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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Sara ZaeemdarORCiD, Professor Susan KirkORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The article provides a framework for theorizing aesthetic persuasion in theatre-based interventions as a mode of management learning and education. Taking an analytical look at the use of dramatic and postdramatic theatre in critical management education, we apply the notion of aesthetic distance, a concept borrowed from aesthetic theory, which enables an exploration of aesthetic persuasion; that is, the processes through which the audience are persuaded to engage in the construction of the theatrical performance situation and its meanings. An analysis of a case of theatre-based intervention, the Workshop, shows that aesthetic persuasion may be enhanced through elements of theatre-based interventions which facilitate adoption and intensification of the aesthetic distance. The contribution of the paper to critical management education studies is twofold. Our empirical contribution reveals the concurrent aesthetic processes which enable and enhance an aesthetic distance to ‘proper’ degrees during the Workshop, leading to the aesthetic persuasion of its audience. Furthermore, by offering this empirically developed theory of aesthetic persuasion, the paper makes a theoretical contribution to the studies of theatre in critical management education. The conclusions may also be helpful in future design of theatre-based interventions aiming to persuade their organizational participants more powerfully and facilitate learning.
Author(s): Zaeemdar S, Kirk S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Management Learning
Year: 2026
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 22/08/2026
Acceptance date: 02/08/2026
Date deposited: 03/08/2026
ISSN (print): 1350-5076
ISSN (electronic): 1461-7307
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/13505076261478495
DOI: 10.1177/13505076261478495
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