Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Playbill Article Opens Conversation About Danger, Safety and Standards for Broadway, So Why Aren’t We Talking About That?
rescripted.org: My fellow journalists seem to suddenly be asking all the wrong questions. What was an opportunity for discourse about inequity, hospitality, and safety in our theatrical houses has become a watercooler conversation about why this article was pulled. The focus needs to be put back on the people that matter.
3 comments:
Jasper
said...
While I knew that audience behavior has been in steady decline in recent years, I had no idea that it had gotten this bad. The things that I read about in this article are almost unthinkable. The fact that front of house staff are attacked at this level is horrible and needs to be addressed. Front of house staff should in no way have to fear going into work and dealing with patrons. Furthermore, we should be protecting our fellow theater workers, not letting them be attacked, harassed, and actively harmed at their place of work. However, what this article said about the response to the original publishing of the article is saddening. We as an industry should not be shutting down journalists who comment on the poor conditions workers in our industry are subjected to. We should not be catering to people who are mistreating valued employees. I hope that in the future, we improve as an industry and do better to protect our workers.
The safety protocols that go on backstage and during the production and rehearsal processes are strict and ensure that everyone is in a safe and comfortable working environment. However, I never fully thought about how the front-of-house workers should also be a part of this safety protocol. I never realized how brutal audience members could be, and I honestly can’t fathom the amount of stress and pain this brings to the front-of-house workers. They are there to help aid and guide audience members for something that the audience members bought, which gives them the right to treat the front of house workers so unfairly. After COVID these workers have been subjected to more and more violence, and I don’t understand why no one is talking to the unions, Broadway, or production staff about how unsafe this working environment has become. I hope that this conversation is continued to be talked about and questioned, I hope that the news coverage keeps making this problem apparent so that there is some form of change in the future.
Like the other comment on this post said, I too was aware of things like this happening but not to the scope that the article described. I genuinely have no idea how this has come to be, or how this progression has even managed to take place. I had not really questioned the safety of front of house workers and I’m not sure of many safety precautions that are taken or regulated for those employees. Both actors and production are staffed with safety precautions, rules, and regulations and I firmly believe that this should further extend beyond the stage to all of those that are also in a key position to help shows run efficiently and smoothly. I hope that change is able to be made for these individuals to help keep them safe, and respected amongst theatregoers. I also hope that a greater and larger conversation develops around this topic.
3 comments:
While I knew that audience behavior has been in steady decline in recent years, I had no idea that it had gotten this bad. The things that I read about in this article are almost unthinkable. The fact that front of house staff are attacked at this level is horrible and needs to be addressed. Front of house staff should in no way have to fear going into work and dealing with patrons. Furthermore, we should be protecting our fellow theater workers, not letting them be attacked, harassed, and actively harmed at their place of work. However, what this article said about the response to the original publishing of the article is saddening. We as an industry should not be shutting down journalists who comment on the poor conditions workers in our industry are subjected to. We should not be catering to people who are mistreating valued employees. I hope that in the future, we improve as an industry and do better to protect our workers.
The safety protocols that go on backstage and during the production and rehearsal processes are strict and ensure that everyone is in a safe and comfortable working environment. However, I never fully thought about how the front-of-house workers should also be a part of this safety protocol. I never realized how brutal audience members could be, and I honestly can’t fathom the amount of stress and pain this brings to the front-of-house workers. They are there to help aid and guide audience members for something that the audience members bought, which gives them the right to treat the front of house workers so unfairly. After COVID these workers have been subjected to more and more violence, and I don’t understand why no one is talking to the unions, Broadway, or production staff about how unsafe this working environment has become. I hope that this conversation is continued to be talked about and questioned, I hope that the news coverage keeps making this problem apparent so that there is some form of change in the future.
Like the other comment on this post said, I too was aware of things like this happening but not to the scope that the article described. I genuinely have no idea how this has come to be, or how this progression has even managed to take place. I had not really questioned the safety of front of house workers and I’m not sure of many safety precautions that are taken or regulated for those employees. Both actors and production are staffed with safety precautions, rules, and regulations and I firmly believe that this should further extend beyond the stage to all of those that are also in a key position to help shows run efficiently and smoothly. I hope that change is able to be made for these individuals to help keep them safe, and respected amongst theatregoers. I also hope that a greater and larger conversation develops around this topic.
Post a Comment