New Zealand’s first organisational theatre performance

Work as a musical: New Zealand’s first organisational theatre performance

On Saturday afternoon, a one-off show will be performed in Auckland. It will be theatre, but not as you know it.

“At What Cost” is a satirical, musical drama about the realities of the workplace; the triumphs and challenges of our everyday lives.

What’s unique is that it was born entirely out of interviews with staff from a New Zealand business. It’s an example of what’s called “organisational theatre” or OT – a way of uncovering the dynamics of a workplace. In OT, a full length play is written about a business, in collaboration with its employees. It is then performed by professional actors to all employees of that business.

OT is often used in Europe and North America, but has not yet been widely adopted elsewhere. This project is the first of its kind in New Zealand.

Leny Woolsey, Auckland mother of two and a former professional actor, is doing the OT project as part of her PhD in Management and International Business at the University of Auckland.

The company she’s partnered with is the New Zealand branch of Hilti, a multinational company that supplies specialist tools to the construction industry. The local operation is going through a growth surge, with staff numbers increasing dramatically.

Woolsey is excited about Saturday, which represents the culmination of months of work.
She says, “We don’t know exactly what the staff will make of it, but we’re very hopeful it will be a constructive and illuminating experience for everyone.”

She explains the idea behind the project: “As with all forms of arts-based learning, the play acts as a consciousness-raising device, reflecting familiar situations and provoking an emotional response that may help audiences identify opportunities for change within the business’s mindset.”

Immediately after the performance, facilitators will lead a short workshop discussion to allow Hilti New Zealand staff to reflect on the experience and explore the themes of the play. (Other guests will be asked to go out to the foyer.)

Woolsey met Hilti New Zealand’s general manager, Alistair Dickie, while she was working for the Business School as an adviser to prospective students, and helped him choose to do his Executive MBA there.

“Hilti NZ is proud to make this investment and leap of faith in a new learning approach that enthuses and challenges all the generations of its human capital,” says Dickie.

“This exciting venture in training and development puts Hilti at the front of modern thinking and attractiveness to its existing and future employees.”

Woolsey is also interested in what happens after the curtain falls, and will do follow-up interviews and focus groups over the following months.

Companies can use organisational theatre’s insights into creative expression and collaboration to their betterment, she says.

“It’s really important that companies, and any organisation, are aware of what’s really going on in their workplaces. It’s only by being aware of something that you can emphasise or correct it. If the dynamics they find are constructive, the company might want to promote that; but if they’re destructive forces, they’ll want to address them.”

Two approaches to staff development dominate in New Zealand, she says: classroom-based courses, and Outward Bound-style programmes. Woolsey believes businesses need to try newer approaches based on creative self-expression, and is thrilled that Hilti NZ has taken this leap of faith in supporting her research.

“Organisations need to be bolder when it comes to developing their people,” she says.

“The younger generation expect more - they expect to be valued for their creativity as well. Increasingly, work will have to be flexible and individually tailored and meet those human needs for expression. Companies could really benefit from being an early adopter.”

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