downturn has placed a premium on workforce speed and adaptability to change.’ This, coupled with the CEC’s ‘research’ – (a bit more transparency on this would have been good, because it seems that the research often supports the CEC’s business motives)  shows that the level of mobilised employees (i.e. ‘employees working harder, and on the right things… actively driving company goals’) in your typical medium-size operation is typically very low, around…. wait for it… 10%.

How the heck do organisations survive? By those 10%ers doing the work of others, perhaps.

OK. So the antidote, according to Gary’s Gang, is to

• involve people with a personal connection, and
• jack up the peer support…

Personal connection is defined as the degree to which employees link what they do with the organisation goals (that eternal question in SA: how do we get them to engage with our values, rings faintly in my ears…) Peer support is all about providing access to peers and information, partnering, sharing, that kind of thing. (By the way, Richard Sennet’s incredible books on the way knowledge and skills grow and are shared in working communities shows that the whiff of competition in the workplace – organising teams competitively, for example – is a killer of innovation.)

This sounds fair and good. Nice, simple principles. However, in the well-resourced world the CEC operates in, this is mostly done with the electronic media. This is a stumbling block for me.

Policies on access and online information in South African organisations, according to feedback from other delagates, seem to be in their infancy. We also have challenges with broadband, hardware, and significantly, trust. Access Denied is a familair refrain.

My question is: what other media can we use? What role could print play? Carrier pigeons? Music ensembles? Are there indigenous, sustainable  technologies that help us feel human, connected, and part of a directed community, that would make sense to explore in the local context?

And then a suggestion came: cellphones.

They should be on our national flag.

As ‘inverted thinking’ steadily starts to take hold of our design methodology, so the results become more exciting and surprising.

Using beautifully constructed fake TV cameras and mics, our ‘Aids Day News Crews’ simultaneously interviewed hundreds of Sanlam employees around the country to discover how they felt about their company’s efforts regarding HIV – what they liked, and what they wanted more of.

Using 'reel/fake' cameras on Aids Day at Sanlam

The responses clearly showed that people relished a rare opportunity to speak their minds and be heard. Real footage – a small camera was mounted on top of the bigger fake one – was edited into an 10 minute DVD document for orientation purposes.

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.

A woman confronts our FAS cast

Our new intervention revolutionises the public performance genre – a totally improvised day-long performance that was piloted in shopping malls around greater Cape Town, where we played with the laws of attention to attract an itinerant audience and give people a space to tell our performers what to do, instead of us telling them. Interestingly, we found that the public found it difficult to separate reality from fiction – people got very upset with our performers’ drinking while pregant – even though they were in masks, and were only miming taking a drink.

We discovered in research conducted around the show that 9 out of 10 people do not know what FAS is, and that the majority (63%) could not identify a possible consequence of maternal alcohol consumption. There is still a lot of work to do!