Lebohang Elephant (left) as Mr Big and Judy Ditchfield (right) as his PA, Mary.

Patrick Bokaba (top) as Moe and Keziah Jooste (bottom) as his sidekick, Shania

The Standard Bank Client Care personnel quietly entered the auditorium. There was no sign of the chirpy conversations that echoed in the foyer just moments before the doors opened. Nobody was in the mood for a boring presentation on a Friday morning at 07:30 – management must have gone off their rockers completely! Who would have thought that minutes into the "presentation", they would be laughing themselves silly…

Months before that day, Mr. Thabo Makoko, Head of Standard Bank Client Care, had already decided that The Learning Theatre would communicate his message better that he could. And so The Learning Theatre’s facilitated theatre piece, ‘Worlds Apart’, was born.

Worlds Apart tells the story of how Mr. Big, CEO of Supreme Marine Mammal and Mercantile Bank, suddenly had to face brutal facts about the way his business was run, and finally made the decision to initiate and implement the necessary changes. He doesn’t stop there, he wants his whole team to accept the same challenge and join him in achieving these changes. His team consisted of his PA, Mary (performed by Judy Ditchfield); as well as Moe and Shania, two members of top management (performed by Sanku Bokaba and Keziah Jooste respectively). It tells the story of a bank that wants to be different, a bank that wants to make a difference, and a bank that can say with confidence: ‘Our services will rock you!’ and ‘Our services will just roll you!’

Sharp humor was interrupted by moments of panic and the audience was literally clinging to their seats! Most importantly, the message was crystal clear. The employees checked their worries at the door, and for 2 hours they could focus on what the bright future holds in a problem-free, relaxed environment.

Thabo Makoko was right, The Learning Theatre has a very special way of conveying a message: loud and clear, yet entertaining and filled with fun and humor! Facilitated Theatre© is one of The Learning Theatre’s products that extracts the learning, key messages and the insights from the play and cements it in the minds of the audience with great success.

Mr Big (left) disguised as a Customer, with Shania and Moe (right) attempting to escape their responsibilities

Mr Big (left) disguised as the customer is witnessing the abuse of Mary (right) by her work colleagues Moe (back) and Shania (middle)