This paper outlines a pedagogically-oriented casestudy of the use of a 3D collaborative virtual environment(3D CVE) to break down barriers between partners fromdifferent cultural backgrounds whilst performingcollaborative activities on a 3D ‘virtual stage’. The 3Dcollaborative laboratory (3DCollab) described in this paperserved as a learning exchange platform to address the needfor ICT students to practice collaborating remotely. Itfacilitated cultural exchange in a risk-free, fun, andinformative environment where learning was constructedand played out on virtual stages in a 3D CVE, in theperformance of a dramatized version of Plato’s “Allegory ofthe Cave”. Based on the students’ feedback, we discuss howthe design features of the virtual stage place metaphorprovide a support for educational role-play andsocialization.