Transforming the Workplace through Applied Theatre

Elinor Vettraino is Associate Professor and Director of the Aston Centre for Enterprise, Coaching and Innovation, Aston University, Birmingham, UK. She is also Founder and Director of leadership and change consultancy Active Imagining, and Director of Akatemia CIC, specialists in team learning in organisations.Warren Linds is Associate Professor, Department of Applied Human Sciences, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has extensive experience in applied theatre and community development. This background has been critical to his teaching approach where he brings practical experiences and theoretical approaches together.

• Foreword by Elvin Turner: The Case for Applied Theatre in the WorkplaceForeword by Michael Anderson: Imaginative Intelligence for Postnormal TimesIntroduction: The What, Why and How of This Book· Applied Theatre and Applied Drama in the World of Work· The Beginning of the Idea· Why This Why Now? Beyond a VUCA World· How the Story Unfolds1 Contexts and Concepts: Exploring the Landscape of Work and Applied Theatre· Contextualising the World of Work· Future Thinking: Workplace Priorities· Understanding the Super Six· The Link Between Art, Theatre and Business· Applied Theatre or Applied Drama? An Exploration of Terminology· Returning to Intention…2 Learning in Action: Dramatic Pedagogies· The Place and Purpose of Applied Theatre· Transformative Learning· Experiential Learning: Embodied Praxis· Reflection, Reflective Practice and Reflexivityo Elements of Reflective Practiceo Metaxiso Reflection as an Opening to New Worldso Dynamic, Embodied and Reflexive Spiral Modelo Reflection as Diffractiono Reflection as Narrative, Storytelling and Metaphor· Psychological Safety: The Elephant in the Room3 Methods for Change: Exploring Key Conventions· From Theory to Practice· Applied Drama and Theatre in Management Education· Participatory and Rehearsal Forms· Mapping Applied Theatre Conventions to the Super Six (Hobsbawm, 2025)o Priority 1: Workplace and Work’s Evolution (Hybrid/Remote/Distributed)o Priority 2: Rights, Equality and Health (Wellbeing/DEI)o Priority 3: AI Adoption and Tech Infrastructureo Priority 4: Culture, Leadership and Managemento Priority 5: Demography, Geography and Generationso Priority 6: Talent, Skills and Learning· Conclusion: Mind the Gap! Spaces for Intervention4 Navigating the Work: Insights, Practice and Challenges from the Field· Practice, Practice, Practice!· Constructive Impact and the Power of Applied Theatre· Tensions in Applied Theatreo Corporate Theatre as a ‘Dirty’ Wordo The Aesthetic Drifto Affect vs. Effecto The ‘Applied’ Trap and the Deficit Perspectiveo Theatre as Organisational Technology vs. Emancipationo Ethical Practice and Power in Organisational Theatreo The Economics of Survivalo The Ethics of Collusiono The Liability of Vulnerability· So, Where to Next?5 Continuing Not Concluding: Where Next for Applied Theatre in the World of Work?· Reconnecting With the Starto Being Human in a BANI Worldo Embodied Practice in a Technology Driven Worldo A Practitioner’s New Toolkito The Ethical Tightropeo Ecosystems and Systemic Changeo The Golden Thread: A Vision for 2046· A Final Provocation

“This is a timely and thought-provoking exploration of how applied theatre can humanise and transform the rapidly changing world of work. It blends insight on AI, workplace disruption and learning with powerful arts-based approaches, the authors have offered a fresh and compelling lens on leadership and development. A must read for anyone seeking more ethical, creative and people-centred ways to navigate the future of organisations.”Beth Lloyd, Director of Learning, Talent and OD, Aston University, Birmingham, UK“My theatre training gave me the chance to see - to pause, step back and analyse the performances of everyday working life: the roles we play, the signals we send and the impact we have. In an uncertain world where change is constant, this ability to see clearly matters more than ever and the authors of "Transforming the Workplace Through Applied Theatre: Insights, Practices and Challenges from the Field" have captured this brilliantly. This is a timely work, bringing theatre's wisdom to the workplace just when we need it most.”Caroline Goyder, Author of Find Your Voice, www.gravitasmethod.com“Vettraino and Linds have crafted an ethical, aesthetic, and human-centered book that challenges how we think about work, change, and employment, not to serve bottom lines and business models but to advance human flourishing. Richly theorised and timely, it confronts the upheavals of corporate concentration, AI, gig economies, cultural shifts, and the pandemic, and shows how applied theatre becomes a powerful tool to reimagine and reshape work, and with it a life well lived.”Peter Duffy MFA Ed.D., Professor of Theatre Education and Head of MAT in Theatre Education Department of Theatre and Dance, University of South Carolina, USA“This book is essential reading for business leaders, employers and applied theatre practitioners seeking to work as consultants, trainers or facilitators in work-based settings. The guiding principles are compassion and care in the service of workplace transformation. When, post-Covid, virtual working, boosted by ever-more sophisticated algorithms of artificial intelligence, threatens to disrupt all our former understandings of working environments, the application of theatre to the workplace promotes embodied, affective learning through collaborative imagination and enterprise. Above all, this volume explores the possibilities, tensions and contradictions of ethical working practices.”Tim Prentki, Emeritus Professor of Theatre for Development, University of Winchester, UK