What do we want from subsidised rep theatres?

Private User
Actor

the $64,000 dollar question! and we get to have a say to influence future negotiations, hoorah!

Equity are holding meetings all over the country to find out what Members think. They can't just guess without feedback from us! And I guess this is a pretty hot topic - I'm sure everyone has an opinion on what things could be done better. Well things won't change unless you make your opinions KNOWN!

So here is the link to the meetings: http://www.equity.org.uk/article.aspx?id=241

and for those who find clicking and scrolling a bit too much effort, here are the dates ;o)

Monday 26th October

Glasgow

Ramada Hotel, 201 Ingram Street, Glasgow, G1 1DQ

7pm


Wednesday 4th November

Newcastle

Olivier Suite at Newcastle Theatre Royal, 100 Grey Street, Newcastle NE1 6BR

4.30pm


Tuesday 10th November

Leeds

Studio 3, Yorkshire Dance Centre, 3 St Peter's Buildings, St Peter's Square, Leeds LS9 8AH

1pm


Tuesday 10th November

Nottingham

Ustinov Room, Nottingham Play House, Wellington Circus, Nottingham NG1 5AF

5-6.00pm


Sunday 15th November

Belfast

The Premier Inn, 2-6 Waring Street, Belfast , BT1 2DX

2.30pm


Monday 16th November

Cardiff

Main Hall, Transport House, 1 Cathedral Road, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, CF11 9SD

7pm


Wednesday 18th November

Truro

Rehearsal Room, Hall for Cornwall , Back Quay, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 2LL

2.00pm


Saturday 21st November

Liverpool

The Adelphi Hotel, Ranelagh Place, Liverpool, L3 5UL

11am


Sunday 22nd November

Manchester

The Mechanics Centre, 103 Princess Street (Major Street Entrance), Manchester M1 6DD

2pm


Monday 23rd November

Central London

The Actors Church, St. Paul's Church, Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9ED 1.30pm


Thursday 3rdDecember

Reading

South Street Theatre, South Street Arts Centre, Reading, RG1 4QU

12.15pm


Wednesday 9th December

Brighton

Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AF

12.30pm

Bristol and Birmingham have already happened I'm afraid - and very informative the meeting was too. Apparently Bristol had a great turn-out, so would be brilliant to see the same from other cities!

If nothing else, it's a good chance just to catch up with others in the biz and have a good old natter about things we like, or more importantly, would like to change!

Go for it guys! Equity doesn't exist or have any power without us!

xxx


  • 14 years ago
  • 1,694
  • 5

Here Here.
No point whingeing about Equity, saying "they don't do anything for us".
They've got to know what we want from them and psychic they aint.
Do you want better rates? If you're a regional actor- do you want your theatres to audition locally as well as London? Do you want more actors working in the theatre than admin staff?
All these things are bound up in Equity's fight to raise wages and standards.
They want ideas and opinions so get out there and tell them what's on your mind.
I did! (you may well guess what my view is...)


  • 14 years ago
  • 1
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What, only one comment?! well that does surprise me!

Maybe this will surprise you - for every actor working on a stage in subsidised rep (where funding is received from the arts council - lobbied for by Equity!), there are on average between 8 and 10 FULL-TIME members of staff on a permanent salary. So why are actors - and in fact Stage Managers - on the lowest income from these theatres??

I would have thought that the mimimum necessity to put on a play would be a performer - therefore making actors the most crucial element to running a successful theatre. If we make our voices heard through Equity then maybe we can get the theatres to wake up and recognise our worth!

(and unfortunately, paying a subsciption and expecting some faceless office bods to do the rest will not work - that's not how unions operate! Opinions of the members to need to be expressed, or how do we expect them to get heard!?)

much love
xx


  • 14 years ago
  • 2

Well, everyone must be happy with their lot, Kate!
Surprising really, given the rants and raves on this forum.


  • 14 years ago
  • 3
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I had a message sent to me asking to clarify some of the details I mentioned about pay - whether cleaners, admin staff etc were really paid more than actors and stage managers. My information came from discussion at a recent Equity meeting, so I just had a quick trawl of the internet and couldn't find any exact statistics for theatre cleaners or box office staff, although from current job ads I can see them earning between £250 and £300 per week.
On the other hand, admin jobs within theatres are regularly paying upwards of £20k, (with theatre managers in the £40-£50k bracket according to this article from almost 2 years ago: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=429134&in_page_id=2 )

If an actor were working at the Equity mimimum (non West End) wage for an entire year, they would make just over £18k. The kicker is though, how many actors work 52 weeks of the year?? Especially at Equity rates?!? The reality of the situation is that the people on permanent full time contracts at a theatre will almost certainly have a higher earning potential than any of the performers or freelancers.

And apparently all the full time wages in a theatre tend to be linked in to the Stage Manager wage, meaning that whenever the rate for the SM changes, everyone else expects a pay rise too. This has led to a feeling among many theatre workers that Stage Managers musn't have a pay rise or the theatre won't be able to afford to run and will close down. Of course this is ridiculous - there is no law saying the other roles HAVE to get a pay rise when the SM does, but traditionally the wages are linked to the lowest common denominiator. Is this fair? And is it fair that the essential stage manager should be in that position of lowest common denominator??

I am no expert on figures, but I do urge you all to get along to the manifesto meetings to learn more about these surprising statistics, as I get the feeling that too many actors are unaware of these situations, and are not therefore feeling any need to involve themselves in campaigns for change.

How about getting actors onto a full-time payroll at a theare and going back to the old repertory system as an expample of potential solution? Then the figures could at least be analysed in a more even way?

Anyhoo, that's what these meeting are for - sticking ideas for change out there! Go for it folks!

xxx


  • 14 years ago
  • 4
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