Laughter the workplace’s best elixir
Industrial theatre uses comedy in the battle against HIV/AIDS ignorance and storytelling against prejudice
When a company has to tackle a difficult issue affecting its workers, sometimes it’s best to tackle it with laugher. The deadly serious subject of HIV/AIDS might not seem obvious material for comedy, but The Health and Wellness Theatre Company is boosting the testing rate enormously through industrial theatre presented on the factory floor. "The great thing about being an actor is that you can get away with saying anything. There are no taboos," says producer Lawrence Joffe. "Often, things that a corporation might find difficult can be done with industrial theatre, because actors can say anything and address any subject. "It needs to be funny to keep the interest of the audience, so corporates like it because it’s a quick and easy way to deal with issues while entertaining their staff, as opposed to putting up posters and sending out e-mails that no one reads." Joffe and his wife, Michelle Douglas, write the scripts and their team of freelance actors translates them into whichever l...
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