The Creak of the Back Gate: playwriting techniques in a service design concept

The delivery of a service is frequently compared to the delivery of a theatrical performance or play, and the similarities are easy to see. Both live (or die) on the strength of a connection created between performer (service provider) and audience (service users). However, the point of service delivery is not where the similarities between service design and theatre begin: they can, in fact, be traced back to a performance’s origins in the craft of the playwright.