Thursday, December 01, 2011
Who says there's no money in theatre?
guardian.co.uk: In the UK, we tell young people going into theatre that they will not – cannot – make money. It's a mantra that makes them begin to feel that they should not; poverty and authenticity become synonymous. There will be a few stars, of course, but most people should expect to graft (as Steven Berkoff puts it) and be rewarded with praise and the knowledge of work well done – but rarely with a living wage. (While union rates exist for directors, actors and everyone else in theatre, the reality is that people frequently work for less, and often for nothing.) Maybe struggling against adversity strengthens determination. But what does it do to aspiration?
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2 comments:
This is an interesting article, yet it is based on a very basic principle: aim low and you will achieve low, because you only achieve as high as you aim to. The article criticizes the common belief that theatre professionals will never make enough money to live comfortably. I would have to agree that this is a very damaging point of view for people to have. Such a mentality causes recent college grads and new theatre companies almost to aim to fail. What else are they supposed to do when that is what most everyone expects to happen? The theatre world needs to start believing in itself a little more so that it stops crushing beginners before they even get up on their feet.
The notion that "You'll never make any money in theater" is something that has been preached to me, sometimes by educators and mentors, most of my life. Until coming to CMU. Here the students are expected to go after what they think they are worth, which is invaluable. But there's a danger in this type of thinking.
The article suggests that students who believe they are worth more will create better opportunities. Unfortunately there's not a lot of room for this to happen. There are so many jobs and companies only have so much allocated for payroll. There's also so much money available to theater industry in general for payroll. The companies and organizations that can offer these jobs will have to continue to raise funding and donations to support their employees. To be the TD at the Guthrie or Lincoln Center would be great, but those are only 2 jobs. How many students who think their worth enough for those jobs can have those jobs? If they can't work where they want and for what they'd like to make there's not many other places they can go. To create an opportunity is easier said than done.
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