theater & management

• Intelligent business link
• Shakespeare in business link

Combine Management and English Language Training with

THE SHAKESPEARE IN BUSINESS EXPERIENCE!

Including

TEAM BUILDING
The stuff teams are made of! *
and
INSPIRATIONAL
Leadership Ambition is made of stern stuff *

Richard Oliver, business guru and actor has been using Shakespeare to train today’s business leaders for many years now. In the US, the company ‘ Movers and Shakespeares’ have been teaching American leaders critical business skills through Shakespeare’s greatest works since 1997. Tonya Trappe, has developed a unique form of this training which is tailor made for non-native speakers of English. With 20 years experience of teaching and writing materials for Business leaders in France, she understands how complex Shakespeare can be for non native speakers. Therefore her workshops have been carefully adapted to make sure that all the participants, understand and benefit from Shakespeare’s vision and insights into human nature. A vision, she believes, can help today’s business leaders communicate more effectively.
Workshops start with a short, fun presentation on Shakespeare, his works and his connections to the modern business world.

At the end of this first session participants will:

⊃ have examined some of the challenges facing business leaders today that can be found in Shakespeare
⊃ have acquired knowledge concerning the plots of some of Shakespeare’s major works
⊃ have explored the uniqueness of Shakespearean language
⊃ have practiced using emotion and feeling to make speeches and presentations more inspirational

The group then works on team building theatre games designed for all levels of English language. They are intended to:

⊃ enhance teamwork and cooperative skills as well as adding new dimensions to personality and communicative abilities
⊃ help to engage on new levels with colleagues.
⊃ help promote self confidence and self esteem

Then the fun really starts! Participants will join their teams to rehearse their sketches/playlets/scenes (can’t decide on a word!!). These are set in the modern corporateworld with a distinctly Shakespearean flavour. Each scene will be written specifically for the client and will contain references to the client’s company. They will also be adapted to the themes the client requests us to explore. They are designed to be both fun and insightful.

Examples of titles include:

⊃ Macbeth – The Mergers and Acquisitions sketch

⊃ The Tempest – The Dealing with Resistance to change sketch

⊃ King Lear – The Succession Planning sketch

⊃ The Merchant of Venice – The Effective Decision Making sketch

Sketches are designed to ensure that as many employees as possible can benefit from the workshop. Therefore each sketch has a mix of major and minor speaking parts for those less confident with speaking English in public. However, each role is essential to the overall performance of the sketch. The teams are briefed on the importance of pulling together as a team in order to make the performance work. Even non speaking parts require acting with reactions and expressions which contribute to the audience’s understanding of the plot!

The teams are given ample time to rehearse both with the help of a facilitator and alone. They are encouraged to adapt the script with their own creative input. They may also be as inventive as they wish with adapting objects as props and impromptu costumes, though some costumes are provided. Scripts contain some references to the client’s company but each team can personalize the scripts more and add ‘in joke’s’ if they see fit. Teams can be ‘assessed’ on different criteria depending on the goals of the workshop i.e. they are judged more on the extent that ‘team spirit’ is apparent for the ‘Team building experience’ workshop and more on the inspirational and creative use of language for the ‘Inspirational leadership experience’ workshop.

We always finish up with a performance, followed by an award ceremony and feedback session ensuring that everyone will leave feeling fired up and full of energetic enthusiasm.

Tonya Trappe, author of ‘Insights into Business’ and the award winning ‘Intelligent Business’ series  (developed in partnership with the Economist) has successfully combined her business training experience with her drama background to create this unique Shakespeare in business experience for the international business community with varying levels of competency in English.
She studied Economics at Trinity College Dublin in her native Ireland and worked in North Africa before moving to France. She is a regular visitor to central and Eastern Europe both to promote her business books and to act in the show ‘I love Shakespeare’ which she co- wrote.
Tonya Trappe’s interest in business, management, education and drama led to the setting up of the drama school Theatre Atelier Montreuil as well as the Theatre and Management branch of this school.

Clients include: The Hay Group and Citibank.

* adapted from Prospero’s lines in The Tempest Act IV, Scene I
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on”
* adapted from Mark Anthony’s lines in Julius Cesar act III scene II
“Ambitions should be made of sterner stuff ”

In company half day or full day workshops are available.