Encouraging play

Each day we spent physically together as a cohort began with a member of the cohort leading a warm-up game. Scheduling time to be playful lowered inhibitions and helped the Creative Producers relax into the space. It gave us routine, created bonds, allowed freedom of expression and immediately infused energy into the room when levels inevitably dropped along the way.

Organising optional extra-curricular activities – such as the theatre, karaoke or a group dinner – offered the opportunity for shared experiences and created a vital sense of community away from the workspace.

Play was not just a vital ingredient of the success of the labs, but a central tenet running through the programme. Play presented ways of exploring the rules and generated creative possibilities for being gently subversive.