Wealthy families, it seems, have the same problems all over the world. At least that’s what Shaking the Tree, the American theatrical company which dramatizes issues revolving around family wealth, is finding out.

Wealthy families, it seems, have the same problems all over the world.

At least that’s what Shaking the Tree, the American theatrical company which dramatizes issues revolving around family wealth, is finding out.

In February, the non-profit organization performed “The Decision,” an original play about a family who has to deal with a disruptive liquidity event on the first anniversary of the patriarch’s death, at the Global Asset Allocation Summit in Bahrain.

The presentation “allowed the audience to interact with a family much like theirs – a large family with several members who have different ideas on how to approach the family business,” said Abdulmohsin Al Omran, chief executive and founder of The Family Office, the sponsor of the conference.

Wealthy families in the Middle East definitely have succession planning issues similar to those in the US, said Steve McCarthy, acting president of Shaking the Tree and senior vice president of KCG Capital Advisors. “They can relate to these stories. And now you have a new generation in wealthy Middle East families who are western educated and want a seat at the table when it comes to making decisions.”

In truth, Shaking the Tree officials weren’t sure how the story of a very American family featuring a strong and assertive woman would go over in a decidedly patriarchal society.

But it turned out the Arab audience was quite sympathetic to the widow, who, although she didn’t run the family business, was respected as the matriarch of the family.

Actors in Shaking the Tree productions stay in character and are asked questions about issues raised in the play after the drama is concluded. “Our prepared questions did not anticipate the degree of deference shown to her opinion by the audience,” said Paul McKibbin, a co-founder of the organization and a managing partner of Family Office Metrics.

The Bahrain production was such a success that The Family Office booked Shaking the Tree again, and an unprecedented five-day tour of the Middle East starts in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, 17 September, followed by performances in Kuwait on Tuesday and Dubai on Wednesday. In addition to the “The Decision,” the actors will perform “The Family Name,” a story of generational succession within a family whose name has become better known than its business.

Next year, Shaking the Tree plans to write an original play based on a case study of issues faced by a wealthy Middle Eastern family. It is also negotiating with Northwestern University to launch a theater program on the school’s campus in Qatar, and is discussing presenting future productions in Latin America and India.

Actively engaging audiences

Clearly, the organization has come a long way from its inception 11 years ago when McKibbin, Maryann Fernandez and David Kersnar sought to actively engage audiences about issues concerning family wealth, including business succession, governance, philanthropy, internal family dynamics and decision-making.

The founders developed what they call the “living case study” method to explore emotional issues confronting wealthy families, using interactive theater and expert facilitation to generate meaningful discussion.

“First we decide what kind of story we want to tell, the reason why the story must be told, what kind of family we’re telling the story about and what kind of business they’re in,” said Kersnar, the managing artistic director of Shaking the Tree and a founding ensemble member of Chicago’s Lookingglass Theater Company, where he has served as artistic director.

Kersnar usually tackles a first draft of the play, and other board members or outsiders then contribute to revisions. The plays are either 20 to 30 minutes or 40 to 50 minutes long, and professional actors are hired from the Lookingglass company and talent pools from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

In addition to learning their lines for the play, the actors are also trained to answer questions the audience may ask about the characters they play. Each play takes several months to produce, and has a budget ranging from approximately $30,000 to $40,000, according to McKibbin.

To date, Shaking the Tree has created over a dozen original productions in various formats and mounts about three of four interactive plays a year in venues ranging from conferences to private dinners to family retreats. Bookings are generated “almost completely by word-of-mouth,” McKibbin said.

Greenwich, Conn-based RayLign Advisory, for example, presented one of Shaking The Tree’s most popular plays, “The Big Payday,” about inheritance and philanthropic issues facing a recently liquid family, at its annual client event at a country club in its home base.

“You can educate through entertainment if it's done right,” said Scott Budge, managing director for RayLign Advisory, a third-party consultant to wealthy families, who was also part of Shaking the Tree’s original creative team. “You can both make the lessons powerful and keep it safe at the same time. Audiences identify with the characters and in doing so think about themselves. Conflicts are framed as 'right versus right,' and this promotes the development of empathy across the whole family system. And when the characters interact with the audience after the play ‘in character,’ you can see that the questions from the audience are really statements about how they are trying to frame the issues in their own lives around wealth.”

Future plans

Shaking the Tree has several of its productions on DVDs, and is currently considering licensing options. It also plans to expand its “Conversations on Philanthropy” series under the direction of Fernandez, founder and president of Philanthropy Indaba.

The organization hopes to do more partnering with educational institutions, such as its recent project with the American College, which used “The Big Payday” as the case study for its certified philanthropic advisor program.

Also in the works is another production based on the work of well-known family wealth expert Jay Hughes, whose writings were the basis of  the play “The Outsider,” which deals with the will and legacy of a legendary entrepreneur.

“Over the years, we’ve seen that more families have become aware of the importance of the issues we’ve been presenting,” McCarthy said. “And the use of case studies and drama to draw out the complexities of family decisions has very wide appeal.”