Thirty Second Theatre is a problem-solving technique designed to enable autonomous groups to help their members to tackle work problems. It allows the group to discuss and role play problems experienced by their members. Role play techniques often require skilled facilitators to organise and handle, but this method requires no such expertise: groups who have never experienced role play can use it without help. This case study describes the method and illustrates its use in practice.
Learners are divided into groups of six. About an hour is needed for each individual in the group to obtain help on his or her own work problem: about six hours in all. The learners are asked to identify a problem at work which is typical, or which highlights a particular difficulty they have. They are asked to write out this problem in the following way:
"Whatever sort of problem you have in your work, write it out in the form of a thirty second play. Your play should have a description of the scene in which the problem arose, thumbnail sketches of the main characters and thirty seconds of dialogue to get the action rolling. This play should aim to give a vivid impression of the situation you find yourself in."
The problem presented as a thirty second theatre reproduced below was written out by a music teacher who had never been involved in problem solving or group work before.
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to present their problems to the group and enlist their help in working on the problem. They are offered alternative ways of tackling the problem. Role plays may be perceived as 'risky' by those not used to them and so 'safer' discussion methods are offered as well. The method is chosen by the person whose problem is being worked on. In practice, groups tend to start off with the discussion methods and move on to 'riskier' methods as they become more confident and trusting of each other. Even totally inexperienced groups become quite experimental and imaginative in their problem solving after a few hours, working together, running role plays through over and over with different members in the key roles and so on, without prompting or help.
One set of alternative problem-solving methods could be:
Open discussion
The problem is presented to the group who have an open discussion about what it really consists of and what might be done about it. A checklist of questions can be offered to help groups who get stuck. For example:
"How do you feel in this situation? How do the others feel?"
"Can you state the problem from the point of view of the others?"
"What are you most afraid might happen?"
Pyramid discussion
As for 'Open discussion' but first of all:
Each person spends five minutes alone reflecting about the problem and making notes about possible causes. Pairs form to compare notes and discuss possible solutions for ten minutes.
In this way everyone in the group will have had time to think about the problem and work up some ideas before being expected to join in a group discussion.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a method for throwing out as many ideas or solutions to problems as possible. Before the group starts, allow five minutes to clarify what the problem is for which possible solutions are being dreamt up. Appoint a scribe who will write down the ideas as quickly as possible, preferably on a board everyone is sitting around. Appoint a referee who will call "foul!" every time someone breaks one of the three rules below. Everyone then simply calls out possible solutions to the problem, being as imaginative as possible.
Rules:
1 No elaboration: group members simply call out a word or phrase, however daft or nonsensical it may seem to others. Explanation comes later.
2 No clarification: group members may not ask what others mean.
3 No criticism: no one is allowed to criticise or comment: this would stop others from throwing out half-formed ideas. After this fast creative stage, the group goes back through the list of ideas on the board to check what they mean, and then selects the most fruitful for further analysis.
Role play
Members of the group take the role of the characters in the thirty second theatre and read the scripted section before improvising what happens next. The group may need to be imaginative about the room layout, about other characters involved, and about how the scene unfolds. The rest of the group observe and take notes. The purpose of the role play is for group members to experience what it is like for the characters in the problem situation before they discuss possible solutions.
Instructions for running role plays and debriefing and reflecting upon them can be found in Section 4.4.4, together with additional role play techniques such as "Time Out" and "Alter Ego".
Before the group finish with one problem and move on to the next, each person in the group makes a very brief statement about what they have learnt.
Thirty second theatre was used in the context of the course described in Section 5.9. The working methods were demonstrated at the start by the tutors acting them out so as to give learners the experience of seeing the methods in action. Five parallel problem-solving groups then worked quite independently in three rooms for six hours spread over two weeks. The method generated a tremendous amount of involvement and energy despite the lack of experience of the groups with this kind of working method. The course evaluation showed that 97% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "I learnt a great deal from the group problem solving", the highest rating of any aspect of the course. Entries in learners' diaries also revealed the powerful impact this had on them.
In terms of experiential learning theory the effectiveness of this method was due to:
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