Thursday, October 14, 2021
Lynn Nottage, Clint Ramos, and More Call for the End of 10 out of 12s
thebroadwayblog.com: Prominent theater artists are calling for the end of 10 out of 12s, a shorthand that describes the theater workdays during tech, which have traditionally consisted of a 12-hour work day, six days a week, with only a two-hour break each day. Such long workweeks, with only one day off, have made it more difficult for theater artists and technicians who are also parents, those who live farther away from the theater, and others.
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Through different weeks of newsquiz, I have been able to follow a lot about the IATSE strike and I know that a decrease in working hours is one of the demands that many workers have. Its great to see names that are very important in the theatre industry also speaking out against the insane hours that theatre demands. Working in the theatre, it is both so emotionally and physically draining that asking 12-hour days for 6 days a week is completely unsustainable. As the article says, theatre and movies aren’t magically produced but you can’t expect people to work on them almost around the clock. These exhaustive hours can so quickly turn into a toxic environment where everyone is tired and feels overworked and overwhelmed. Still it is good to see companies and plays committing to abolish these hours so that workers actually feel valued as human beings and not just entities to produce theatre.
I am really glad to see that big names in the industry are sticking up for this extremely important cause. And it shouldn’t just be an end of 10 out of 12s for actors, it needs to be for everyone involved. Countless times, actors will go for their break while crews have to continue working. Additionally, crews have to show up hours before and hours after that rehearsal anyways, so getting rid of 10 out of 12s doesn’t really help the long hours for crew members anyways. This needs to be standardized for all theatre-workers and everyone should work actual sane hours and be getting a healthy amount of break time. I have seen many big name theatre people sharing that particular post around on social media platforms and I hope that grows into a much bigger movement in conjunction with the IATSE strike and other recent news. The pandemic taught us a lot about normal working hours and it seems silly to return to the same poor conditions that we used to work in.
I never knew to question ten out of twelves because I had been doing them since high school. I would often wonder why the entertainment industry is one of the few industries outside of the medical and securities fields that worked insanely long hours but would normally just chalk it up to the fact that long rehearsal days would normally just come down to time and money. I am so happy to see that theatre industry is really starting to follow through on everything they were called out on, and happy to see that big names in theater are using their influence to encourage additional action be taken. I think if any theater continues to do ten out of twelves moving forward it will say a lot about the company and its values. Theatre companies need to start paying attention to what the artists and technicians that work for them are saying, or pretty soon no one will be working for them.
Nice to see that big names in the industry are properly calling out this practice and pushing for an end to it. I never really thought about the long days we work in theatre because I had fun doing it, and because I thought that's just how it works, but now that I'm older and pushing towards this line of work being my career, it's really important to know that the industry is trying to move towards allowing workers to have a home life outside of theatre. I strongly appreciate that CMU pushes for 8 out of 10's instead. It's important to see big names and institutions in the industry push for a more equitable practice, and I think that after covid and this upcoming IATSE strike we're finally starting to see more equitable practices being actively thought about and implemented.
It is so nice to see that leading professionals in the industry are calling for more equitable work hours. When I first started doing theatre, I never really questioned the 10 out of 12, it was simply the schedule that I was required to work because of the mantra, the show must go on. I know the call for an end of 10 out of 12s came before the COVID pandemic, but I think if the pandemic taught us all one collective thing, it is the value of rest and being home with the people we love. 10 out of 12s were always the schedule for the performers, often times technicians and management are called hours before and have to stay hours after the performers are done to continue the work on the production. Looking at theatres that choose to eliminate 10 out of 12s really speaks volumes to the type of culture they want to have and how they value their personnel.
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