www.clydefitchreport.com: Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the nation’s largest union for theater actors and stage managers, authorized a strike recently against the Broadway League, the trade association for commercial theater in NYC and beyond. The dispute largely concerns the Developmental Lab Agreement that is often used to workshop new musicals, plus other contracts and guidelines (“Workshop Agreement,” “Staged Reading”) used by League producers to try out new material. AEA members are now barred from working for League producers who want to hire them under any of these agreements. AEA’s famous “Do Not Work” list displays the names of these producers.
1 comment:
The whole idea of what is happening here is rather unfortunate. I'm a little bit on the fence about this one mostly because I am pretty much attached to the traditional model of how a play is produced. It makes sense that the actors would be a huge part in helping out the playwright and director shape a role because each actor brings something to the table. This doesn't necessarily mean that the actors deserve to receive royalties for being the first person to originate a role -- thats simply not how this industry works. I understand that there is always the exception, especially with devised theatre, but for the most part Lab workshops are made to cultivate the playwright and directors vision not the actors, they're just hired to play the roles. I agree with Actors Equity that wages should go up, but in all honesty I don't see actors as the creators of these shows- its just a part of the creative process. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for standing up to the Broadway League but I think that this is a ploy that only weakens the intellectual space for a playwright.
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