The 12th of August was a sunny Wednesday morning and the University of Pretoria’s campus was buzzing with students. On this particular morning The Learning Theatre and the University’s Human Resources Department were preparing for the theatre workshop – Birds of a Feather – to come to life in the Sanlam Auditorium. Birds of a Feather is one of The Learning Theatre’s brand new generic Diversity Management products.

A diverse audience, consisting of B.Com. (Human Resource Management) students, and staff members of the Faculty of Economic and Management Science, as well as representatives from various companies in Corporate South Africa, filled the auditorium at 12:50 for the show to start at 13:00. This initiative was a collective effort to create awareness for diversity in the workplace whilst launching this unique product.

After a brief and informative opening by Prof. Stanz (Head of the Department of Human Resource Management), the stage was opened to Juliette Jenner to facilitate the process. Birds of a Feather uses a combination of live theatre; audio-visual entertainment; and interactive theatre to approach this sensitive topic. Throughout the workshop, the audience is educated in practical techniques to tackle stereotypes and derogatory behaviour in the workplace. The audience then suggested ideas for the actors to apply these techniques in different scenarios. Judy Ditchfield and Mothusi Magano dazzled the audience with their hilarious performance and their fabulous improvisations. The audience enjoyed the opportunity to voice their ideas and to see how it unfolds before their very eyes.

From Left to Right: Juliette Jenner (facilitator); Mothusi Magano & Judy Ditchfield (actors) and Professor Stanz (Head of the Department of Human Resource Management in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences of the University of Pretoria).

So different from this performance-driven world, the world of theatre created a space where the audience could explore. Instead of attempting to get it ‘right’ all the time, the audience could try out different techniques in different situations. The idea was to establish a relationship with the techniques in order to be more comfortable in applying it back in the workplace. Birds of a Feather is definitely not your ‘normal’ diversity intervention!

This event also formed part of a greater diversity intervention for the Faculty of Economic and Management Science and Prof. Stanz confirmed that all the departments in the faculty had a good response to the performance. In addition, it exposed the Human Resources students to the use of theatre as an alternative tool to deal with sensitive and change-orientated challenges in the workplace. After Prof. De Beer closed the session and thanked all involved the crowd dispersed to continue their day…but this has changed into a not-so-ordinary day and that’s the way we like it!