The team acting out a part. Pic by M. A Pushpa Kumara

What would be the results of a marriage between corporate training and theatre? Management theatre of course. It is a concept new to Sri Lanka and probably to the entire world, and The Sunday Times FT met up with the men behind it to find out more.

The concept comes from Stefan Moraes, Principal Trainer and Managing Director of 3rd Wave Consulting, the script and direction coming from renowned playwright and director Indu Dharmasena and the music from Sanjeev Jayaratnam, a lecturer and choral director and leader of the award-winning choir, The Revelations.

Usually a training programme runs on for a day, sometimes two and most people associate boredom with these programmes. “Sometimes videos are shown at these programmes, videos which are usually made in Britain so the cultural settings are very different,” Mr. Moraes explained.

The management theatre programme will be limited to three hours and because the script and the music is written in Sri Lanka by Sri Lankans, it is customized to suit the local cultural settings, Mr. Dharmasena said, adding that it can even be customised to fit a particular organization.

“We are very confident about our product and we are even looking at the potential to export it,” Mr. Moraes said, as it is a novel way of experiencing corporate training. The workshop will commence with a play depicting a common management issue, acted out by Indu and his gang and this would be followed by the trainers conducting the training programme discussing the issues in what was acted out. Solutions would be discussed, and the audience will also be given a chance to give their opinions on how the issues could be solved.

The final stage would be a re-enactment of the drama incorporating the lessons learnt through the programme. Participants will be provided a training pack containing all key material covered at the programme and there will also be a dedicated hotline for a week following the programme to answer any questions the participants may have.

The first issue that will be dealt through management theatre is time management, a very pertinent issue in today’s corporate world. “Leadership challenges will be tackled through these training programmes and we will help the audience get the best of their time through ‘Fast Track Time Management,” Mr. Moraes said.

There are more programmes to come and all aspects of management training will be tackled through management theatre, he promised. “This programme is suitable for anyone, even a student who wants to know how to better manage his time as well as for organisations who want their employees to be more efficient,” Mr. Moraes said adding that tickets have been priced with affordability for all in mind. The first ‘show’ will go on the boards of the Lionel Wendt on September 4 and 5.