A critical stage for learning? Efficiency and efficacy in workplace theatre-based leadership skills development

The use of actors and applied theatre methods for workplace management and leadership training has become increasingly common. Organizations have sought to obtain competitive advantage by drawing on theatre methods to enable staff to perform their work roles in a context of rapid and fundamental change to work practices and structures. This case study explores the impact of a specific form of theatre-based learning inside the insurance provider, Friends Provident. It presents a nuanced picture of applied theatre in this commercial context. Whilst the business use of this form of theatre may be driven by imperatives for efficiency, in practice a unique space can be generated in which participants can express and address the tensions of organizational life. I suggest this study will be of interest to researchers concerned with approaches to training in leadership and management, as well as scholars from the fields of applied theatre and acting.