The individual’s experience of industrial theatre : an exploration

Abstract

This exploration into the individual’s experience of industrial theatre has aimed to determine the underlying dynamics involved in the individual’s experience of industrial theatre in order to attempt to understand the value of industrial theatre in the workplace. Thus, to understand how industrial theatre can be applied in the organisational context to influence human behaviour in such as way as to enhance the individual’s productivity and satisfaction. In addition, this investigation extends on a body of knowledge on the nature and application of theatre and art-based methods in the work context. The exploration establishes the experience of industrial theatre as an aesthetic experience of an aesthetic object (theatre) at its core. Industrial theatre is then framed as an adaptation of theatre, applied in various ways for various purposes in the work context. The nature of industrial theatre, as deduced from relevant literature, describes industrial theatre as a unique medium for instruction and agent of change. The existing literature is then deconstructed to provide graphic representations of the ideal experience of theatre and interactive industrial theatre. The production of an industrial theatre performance entitled Birds of a Feather was performed on 13 August 2009 and used to explore the individual’s experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of nine participants [n=9]. The concepts that emerged from the data were theatrical experience; industrial theatre experience; overall experience (perceived value-added); and influencing factors (individual and performance). These concepts were further coded and analysed by means of content analysis, within the social constructivist methodology. The Atlas.ti (x5) program was utilized to analyse, manage and store the data. The resulting findings led to the conclusion that the individual experiences industrial theatre in four distinct phases, namely: perception, engagement, response and reaction. Perception refers to the initial contact between audience and performance and relates to the external experience (visual and auditory). Engagement refers to the audience’s relation with the industrial theatre production – here the spectator-actor relationship takes centre stage. Response refers to the audience’s initial response, whereas reaction refers to the prolonged response to the industrial theatre production. A graphic presentation of the individual’s experience of these four phases during Birds of a Feather was created and presented in the conclusion. Overall, the study concluded that industrial theatre is experienced as a value-adding intervention for organisations – providing both entertainment and educational value to the individual and the organisation alike. Copyright 2010, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Howes, L 2010, The individual’s experience of industrial theatre : an exploration, MCom dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02162012-123115 / > C12/4/201/gm