Download Robert Lindsay

spring 2013
www.equity.org.uk
Vogue signs our code
to protect models
Focus on casting
service Spotlight
Latest research about
older women on stage
and screen
Robert
Lindsay
the new president
of the royal theatrical
fund on why charity
begins at home
Campaign launched inside
Contents
News
First For
Equity mEmbErs’
insurancE
nEEds
04 My Theatre Matters!
06 VAT advice
Success stories
Opening the Door event
Robert Lindsay
We administer the Equity Members
Pension Scheme, Public Liability
and Accident & Backstage
insurance schemes
Features
Call 020 8686 5050
Campaigns
20 Focus on Spotlight
24 Roles for older women
18
19
www.firstact.co.uk
14 >
Make it in Scotland
Plus
Cover image: Eyevine
>
32
>
*First Act Insurance is a trading name of Hencilla Canworth Ltd
authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
under reference number 226263
24
My Theatre Matters!
08 Meet the membership
27 Member offers
30 Letters
32 Branch update
First Act Insurance* is the preferred
insurance intermediary of Equity
>
Cover story
14
20
Vogue approves code
>
10
11
08
front of house
upfront
New committee
elections
time to protect
our theatres
As their budgets are squeezed, councils have their
sights set on local theatre. please join with your
fellow members in signing up to My theatre matters!
Equity has launched a
nationwide campaign, together
with the Theatrical Management
Association and The Stage, aimed
at harnessing support for theatres
across the UK.
The campaign is in response to
a series of major cuts in local
government funding for theatres,
as councils find themselves under
budgetary pressure. It will target
audiences, calling on them to
express why their theatre matters
to them and to encourage
politicians to do the same.
Somerset was first to
announce a 100% arts funding
cut. Now Newcastle’s Theatre
Royal, Northern Stage and Live
Theatre, Sheffield’s Lyceum,
Crucible and The Studio and
Stoke-on-Trent’s New Vic Theatre
have all been hit with cuts.
However, Newcastle, which was
one of the cities that was recently
faced with a potential 100% cut,
has that cut in half following a
concerted campaign by Equity
members and audience groups.
Philip Bernays, chief executive of the
Theatre Royal in Newcastle, said
that such campaigns to protect
funding can make a real difference,
and encouraged people to sign up
to My Theatre Matters!.
He said: “What we’ve been able
to prove in Newcastle is that people
do value their theatres and cultural
organisations, but it does take a
little bit of effort to get them to say
that to the funders.”
Equity President Malcolm
Sinclair believes Equity members
need to lead the way on this issue.
He said: “The relationship between
actor and audience is the essence
of theatre so it seems to me to be
entirely appropriate that the My
Theatre Matters! campaign should
be about mobilising audiences to
defend their theatres from cuts. I
hope every Equity member will get
behind this campaign – but
especially those currently working
in theatre. This is about our right
to work and if we won’t campaign
to save theatres who will?”
Find out more in our campaigns
section, page 18. Sign up at:
www.mytheatrematters.com
We musn’t let theatres close.
We musn’t let theatre die.
Once they are gone they never
return and they are such an
important part of life and
education – and they are fun!
The skills people develop in
UK theatres right now can
resonate around the world in
10 years’ time. The arts punch
above their weight so cuts right
now create a void for the future.
are you ready for Universal credit?
Universal Credit will be launched
in October 2013 and will replace many of the
benefits members currently rely on, such as
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Incomerelated Employment and Support Allowance and
Housing Benefit. Council Tax Benefit will be
abolished and replaced by local Council Tax
Reduction schemes. The implications for members
are hard to assess but it is clear that the benefits
system is about to get much tougher.
In March, the Equity Council received a
detailed report from Equity organiser Max
Beckmann. She told Council that under
Universal Credit paper-based claims are being
abolished and most new claims must be made
online. Claimants will be given online claimant
04 /
spring 2013
accounts that they will be required to keep
up-to-date. Universal Credit awards will be
assessed on a monthly basis and self-employed
claimants will need to log online details of their
earnings every month.
Full details of the new regime are not yet
known, so it remains unclear how it will impact
members. Equity staff have been meeting with
senior officials from the Department for Work
and Pensions (DWP) to try to get the best
possible outcome for members, but the new
benefits landscape will be very challenging.
Most self-employed members who do not
pay Class 1 national insurance contributions will
be assumed to have a minimum income from
their self-employment. This will be known as a
Minimum Income Floor and it will be used to
calculate their Universal Credit entitlement even
if actual income is below that which is assumed.
For most self-employed members the Minimum
Income Floor will be set at approximately
£11,000 annual earnings. Tough sanctions are
also being introduced. Claimants will have to
accept a ‘claimant commitment’ that will set out
the steps they are required to take to look for
work. The restrictions members will be able to
place on their work search and work availability
will be fewer and at the discretion of Personal
Advisors. Equity is seeking to input into the
published DWP guidance issued to Personal
Advisors. Equity will communicate further details
on Universal Credit as soon as it is available.
www.equity.org.uk
have your say on the future direction of
the union by serving on one of its committees,
which will be elected this summer.
The committees being elected are Screen,
Stage, Variety Circus and Entertainers, Audio,
Creative Team, Singers, Stage Management,
Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Lesbian Gay
Bisexual and Transgender, Members with
Disabilities, Minority Ethnic Members, Women
and Young Members.
Nomination papers were available at the
Equity Annual General Meetings that took place
around the country in February and March
and are included with this edition of the Equity
magazine. Online nominations have now opened.
Voting will start in June and the results will be
announced after the poll has closed at 12 noon
on 12 July. Rules for these committees are now
available on the Equity website at:
www.equity.org.uk/committee-rules
Thanks to Michael
Mackenzie
Members celebrated Michael
Mackenzie’s final Scottish AGM in March, which
took place at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow.
Mike retires from the Scottish Committee this
summer after many years of service to the union.
Mike joined the Scottish Committee in 1976 and
from 1978 has served continuously as vice
chairman and latterly as chairman.
A veteran of many campaigns,
from the anti-VAT on theatre
tickets in the 80s, right
through the highly successful
campaign for a National
Theatre for Scotland to the
current Make it in Scotland
campaign, Mike was a deputy
on almost every job he worked
on (and may yet still be!).
Outside of Equity he
served on the Scottish
Arts Council Drama
committee for six
years and for a long
time was the chair
of West Lothian
Youth Theatre.
Mike is pictured
with the Islay
malt the Scottish
Committee gave
him as a gift.
Christine Payne
General Secretary
Equity members are at the centre of the My
Theatre Matters! campaign and without you it
won’t work. Please sign up and let local authorities
know that theatre is not an easy target for cuts
My Theatre Matters! is a
statement of fact. Theatres do matter
and not just as workplaces for our
members. Supporters of this unique
campaign are already highlighting the
essential cultural, social, economic and
educational significance of theatre to our
communities throughout the UK.
They are reminding us of the great
reputation our theatre has and of the pride
we all feel when our work and our
members receive national and international
recognition. They are explaining that
theatre does not just happen – it needs to
be invested in and nurtured. Crucially, they
are emphasising the vital relationship
between subsidised and commercial
theatre upon which so many remarkable
productions have been produced and
memorable performances given.
It is public investment from central
government, and local authorities in
particular, which could be threatened in
the wake of austerity measures.
The meaning of theatre to our lives
and the value of theatre to our economy
should be clear. But for many audiences,
the complicated financial structure that
keeps their theatre going is a mystery and
something they do not give serious
thought too. The complex interaction of
local authority funding, possible Arts
Council grant, private sponsorship, the
box office, catering and merchandise sales
and so on is very challenging for a theatre
manager to juggle.
For the first time, this campaign brings
together Equity, the Theatrical
Management Association and
the Stage newspaper with a
joint ambition to explain to
audiences that their local
authority is having to make
difficult decisions on what
it funds and that local
theatre should not be an
easy target for cuts. We
know that this is already
happening in Somerset,
Westminster and other
local authorities. So it is up
to Equity, the theatre
managers and the Stage to persuade
audiences that if they value their
local theatre they must tell their local
councillors. And the message is very simple:
I want you to know how important
my local theatre is to me;
Thank you for continuing to invest
my taxes to ensure it remains at the heart
of our community;
I urge you to consider the
importance of our theatre when you are
making decisions on funding; and
Please add you voice to our
UK-wide campaign
We only have this year to influence
local authorities as they make funding
decisions during this year for
implementation in 2014. To support the
campaign theatre managers will put
posters up in their venues and will make
postcards available to audiences. The
We only have
this year to
influence local
authorities”
Stage newspaper will make weekly
reports on the campaign and audiences
will be asked to sign up to it and send a
postcard to their local councillor.
So what can you do? We are at the
centre of this campaign and without you
it won’t work. Members in casts, with the
support of the management, will be asked
to make curtain call speeches, members
in local branches will be asked to leaflet
audiences and support their local theatre,
and all members are asked to sign up to
the campaign. Please add your name, and
if you wish your photograph, now at
mytheatrematters.com and get the
message across to local councillors that
My Theatre Matters!
spring 2013
/ 05
front of house
In brief...
Council update
Simon Preece and Steve Fortune
have been elected to the Equity
Council in a by-election. Simon
was elected to the Singers seat and
Steve to the Chorus and Ensemble
seat. The Council elected Natasha
Gerson as vice president, following
David Cockayne stepping down
from that role. Meanwhile,
vice president Jean Rogers was
elected by the TUC’s Women’s
Conference to serve on the
TUC women’s committee.
ARC observers
Equity’s 2013 Annual Representative
Conference (ARC) takes place on
May 19-20 in London. If you wish
to be an observer at the conference
please fill in the coupon on page 13.
New branches
Recent proposals to cut all arts
funding in Newcastle has
emphasised the need for a local
focus and possible formation of a
new general branch. To that end, an
open meeting of Equity members at
Northern Stage (Stage 3) on
Tuesday 16 April, 5.30pm has
been arranged. For more, contact
Nigel Jones, 0114 275 9746,
[email protected].
Meanwhile, a new Hertfordshire
general branch has been created,
contact: [email protected]
Education grants
If you’re an actor with ten years’
adult professional acting
experience you may be eligible for
a re-training grant from the
Equity Charitable Trust, visit:
www.equitycharitabletrust.org.uk
Funeral benefit
Funeral benefit has increased
from 1 January 2013. The new
rates are £30 for the first year of
membership, a further £6 for each
subsequent year of membership
up to a maximum of £300.
06 /
spring 2013
Equity
publishes
code of
conduct
for Fixers
working
in ADR
Equity’s audio committee has come
up with a Best Practice/Code of Conduct for
fixers engaging artists on Additional Dialogue
Replacement (ADR) sessions for film, TV and
computer games. The union appreciates the difficulties
experienced by fixers and members in this area
and unfortunately many production companies
are not complying with all the terms of the
agreements. This Code is there to create a level
playing field for all fixers and Equity hopes this will
help them withstand any pressure tactics from
producers. The document also deals with issues
outside of the agreement and provides good
advice to ensure the health and safety of our
members, such as informing artists when a session
requires demanding or specialist voice work such
as excessive and prolonged shouting/screaming. Late payment has been a difficult problem in this
area, but one that Equity is doing all that it can to
stamp out. If you have any problems with late payments on
ADR please get in touch with the organiser in this
area, Cathy Sweet: [email protected]
Guide to common problems
for VAT-registered performers
when negotiating a fee consider VAT.
The VAT system assumes a price will be inclusive
of VAT unless stated otherwise. If you do not
specify that VAT will be charged and then seek to
add it on when you issue an invoice, you may have
problems getting paid the extra 20%. Do not
assume that because you undertake to work for a
VAT-registered organisation they can recover the
VAT you charge them. They may be covered by the
VAT cultural exemption, which means they will
suffer a restriction on their ability to recover VAT on
your fees. Be careful when you receive payments
from collection agencies (such as BECS) that
relate to statutory levies such as blank tape levies.
These are not normally regarded as supplies by
HMRC and VAT is not generally due on this
money. If you have accounted for VAT in the past
you may be due a refund. Finally, if you undertake
work abroad make sure that you understand the
place of supply rules. Since 1 January 2010 your
supplies will generally be free of VAT. For more info
contact Alan Lean on [email protected]
meet the membership
Brummy love
Lorna Laidlaw plays formidable receptionist Mrs Tembe in TV’s
Doctors. She’s proud to come from the Midlands and work locally
Photography Phil Adams Interview Rachel Dealtry
Q
What was your route into acting?
I didn’t go to drama school, but I was
always in the school plays and I went to the
Birmingham Youth Theatre to support a friend who
was going there to audition. They said to me ‘you can’t
just sit at the sides, you have to give it a go’. So I did
and became part of the company. I went to work for
lots of good local theatre’s such as Big Brum, Women
and Theatre, Language Alive and a company from the
Rep. Since then I have worked at the Birmingham Rep
every year in various jobs.
control is to make your own work.
People think if you scarper then things
will be better, and maybe they will, but
you can try to make a commitment to
your area. In Birmingham’s case, it is
the second city after all and work will
generally lead to more work if you stay.
People also forget that the rail links
from Birmingham to London are
fantastic and we can get to the capital
in the same time it
takes many London
commuter’s to get
into the centre. If
you get a contract
in a West End
Theatre then why
not just go there for
the duration of the
run and then come
back to your real
life? I think there
are different ways
of managing work
and it shouldn’t all
be about London.
Q
Q
You have been a regular on
Doctors for almost three years.
How did you get the job?
I got the role because the producers saw me at the
Birmingham Rep in These Four Streets and they
asked me to audition for the show. That play was a
fantastic collaborative piece of writing, written by six
female writers about the Lozells riots. We were a very
small cast, so we all had to play three or four different
characters. I got offered a part as a hairdresser in a one
off episode of Doctors and then a year later they asked
me to audition for Mrs Tembe. So people shouldn’t
think that even if they’ve played a character one year
in a continuing drama, they will not be able to return.
Q
There are different
ways of managing
work and it
should not all be
about London”
Do you think it is important to work
near where you live?
Yes. I have worked across the UK and I have
toured internationally but I have always found work in
the Midlands and I think it’s important to stay put. My
commitment is to this area. When I had kids I thought
that things were going to be harder, but then I realised
you have to be more resourceful about what you want.
I didn’t want to go up to Scotland and do a six month
gig at that time. I needed to be where my children
were, which meant that I had to find work. So I honed
different skills. I wrote children’s shows. I went to the
Midlands Art Centre and devised about four or five
shows for them, one of which went off on a tour with
Pentabus [a company that produces local stories and
tours them nationally].
Q
Do you sympathise with performers
in the Midlands and elsewhere who
find it hard to get work locally?
I do because I know it can be tough. One way of taking
Left, Lorna in
the role of Mrs
Tembe on the
set of Doctors,
which is filmed
in Birmingham.
She believes in
committing to
working in her
local area
Is there a buzz around
Birmingham?
There is – we’ve got lots of
great theatre companies. The Rep’s
going to be opening another 500 seat
venue. There is a new studio theatre
opening. Blue Orange Theatre in the
Jewellery Quarter is doing great work
and is employing local people. Let’s
shout about it. Let’s be proud of it.
Q
You won an award for directing in 2011.
Do you have further ambitions in that area?
I won the Music Video & Screen Awards’
Best Black Theatre Production in 2011 for directing
Mr Soon Come. I also won the Royal Television
Society award for Best Actress in 2012. It’s always
a great feeling when your work is recognised.
It was brilliant to get that feedback as a director,
I would love to direct Doctors in the future. But we
will just have to wait and see.
spring 2013
/ 09
success stories
Ghana twinning
reaps rewards
Vogue signs our code
British Vogue signs Equity’s Ten Point Code for the fair treatment
of Models during photoshoots in studios and on location
Equity is delighted to sign the first model code of conduct
with the fashion bible Vogue. A pioneer in the international modelling
industry and committed to the health and welfare of models, British
Vogue has taken the lead by signing our Code.
The Equity Ten Point Code of Conduct for the treatment of
Models during photoshoots in studios and on location was drawn up
by members of Equity’s models committee in response to the
treatment they received when working on photoshoots, which ranged
from the very good to the extremely bad.
Models hired by British Vogue for editorial work will now get
assurances on hours of work, breaks, food, transport, nudity and
semi-nudity, temperature, changing rooms and prompt payment.
British Vogue readers can also be assured that all models in Vogue’s
editorial are employed in line with the Code, and additionally that
models under 16 years of age will not be used in photoshoots
representing adult models.
Equity hopes that the rest
of the fashion press and the
high street stores will follow
Vogue’s lead. Dunja
Knezevic, a working model and
current chair of Equity’s models committee, said:
“Signing up to Equity’s Code shows Vogue UK’s dedication to
improving the working conditions of models. We hope that other
magazines and publishing houses, retailers and designers will also
understand the importance of protecting models in the workplace,
sign up to the Code and prevent treatment of the kind which would
be wholly unacceptable in any other profession!” For more information
contact Hilary Hadley, 020 7670 0236, [email protected].
Download the Code from www.equity.org.uk/models
Thinkstock, Phil Adams
Equity recognised as leader in social media
Following the recent TUC award for Equity’s
website there has been further good news for the
union’s use of social media.
Web consultancy Infobob has rated Equity
number five in its list of unions that use social
media most effectively. The results, which list 38
unions, contain organisations much larger and
better resourced.
Equity’s use of social media includes Twitter,
10 /
spring 2013
FaceBook, YouTube and Flickr. We currently have
more than 19,000 followers on Twitter and more
than 10,000 ‘Likes’ on FaceBook.
Martin Brown, Equity’s head of
communications, said: “Social media
influence is critical to unions as well as
companies in the private sector. We are pleased
that we are competing well in this area.” Find us at:
www.twitter.com/EquityUK or @EquityUK
East Asian performers speak out
Equity event at the Young Vic examined the need for East
Asian artists to become more visible in UK theatre
Last October, the RSC’s (Royal
Shakespeare Company) casting of The
Orphan of Zhao provoked an outcry among
East Asian performers. Only three actors of
East Asian descent were cast in the play,
which is regarded as the ‘Chinese Hamlet’.
East Asian actors mobilised around the
issue and formed an effective lobby, which
included Equity.
A steering group was formed to discuss
the delivery of a theatre sector response to
the lack of employment opportunities for
East Asian actors and other performers.
Representatives from Equity, Arts Council
England, the Casting Directors Guild,
Independent Theatre Council, SOLT/TMA
and the Young Vic Theatre were
represented on this steering group.
The steering group responded to the
issues raised by holding the Opening the
Door event, which took place in February at
the Young Vic Theatre. The event proved to
www.equity.org.uk
In December 2009 the Equity Council
agreed a three year twinning programme
with the Ghana Actors’ Guild.
In 2009, the Guild had around 600
members with two branches in the key
film producing areas of Accra and
Kumasi. The union is run entirely by
members and has no secretariat. It has
an office in Accra courtesy of MUSIGA,
the Ghanaian musician’s union.
Members pay subscriptions of three
Ghanaian Cedis (approximately £1) a
month, of which one Cedi goes to the
local branch and two Cedis goes to the
national union. Notwithstanding this
very low income base, the Guild has put
in place accident insurance cover for all
its members.
The Guild has taken maximum
advantage of Equity’s support. During
the three years of the twinning
programme, three new branches have
been created, membership has doubled
to around 1,200 and the first agreement
between the Guild and the film
producers’ association was signed
at the end of November 2012.
Equity has supported the Guild in
a number of ways including funding
a series of training events in the country
and welcoming the leaders of the Guild
to London, where they learnt about
creating the structures of a union and
utilising a membership database.
be a great success. Ninety industry
practitioners and 91 East Asian actors and
performers took part. Theatre sector
participants included senior casting people
from the RSC and The National, plus leading
artistic directors from across the UK.
As an ‘open space’ event, facilitated by
the Improbable Theatre Company, the day
was organised around a series of
discussion groups who debated aspects of
the problem with a view to identifying
solutions and action points for the industry
to collectively take forward and address.
Feedback from the event has been
overwhelmingly positive. The steering group
has met since it took place and a number of
very tangible next steps have emerged.
Perhaps the most exciting of these is the
idea of an open audition event. Further
information on the discussion that took
place at Opening the Door can be found at:
www.devotedanddisgruntled.com
spring 2013
/ 11
!
success stories
Union defends
film actor
filmmaker who refused to
pay actor’s wages is taken
to employment tribunal
e
s
i
r
y
a
p
n
i
10% pay rise in commercial theatre
the Commercial Theatre Agreement has been renegotiated.
it is a vital part of Equity’s industrial work and includes
touring, off-west end and regional productions
last year saw the conclusion of
negotiations for a new Commercial Theatre
Agreement that will now be in place until
April 2015.
The Commercial Theatre Agreement is
a key part of Equity’s industrial work, being
used by commercial producers for their
touring, off-West End and regional work;
The key to
achieving this
success was the
unprecedented
level of
engagement with
the membership”
including by ATG, Cameron Macintosh, Bill
Kenwright and others.
The new agreement delivered lots of
positive changes for performers and stage
managers – including an almost 10 per
12 /
spring 2013
cent rise on subsistence and touring
allowance over the three years and more
than 7.5 per cent on minimum performance
salaries for performers and stage managers
over the same period.
The biggest success, however,
was the nearly 18 per cent increase in
minimum rehearsal salary for performers
and assistant stage managers over the
three years. Following a survey conducted
before negotiations began, it was very
clear that addressing the gap between
rehearsal and performance pay was a key
priority for members working in commercial
theatre over the three year period of the
old agreement.
As a result of this strong feedback and
the advocacy of those members on the
working party, producers agreed to the
substantial uplift – along with numerous
other improvements.
The biggest level of increase happens
this year – a 10 per cent uplift for those
rehearsing at the minimum on or after the
1st April 2013. The achievement was a
tremendous success, especially in the
current climate where the average pay rise
is running at 1 per cent. The key to achieving
it was the unprecedented level of
engagement with the membership and the
excellent contributions from deps and
working members on the working party.
Employment Tribunal
proceedings were initiated against Mr
Deene Naz, also known as Deene Naseem,
of Summertime Pictures A Moving Picture
Company that culminated in a tribunal hearing
in late November 2012.
Our member, Thomas Ingham, was
represented by Equity who took proceedings
under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998
for payment for work on a project titled The Blur.
This case began when Thomas responded
to a casting notice for actors to appear in a film
project in Manchester. When they met, Naz was
immediately interested in employing our
member and showed him pilot footage of the
overall project. He mentioned wages in the
region of £90,000 and Naz offered him a part in
the film. Naz then emailed a contract, a
confidentiality agreement, a shooting schedule
and location maps. Thomas was reassured by
the level of detail that this was a genuine
project. The shoot quickly became fraught with
problems, but Thomas tirelessly stuck by his
contract and completed what was required. In
the months after the shoot it became apparent
that Naz had no intention of paying his salary.
The tribunal found in favour of our member’s
case and awarded him a national minimum
wage payment for the 170 of hours work he
committed to this project. This case serves as
an excellent reminder that the union is fully
resourced to pursue further claims for the
national minimum wage in the future. For more
information on low pay and no pay issues visit:
www.equity.org.uk/lowpay
Annual Representative
Conference 2013
Observers
Equity’s 2013 Annual Representative Conference (ARC) will take
place on May 19-20 at the Ibis Hotel, Earl’s Court, London.
The ARC brings together your elected representatives from
across Equity’s branches, committees and Council to review the
union’s progress and to make policy. Any member, including student
members, can attend as an Observer but, due to venue constraints,
space is limited.
If you would like to be an Observer (no voting or speaking rights
or expenses) please complete the form below and return it to Equity.
Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis and we
only accept applications made on this coupon. Thank you.
Equity Name
Are you:
Are
you:
••
••
••
••
a
a professional
professional actor?
actor?
parent
of
a
child
parent of a child under
under 21?
21?
experiencing
financial
hardship?
experiencing financial hardship?
seeking
seeking advice
advice and
and funding?
funding?
TACT helps
TACT
helps children
children who
who are
are illill or
or have
have
special
needs,
families
in
financial
crisis,
special needs, families in financial crisis,
or where
where a
or
a parent
parent is
is unwell
unwellor
orcannot
cannotwork.
work.
Equity No
Address
Email
I have been selected by my branch as their official Observer
help for
actors’
children
Yes/No
My branch
Please mark your envelope “ARC OBSERVER”
and return by 22 APRIL 2013 to:
Louise Grainger, Equity, FREEPOST WD 2884, Guild
House, Upper St Martin’s Lane, London, WC2H 9EG
The Evelyn Norris Trust
Grants are
Grants
are available,
available, for
for extra-curricular
extra-curricular
costs,
clothing
and
uniform,
costs, clothing and uniform,school
schoolextras,
extras,
crisis
childcare
–
but
not
independent
crisis childcare – but not independent
school fees.
school
fees.
Friendly advice
Friendly
advice and
and advocacy.
advocacy.
Confidential.
Confidential.
Was established in 1968 to
provide financial support
for members of the
theatrical and concert
professions who are in
need of rest, recovery or
a recuperative holiday.
If you’ve recently suffered
an illness, or needed medical
treatment and think a short
convalescent break
would aid recovery, or if you’ve
been suffering from ill health
and need to ‘recharge your
batteries’ then you should
apply for funding.
For information on
how to apply you can either contact
[email protected].
ring us on 0207 831 1926
or visit our website
www.equitycharitabletrust.org.uk
where you can follow the link to the
Evelyn Norris Trust and download
an application.
www.equitycharitabletrust.org.uk
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interview
Looking
out for
performers
Robert Lindsay is the new president of the Royal
Theatrical Fund. Here, he reveals the reasons he got
involved with the charity and reflects on the difficult
choices he has made throughout his career
Words: Phil Pemberton
T
he new president of The Royal
Theatrical Fund will forgive you
if you have not heard of the
charity, because for a large part
of his career he had not either.
“About nine years ago I was
working at Pinewood and Leslie Phillips
approached me and said that the Royal Theatrical
Fund (RTF) would really like my help,” says
Robert, “my response was ‘What’s that?’! He
explained that it was a fund that supports people
who have worked in the entertainment industry
and fallen on hard times.”
Robert was intrigued and went along to
one of the charity’s board meetings to find
out more.
“I was a little nervous when I first arrived
as the directors of the fund are among the
most powerful people in the business,” he
reveals. “I was fiddling with the leg of the
table when one of them leaned across and
explained that it was originally owned by
Dickens. I began to understand the sense of
history behind the fund and, listening to the
discussion, I heard very moving stories about
people needing support.”
The charity was originally set up in 1839
The public only see the
success, but we know it’s a
very precarious profession”
14 /
spring 2013
www.equity.org.uk
and its first chairman was Charles Dickens.
Every year it provides support for more than
400 people of all ages who have worked in
the entertainment industry.
“I was really impressed that there was a
group of people who wanted to help,” says
Robert, “I thought the only people, apart
from Equity, that artists could really turn to
was their mum and dad. But here I found a
feeling of family, as opposed to a profession,
and a real sense of benevolence.”
“Our industry is curious in that the
general public see it in terms of its success,
money and awards, but we know it’s a very
precarious profession,” he continues. “You
can find yourself in dark periods, when
you’re ill and feeling very alone. It can
sometime be even worse if you are well
known because you are still stopped in the
street but you may be on your uppers and
struggling. What this profession has at its
heart is a bond between a group of people
working together on a show. You can’t
work in isolation and we need to support
each other through the bad times. That’s
why I believe the RTF is doing such great
work and is worth committing to.”
>
spring 2013
/ 15
interview
History of the fund
BBC pictures, Rex features
Robert’s diverse
career encompasses
roles in Me & My Girl,
My Family and The
Lion in Winter
16 /
Robert understands the difficulties
of making a living from acting,
particularly when you are starting out.
“I was doing street theatre when I
first came into the profession. I was
also performing in Theatre in
Education and I was struggling to pay
my rent,” he explains. “I work with
drama students a lot, particularly as
my daughter has just graduated. She
and her fellow students have helped
out at a local fair I run in aid of the
fund. They were relieved to know that
when they move into the industry
there is an organisation they can turn
to if they were in desperate need.”
Robert received a government
grant to study at RADA, which was
a major achievement at that time as
he grew up in a working class family
from the mining town of Ilkeston,
Derbyshire. A glittering acting career
was not one of the options supplied by
the career’s teacher at school. “He
didn’t think much of the prospects of
an actor. He suggested I tried
spring 2013
hairdressing,” Robert remembers with
a laugh. His father, whom he describes
as a “straight talking trade unionist”,
did not always understand his choice
of career either, although, as a
carpenter by trade, he made Robert a
make-up box as a gift for getting into
drama school. “I don’t think he really
got the idea until I did My & My Girl
at the Adelphi theatre,” says Robert.
“I vividly remember the audience
standing up to applaud and my dad
sitting firmly in his seat. It was that
northern thing of ‘I’ve paid for this
seat and I’m going to bloody well
sit in it’, but his face was absolutely
www.equity.org.uk
The Royal Theatrical Fund began in
1839 when four actors met and decided that
something had to be done about the large
number of actors ending their lives in conditions
of appalling hardship and penury. The recent
development of the railway network had led to
a proliferation of theatres throughout the
country and an explosion in the number
of actors in the profession. The General
Theatrical Fund Association, as it was then
called, was incorporated by Royal Charter as
a pension fund open to all members of the
acting profession and its first chairman was
Charles Dickens. The Fund was reconstituted
under a second Royal Charter in 1974, which
enables the Board of Directors to award grants,
both regular and special, to those members of
the theatrical profession who require medical
attention or are otherwise prevented from
working by circumstances outside their control.
Since its reconstitution, the Fund’s scope of
beneficiaries has been widened to encompass
the entire entertainment world. It now supports
applicants whose careers have been in ballet,
opera, radio and television. It also includes stage
managers, theatre designers and directors.
For more on the fund visit: www.trtf.com
For a full list of charity help, please visit:
www.equity.org.uk/charity
beaming from ear to ear and
I thought: ‘I think I have got
his approval’.”
Robert has had an incredibly
diverse career in TV, film and
theatre, from comedy to serious
roles. Just taking TV, he is fondly
remembered for Citizen Smith,
Michael Murray in GBH and most
recently Ben Harper in My Family.
But he has not had any masterplan
in his choice of roles.
“I have actually been quite
cavalier about what I do. Of course
sometimes work is governed, as it is
for us all, by the need to make a
living, support the kids and pay the
mortgage,” he explains. “My choices
have been mainly to do with theatre,
as I have always funded my stage
work with TV and film. So, for
example, I know I have to earn
some money in a year that I want to
do The Entertainer at The Old Vic.
“In the case of My Family, I was
asked to do it by the creator Fred
Barron but I was very reluctant,” he
continues. “I didn’t want to do a
middle class sitcom and I was
criticised heavily from friends up
north, who said: ‘Why are you playing
a dentist in this show?’, it was not the
kind of thing they watched. But it
was a conscious decision to do
something that would give me
regular work – something that all
actors know is not easy to find. That
show funded me through Onassis,
The Lion in Winter, Richard III, The
Entertainer – it kept my theatre
career going.”
Robert is concerned that the
current range of material being
produced is quite narrow.
“There are very few of what I
would call, working class dramas
being made,” he says. “The majority
of TV shows are predominately upper
and middle class shows such as
Downton. It’s also obvious to me that
the performers becoming well known
in recent years have all been privately
educated and been to important
public schools. I am not sure why
that is; perhaps it is a product of
the economic problems we are
going through.”
Robert has recently completed
filming on Grace of Monaco. He plays
Onassis in the movie, which is
directed by Olivier Dahan (La Vie
en Rose) and stars Nicole Kidman.
He is also in the early stages of
planning a one man show, which will
probably centre on his own career
and contain “a few musical surprises”.
When reflecting on his past he was
genuinely overwhelmed to be taking
over the presidency of the RTF from
Sir Donald Sinden, one of his heroes.
“I saw him many years ago in
The Relapse at the RSC and that
performance was one of the reasons
I wanted to go into acting,” he says.
“He has done a brilliant job at the
helm of the RTF and if I can do half
the work he has done I think it has
a great future.”
spring 2013
/ 17
campaigns
sign up to
My theatre
matters!
With local authorities facing massive cuts,
the arts, and particularly theatres, are in
the firing line. join Equity in encouraging
audiences to stand up for their local theatre
A new campaign celebrating local theatre has been
launched by Equity, The Stage and the Theatrical
Management Association and we are encouraging Equity
members to sign up.
Local authorities are facing
massive cuts. Some councils are
warning that by 2018 they will not
be able to meet statutory duties, let
alone discretionary ones such as
arts. The cuts are targeted at urban
areas where most funded theatres
are located. As a result, local theatres
are facing a perfect storm: Arts
Council England (ACE) cuts
started in April 2011, more ACE
cuts came in April 2013, business
sponsorship is declining and
some local authorities are seeing
arts funding as an easy target.
Somerset was first to announce
an 100% arts funding cut. Now
Newcastle’s Theatre Royal, Northern Stage and Live Theatre,
Sheffield’s Lyceum, Crucible and The Studio and Stoke-onTrent’s New Vic Theatre have all been hit with cuts totalling
around £200,000, after their respective local authorities
approved budget proposals. This is the context
for the My Theatre Matters! campaign.
The objective is to enable theatres to reach out to their
audiences and engage them in campaigning to support their
theatres. The campaign asks audience members to write to
their local council expressing their pride in their local theatre
and inviting councils to share in it. Throughout 2013, audience
members in theatres across the UK will have access to
postcards enabling them to sign up to the campaign and to
write to their local council. But more importantly, they can sign
up to the campaign via the dedicated My Theatre Matters!
website. The website will collect the details of campaign
supporters who can then be put in touch with local groups
whenever a theatre is threatened with cuts. Equity members
are encouraged to sign on to the website, but we have a
special role. The relationship between actor and audience is
the very essence of theatre. Actors can carry the campaign
message to their audiences in a unique way. A really effective
way will be for a member of the company to give a curtain call
speech at the end of the show. A sample speech can be
provided by Equity, contact [email protected]
To find out more visit: www.mytheatrematters.com
18 /
spri ng 2013
Equity, The Stage
and The Theatrical
Management Association
(TMA) have teamed up
on a campaign for the
first time. Pictured are
Brian Attwood, editor of
The Stage, Malcolm
Sinclair, Equity President,
Christine Payne, Equity
General Secretary
and Julian Bird chief
executive of the TMA
Make it in Scotland
goes to parliament
Scottish campaign for local work takes
the issue to Holyrood. UNION WANTS TO
MONITOR LEVEL OF PRODUCTIONS IN UK
As part of their Make it in Scotland
campaign, the Scottish Committee held a
parliamentary reception at the Scottish
Parliament in late November.
It was hosted by Green MSP Patrick
Harvie and was attended by Equity President
Malcolm Sinclair, prominent Equity members
and by politicians from across the political
spectrum. Patrick Harvie’s Parliamentary
Motion in support of our campaign attracted
support from nearly half of the 129 MSPs. A
key part of the campaign has been to lobby
includes the not insignificant
contribution our members
make, we will be able to
monitor production levels in
different parts of the UK. We
Equity members
Ofcom to alter
can then see if the different
Isabella Jarrett, Michael
their definition of
parts of the UK get a fair
Mackenzie and
how an ‘Out of London’
share of expenditure from the
Jo Cameron Brown were
production is categorised.
broadcasters commensurate
at the reception
Front of camera talent are
with their population.
specifically excluded from
This last point is one that is a
consideration. A lot of programmes
shared concern to the sister
are badged as coming from a certain
campaigns Make it Here in Northern
part of the UK but in reality have had no
Ireland, Cast it in Wales and the excellent
connection with that area.
campaign for Regional Broadcasting
Once we have a stable and workable
Midlands. Find out more on the latter here:
definition of a programme’s origin that
www.crbmidlands.org.uk
Members join Budget rally
new TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady urges
chancellor george osborne to change course on the economy
An effective way to promote the
campaign is for a company member
to give a curtain call speech”
Equity members came out in
force for the TUC-organised pre-budget
rally, to tie in with action happening all
across Europe on 13 March.
The focus was on the living standards
squeeze on ordinary families including: pay
stagnation and a living wage, the rising costs
of living, cuts to public services, the impact
of the benefit changes and unemployment.
The rally called for a future that works
and an end to austerity policies that are
holding back growth and threatening a
triple-dip recession.
The new TUC General Secretary Frances
www.equity.org.uk
O’Grady (pictured) urged the chancellor
to admit that he’s got things wrong, and
to present a budget that puts jobs, growth
and families first.
She said: “Workers face the tightest
squeeze on their living standards in a
century. Family budgets are at breaking
point, real wages are lower than a decade
ago and a generation of young people are
going to end up worse off than their parents.
“Next month – as multimillionaire bankers
get a massive tax cut – ordinary families will
be made to pay the price in the form of the
child benefit freeze and tax credit cuts.”
spring 2013
/ 19
focus on casting
Ben Seale is the managing partner of Spotlight, the UK’s oldest casting service. He
explains how the company is dealing with the challenges of new technology, US competition
and the issue of promoting low pay and no pay work
Photography Phil Adams
Under the spotlight
Q
Ben in one of the
casting rooms at
Spotlight HQ in
London. He says the
firm will soon be
offering the ability for
members to upload
video and audio direct
to the website
Spotlight was founded in 1927. Can
you explain a little of its history?
Spotlight was started by a casting
director called Keith Moss. Back in the day,
actors would deliver their 10 x 8 headshots to
theatres and, when a show was being produced,
the photographs would be lined up side-by-side
on the stage. The director would walk along the
lines of images choosing the artists he liked the
look of for the respective roles. On the reverse of
the photo the actor would have written his/her
contact information. Keith Moss was the bright
spark who collated these images into a book.
Over the years, the directory continued to
grow as interest in the arts grew. In fact, during
World War Two when paper was at a shortage,
we managed to get special dispensation from
the War Office to produce the books as, without
casting, there was a danger that shows could not
be produced which were deemed to be great
morale boosters for the troops and civilians alike.
After the war, the directory continued with
the book sections continually changing to suit
the style of the times. The earliest books had
sections including ‘heavy men’, ‘ingenues’ and
even some very talented animals.
Next came CD Rom technology, which was
the big game-changer as, for the first time,
casting directors could search by names,
physical criteria, skills and credits rather than
simply peruse images. There is no doubt that
this was the dawn of more egalitarian casting –
more faces were seen rather than producers
sticking to their ‘old reliable’ performers. CD
Rom turned into the web-based technology that
is the foundation of our service offering today.
Q
How has the business developed in the
modern age?
While our printed directories are still
extremely popular with many casting directors,
Spotlight’s key services are now those that we
offer online.
There are hundreds of performer searches
made on spotlight.com every day, with the
majority searching on a name – i.e. using our
search service as a sort of directory enquiries
to locate a performer, either via their agent
or directly through Spotlight.
The Spotlight Link, our communication
system that allows casting directors to send out
casting briefs to agents, and more recently
directly to unrepresented performers as well,
has become the single most popular casting
system in the world in terms of the percentage
While our printed
directories remain
popular, our key
services are online”
of castings in our global territory that it handles.
It is very difficult to put a totally accurate figure
on it but we regularly hear from agents that,
where they are not contacted directly from a
casting director (via phone or email) asking
them to suggest clients for a role, more than
90% of castings come via the Spotlight Link.
In addition to our online and print services,
many Equity members will also be familiar with
our casting studios and rooms at our 7 Leicester
Place HQ, where we also put actors on tape and
edit showreels for our members.
We also do much more to assist our members
with their careers as a whole. Whether this is
helping to prepare drama graduates for the
realities of being self-employed, offering
one-on-one advisory sessions for our members
(Spotlight Mondays), hosting regular seminars
and workshops with industry experts, sharing
the latest industry news and podcasts, or just
being on the end of the phone.
Q
Spotlight Link is the email job service
you provide. Can you outline how this
works and your approach to low pay
and no pay jobs on it?
The Spotlight Link is a communication tool that
casting professionals use to send out role
requests via email; we call them ‘casting
breakdowns’. They can send these to selected
agents, all agents, or to agents and unrepresented
performers, the choice is theirs.
Once a breakdown is received by an agent or
a performer, they can review the information
spring 2013
/ 21
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and click through to our website to submit their
clients/themselves for any suitable roles. The
casting director views these suggestions, also on
our website, and selects which performers to
invite for audition.
There is a lot more functionality than this,
but this is the simple overview. The Spotlight
Link is pretty much how the casting process
works in the UK, for the vast majority of
professional castings. For casting directors and
agents, it revolutionised a process that was once
a laborious round of CVs, faxes and headshots.
In terms of the occasional low pay and no
pay jobs that appear on The Link, we don’t
believe it is our role to ‘vet’ or censor the work
which goes out, and a recent survey of our
members/casting users firmly supported this
view. The system is set up so that agents and
performers can opt in/out of receiving job
information that is paid below Equity
minimum, it is entirely in their hands.
However, we do care passionately about what
is fair and unfair and we are currently working
with Equity to look for a steer in this direction.
We fully understand our position and realise
that we play a role in this sensitive area. I am
delighted that we have recently been invited to
contribute to the Equity low pay and no pay
debate with the union’s working party and I look
forward to seeing how this develops.
We have also recently conducted an
industry-wide survey, questioning both
performers and casting professionals, which has
given a truly rounded picture of the realities that
exist in our industry. You can see the results of
this survey on our website. I very much hope
that other casting services and professionals will
help us by joining in our work to stamp out
unfair low pay and no pay work.
22 /
spring 2013
I hope other casting
services will help
us to stamp out
low pay work”
Q
Why did you decide to redesign the
books as focused on playing age
and how did you decide on which
ages to use?
Easy, we asked the industry! We are very lucky
to have been at the heart of the business for
a long time and have built up some very strong
relationships with key players and organisations
such as the Casting Directors Guild (CDG)
and the Personal Managers Association, which
we cherish and are invaluable for steering
our development.
Ultimately, we are here to maximise casting
opportunities for our members and to do
that we need to offer services that casting
directors want to use. The age categories in the
directories were agreed via a consultation with
the CDG and, in particular, with a number of
key casting directors.
Q
The casting area is more competitive
than ever. What do you think of your
rivals – particularly the American
firm Casting Networks?
Casting Networks is just one of a number of
competitor casting businesses, so it would be
wrong to concentrate on one firm in particular.
020 8418 1028 or 0800 988 2546
What I do know is that, as a member of the
International Alliance of Casting Directories
(IACD), which has the largest players in the US
and Australasia as our fellow members, global
casting styles vary considerably and it is not
right to try to apply a blanket solution. We even
spell words differently, let alone have different
expectations from casting technology.
Other websites come and go; last year was
Spotlight’s 85th birthday. Really we just
concentrate on the constant improvement of
our own services, rather than worrying about
anyone else’s. As long as we keep our focus
on our vision – to do all we can to promote
our members to work opportunities – then
I’m satisfied that we don’t have too much to
worry about.
Q
What do you think you do well and
what could you do better?
Perhaps the thing I’m most proud of is
how much we do to support and nurture our
members. Many of them will be with us from
graduation through to retirement and we are
proud to be able to contribute to their careers.
In terms of what we could do better, I’m
really excited about the improvements to our
video service that are coming later this year. We
have recently launched high-quality video and
audio players on our website to enhance the
experience for anyone watching a showreel or
listening to a voice-clip. The next step is to offer
a self-upload service for our members so that
they can upload their own audio/video footage
to the website, free of charge.
I also want to take our relationship with our
IACD partners to the next level and create a
truly global casting service where Spotlight
members can be exposed to jobs worldwide.
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May 1, 2013
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Interview
‘‘
Older women
need to see their
lives reflected
‘‘
Recent research by The Guardian and comments by shadow culture secretary
Harriet Harman has brought the issue of the lack of representation of older
women on stage and screen into sharp focus. Ann Mitchell gives her view that
the lack of visibility not only makes poorer art but damages society
Photography Lisa Linder Words Phil Pemberton
T
he Guardian teamed up with director
Elizabeth Freestone to conduct
research into the representation of
women in theatre. The headline was a
‘2:1 problem’ in English theatre, or
two men for every woman. Women
are seriously under-represented on stage, among
playwrights and artistic directors, and in creative roles
such as designers and composers. On the other hand,
women are a substantial majority when it comes to the
audience. According to Ipsos Mori figures produced
for the Society of London Theatre in 2010, women
make up 68% of theatregoers.
Meanwhile Harriet Harman, the shadow deputy
prime minister and Labour’s culture secretary, has
written to broadcasters asking about the number of
older women employed within their organisations.
The move is part of the Commission on Older
Women’s work on females in the media and public life,
which Harman chairs. She has said that there needs to
be “more change”, especially in relation to “this
combination of ageism and sexism” faced by older
24 /
spring 2013
women. Actress Ann Mitchell, known for her leading
roles in theatre and TV including Widows and
EastEnders, welcomes these new developments as she
believes older women are not being represented in the
entertainment business.
“Unfortunately the myth that a woman’s value is in
her youthfulness is perpetuated throughout our
industry,” she says. “It’s wrong to consign older
actresses to doddering grannies or hags, roles of no
real importance that confirm a stereotype. In the real
world older women are important members of society,
central to family life and people who lead interesting
and complex lives.”
She believes the root of the problem does not rest
with one aspect of the business, such as the producers,
casting directors or writers, but an attitude that is
prevalent within all aspects of the industry.
“The majority of writers whose work is picked up
for the theatre, TV and film are male and their
preoccupations, their subjects, rarely include older
women,” Ann argues. “Occasionally they are interested
in focusing on an older man. The producers are
Ann thinks the
problem does not
rest with one aspect of
the business, such as
writers, but is prevalent
throughout the
industry
>
www.equity.org.uk
spring 2013
/ 25
Interview
terribly afraid of losing viewers and they feel that an older
woman leading a drama will not be interesting to the audience.
Casting people and directors then follow this lead.
“There is a view that older women, particularly on
screen, is a turn off,” she continues. “But when a
Ann has a
project does get through, such as Call the Midwife,
disinguished career
which has a range of female roles and older
in the theatre but is
parts too, it demonstrates that this material will
probably more popularly
find an audience and a large one at that.”
known for her TV work in
Industry observers have pointed to the
Widows and
recent success of movies such as Quartet and
older women and see them as
EastEnders
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as evidence that
integral parts of the dramas and
film producers are recognising that there is an
shows they watch, which reflects
audience for stories about older people. However,
their experience of their role in
Ann thinks there is a long way to go yet.
society.” Ann also believes the Arts Council
“This is not a major sea change; those examples really result
should be more involved in the issue.
in a ghetto,” she contends. “It is great that those films are being
“I’d like to see them debating this with the
made and older characters are on screen, but a few films are not
venues they fund,” says Ann. “Help them
enough. Producers and filmmakers need to wake up and realise
to open their eyes to the richness on
that there is an audience out there now that want to see their
offer, not just in writing, but also the
lives represented.
actors available. Actors get better as
"In terms of TV and theatre, the main part of its audience are
they get older, they just need the
in their middle to older ages. They are not afraid of watching
opportunity to demonstrate it.”
Evidence is compelling, but still no signs of change
Lynda rooke, from equity's women's committee, believes the Arts council should do more
The research of Equity’s Women’s
Committee was recently endorsed by Elizabeth
Freestone’s data in the Guardian highlighting the parlous
state of roles available on stage for women. The ratio in the
subsidised sector is at best 2:1 in favour of men. However,
this does not reflect the dramatic decline in roles available to
women over 45 on both stage and screen. Miriam O’Reilly’s
successful challenge in the courts against the BBC was won
on the grounds of ageism but surprisingly not sexism. There
are many members who would
argue that the two go hand in
hand. One of the frustrations for
older women in our industry is
that any attempts to rectify this
situation are proceeding at a
torpid pace and in some cases not
at all. What can be described as
the defiant message from some
institutions in receipt of public
subsidy is to ‘swerve’ the issue
under the guise of artistic freedom.
An area currently in media focus, as evidenced in Jo
Caird’s recent Guardian article, was the need for a 50/50
gender split on arts boards. According to her findings,
women form only 33% of our top 10 subsidised theatre
boards and yet without a significant voice at the top how is
change ever going to come? Women’s voices need to be put
on an equal footing with men. Unless publicly subsidised
companies are called to account by the Arts Council of
England (ACE) how can change come about?
What is continually repeated in discussions are the extra
burdens facing many women in our industry – the pressures
of balancing a freelance career alongside children, with no
maternity leave, unsociable hours and a nomadic lifestyle. It
can be no surprise that the industry haemorrhages many
talented women in their 30s, so the voice of the older
woman is thereby diminished.
Commercially this is also arguably a ‘no-brainer’, with the
Society of West End Theatres (SOLT) recording that women
(and particularly older women) form on average more than
66% of theatre audiences. But
it is not only within theatre that
such concerns are raised. Jean
Rogers, Equity vice president,
was called by the last BBC
director general Mark
Thompson to contribute on
portrayal to the “Serving All
Ages’” Report. She drew
evidence from Equity’s Viewers'
Petition on Film and TV drama.
Consequently the report concluded, “we should also note the
concern expressed by older people generally about the need
for greater visibility for older women”.
Women form not only 51% of the population but also 50% of
the Equity membership. On behalf of those older women
presently struggling to maintain a career, and for all our women
members in the future, things must, and, we believe, will change.
It is the pace of change that needs to be addressed. You
can’t be what you can’t see. When we do not see ourselves
either on the stage or screen, we are reminded that those
who run our industry have overlooked our absence.
BBC pictures, Rex features
Publicly subsidised
companies need to be
called to account”
26 /
spring 2013
Member offers
Equity membership entitles you to a wide variety of discounts, from photos to the
Phoenix club; see below for a selection. Go online for a full list: www.equity.org.uk/discounts
alexander technique
Individual lessons at Gilbert Street,
Nr Bond Street, London W1. 20%
discount to members. Nineteen years of teaching
performers: improving poise and confidence,
preventing backache and vocal strain. For further
info phone Kate Kelly 0845 3479389
allphoto london
is offering head shots/portfolio shots for £100
(£50 discount for Equity members). A session
includes: one hour photo session in our studio in
Central London; up to four changes of clothing;
up to 4-5 changes of lighting and/or
backgrounds; different poses and captures (full
body, 3/4, 1/2, head shot). Get all the pictures
in full resolution on CD (100-150 shots).
Discounts for other services can be discussed
separately. For further information contact Paul
at: [email protected], tel: 07799
577512, www.allPhotoLondon.com
assist taxation services
Assistance with the preparation and submission
of self-assessment tax returns for Equity
members who are required by HM Revenue &
Customs to submit a return. Equity members
receive an exclusive 20% discount off the
normal fixed fee of £250. A further 10%
discount is available to members for referrals.
We also offer self-employed accounts
preparation and tax advisory and planning
services. For further details please contact Nasir
Majeed on 07775 691009, email nasir@
assisttaxationservices.co.uk
audition coach
Manchester-based award-winning director
Martin Harris offers one-to-one sessions for
audition piece preparation and sight-reading
tuition. Can help you select the right pieces for
you and direct them to your best advantage.
20% discount to Equity members.
Web: www.auditioncoach.co.uk
Tel: 07788 723570
cinema tickets
Discounted tickets when showing Equity card:
Queens FilmTheatre Belfast, Pictureville Bradford,
Watershed Bristol, Cinema 3 Canterbury,
Chichester Cinema at New Park, Robert Burns
Centre Film Theatre Dumfries, Edinburgh
Filmhouse, Hull Screen, Adam Smith Theatre
Kirkcaldy, Phoenix Arts Leicester, Broadway
Cinema Nottingham, Showroom Sheffield, NFT.
www.equity.org.uk
flowers delivered
Sensational floral arrangements of breathtaking
beauty carefully hand-delivered by special courier
six days a week throughout mainland Britain.
Equity members can enjoy a discount by entering
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Minimum fee applies to house visits. Contact Dr
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Special offer
£60 off pineapple studios
annual membership
Equity members get £60 off annual
membership to Pineapple Dance Studios in
Covent Garden, London (usually cost £160).
Additional benefits of membership include
25% off all full-price clothing at the Pineapple
store opposite the studio in Covent Garden.
Members can visit the studios at any time for
classes or to meet friends and colleagues.
Two passport size photographs are required.
Claim in person with your Equity card at
Pineapple Dance Studios, 7 Langley Street,
London WC2H 9JA. Tel 020 7836 4004.
www.pineapple.uk.com
michael barnes hairdressing
40% off all cutting and colouring on your first
visit, 20% off all services whenever you visit
after that. 224 Shaftesbury Avenue, London
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phoenix artist club
Save 50% on annual membership. A private
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their guests, open Mon-Sat 11 am-2.30am (last
entry 1am) with hot food served until 11pm.
Entertaining entertainers since the nineties, this
hidden gem, once visited, is never forgotten.
Annual membership is £120 reduced to £60 on
presentation of your paid-up Equity card. Please
visit the club during opening hours to apply.
Located beneath the Phoenix Theatre, 1
Phoenix Street, Charing Cross Road, London
WC2H 8BU. Tel 020 7836 1077, website:
www.phoenixartistclub.com
rac
25% off Royal Automobile Club Rescue
breakdown cover. This year, next year, every year.
Membership from £33. Call 0800 581 077 and
quote code: GE0538.
rex restaurants
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King have always
been great supporters of the theatre and we are
delighted that we have been able to arrange
with them for all members to receive 10% off
any bill at their London restaurants: The
Wolseley, The Delaunay, The Counter at The
Delaunay, Brasserie Zédel and Colbert (their
latest venture next to The Royal Court). See the
Rex Restaurant Associates website, with links to
all the restaurants: www.rexra.com. The offer is
for any Equity member and up to five guests
(i.e. 6 people in total). You would need to show a
valid Equity Card as proof.
The Stage
15% off an annual subscription is available to
all Equity members. There are two payment
options: direct debit £45.05, saving 45% on
the cover price over one year; credit/debit card
or cheque £49.73, saving 39% on the cover
price over one year. To take advantage of
this discount call 01858 438 895 and quote
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remember to include the code EQR1 and your
membership number in your correspondence.
please note: Equity does not endorse
the third-party services provided in these
membership offers. They are made available
on the request of the vendors.
spring 2013
/ 27
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134 x 92 flyer.indd 1
28 /
spring 2013
12/09/2012 11:50
spring 2013
/ 29
Letters...
the president writes
Recently the weather at Equity
has been changeable. This has been the
season of all the different national and
regional AGMs; I’ve been to five of them.
In view of the recent adoption of the new
committee structure, of which more later, I’d
been anticipating some stormy encounters.
The abolition of the Area Committees has
caused particular heartache. But to my
immense relief the general feeling was that,
now this structure is in place, we should all
get behind it and see if we can make it work.
I’m sure the doubts are still there, but a lot of
ill will seems to have evaporated and so the
prospects are good. Thanks to all who have
made this new promising weather possible.
A sudden storm then blew up, to the
surprise of some of us, over the prospect of a
new deal for the West End. After months of
negotiation we felt we had a deal we could
recommend. We’d won back a good prize:
the responsibility payment for a non-leading
cover would no longer be included in the
minimum. For those of you unfamiliar with
how the big musicals work, you can have no
idea of the grief and anger expressed over
this since we included it in the deal four
years ago. We gave it away in order to get the
dramatic uplift in minimum pay in the West
End, but people were working next to each
other for the same money with one of them
having extra work to do, which now
appeared to be unpaid. So we had righted
that perceived wrong and gained other
advantages for our members, but in the
process, as is the way of negotiation, we had
given the producers concessions that were
important to them.
The concession that caused the most
grief was the possibility of a second Sunday
performance. Four years ago, a single
Sunday performance was allowed. Initially,
many producers took advantage of this, but
now there are only five shows out of 34 in
the West End that still do them. SOLT’s desire
30 /
spring 2013
to get a second Sunday performance into the
contract was to avoid being ambushed by
Equity into paying over the odds for it. We
were assured that this would not lead to a
rash of Double Sunday shows.
Many of our members do not trust
that assurance and feel that once such
a concession is given away, it will be
impossible to recover. The surprise for us
was that the storm blew up so late in the
day. The deal had been out there for a while,
casts were happy with it as we went round
balloting them. Then a social media tsunami
hit us, all the way from Broadway in the
form of the redoubtable Bertie Carvel.
For the record, we have no complaint
about that. Bertie conducted the campaign
on the issues involved and all his dealings
with his union were on the basis of mutual
respect. The result of this was that whereas
before this intervention the vote was
strongly in favour, by the time we’d finished,
it was more evenly split, though still with
a majority in favour of accepting the deal.
But we can’t have a great swathe of people
unhappy, so we’ve gone back to SOLT to get
the principle of consent for a second show
enshrined in the contract. This was the issue
that had particularly exercised companies
such as War Horse. As I write this, we’ve not
heard back, so we shall see.
But members were obviously surprised
and dismayed by information that they had
not been aware of, a besetting problem for
us, particularly given we had kept members
who were working and had recently worked
in the West End updated with all the
progress in the negotiations. This is where
the new structure comes in. We’re setting up
three new Industrial Committees to take
over the work of a now smaller Council.
These committees are Stage, Screen, and
Variety. On the Stage and Screen Committees
there will be ten actors on each, all of whom
need to have worked in their field during the
previous three years. If the Stage Committee
had been supervising these present
negotiations, I would hope that word of
what was afoot would have been out there
through the members of said committee.
There would have been no need of a late
fearful outcry, because both union and
working members would have been
proceeding together at the same rate. This is
the hope. It relies on working actors willing
to stand and work on these committees five
afternoons a year, and email consultation in
the interim.
So all of you who have been up in arms,
come forward and sign up; we need you. I’ve
asked Bertie if he will and he’s said yes if I
nominate him – it would be an honour.
Malcolm Sinclair
Get in touch
Have you got something to say about
your experience of Equity or the
contents of the magazine?
We want to hear from you.
Please email or write to the editor via the
contact information below:
The Editor
Guild House
Upper St Martin’s Lane
London WC2H 9EG
Tel: 020 7379 6000
Fax: 020 7379 7001
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.equity.org.uk
East Asian performers
Thank you so much Equity, the Arts Council,
TMA and everyone who made Opening the
Door such a brilliant event. My faith in the
power of people standing up for themselves
in significant numbers was renewed. It felt
like a real celebration where I met kindred
spirits and realised I didn’t have to fight
things on my own any more.
The feeling of solidarity in the room
was fantastic. It was heartening to share
experiences and difficulties, but the day
was very much about what action we
could take next to effect change. I felt
so happy that there were so many
representatives from theatres and the
CDG who were open to having a real
dialogue. With so much goodwill in the
room I’m hopeful that the door will be
more open from now on.
Julia Sandiford
Theatre ghosts
I am an honorarily withdrawn member of
Equity and since I had my children I’ve been
working as a playwright and a university
lecturer teaching scriptwriting, currently at
Manchester Metropolitan University. I would like to ask for Equity members’
help with some research I am doing with the
help of my second year students. We are working on a project called The
Theatre Ghost with the Library Theatre
Company in Manchester. As you’ll probably
know, the Library is due to move next year to
a brand new theatre building. To coincide
with this, we are inviting theatre people and
audiences to invent a new theatre ghost
which we imagine might come to inhabit the
new building. It is part of a wider investigation
into what audiences make of their theatregoing experience; what sorts of characters
stay in the mind and why. My students came up with the idea of
asking the professional theatre community
about stories and anecdotes they might have
heard about particular Theatre ghosts. Here’s the students’ letter: ‘Do you have a
story that you can’t explain? Have you seen a
ghost in the theatre? We are developing the
Theatre Ghost Project. Our aim is to
investigate theatre ghosts and what they
mean to different individuals.
We may use your stories anonymously as
part of our display. We will be displaying our
findings at the Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays
in September 2013. Please email:
[email protected]
Julie Wilkinson
Older women
The last Equity magazine had reference to
the perceived lack of roles for older
actresses, an ongoing Equity campaign
since 2005.
However, space was given to a
prominent female member who denied there
was a problem in theatre. Within
a month of Equity’s publication the Guardian
newspaper published shocking data
backing an article entitled “Women in the
Theatre, why do so few make it to the top?”
It looked at the ten best funded theatres
in England and showed the National
Theatre, with a casting ratio of only 34 per
cent female roles and the RSC at 38 per
cent, to be the worst offenders. These
alarming figures were also reflected, though
in even lower percentages, in the
engagement of female directors, writers and
other key practitioners.
The headlines announcing a 2 to 1 split
in casting opportunities for actors as
opposed to actresses was pleasing to read
since the Women’s Committee had
identified this appalling situation in 2008,
but most frustrating in that it confirmed the
industry’s disregard of many assertions
female members continue to make.
In my view, it is time for the Arts Council
England to demand that artistic directors
ensure government funding is spent on a
gender balanced repertoire with, as there
are for men, roles for women of all ages. The
Guardian data pointed to the Royal Court,
with only a sixth of the funding of the
National Theatre and RSC, managing a 48
per cent of female castings and an equal
split in their commissioning of male and
female writers.
Phyllida Lloyd is endeavouring to raise
the money to take her remarkable all-female
production of Julius Caesar to New York.
Exciting female driven theatre is long
overdue. In fact, it is time for the safe,
complacent boys’ theatre club to admit that
theatre needs reviving.
Added to which, 51 per cent of the
population is female. They have as much
right to be represented on our stages as the
other 49 per cent, but, within a season, on a
one to one basis, not a two to one at best!
No more excuses, time for justice.
Jean Rogers
Equity vice president
Thanks for legal work
I am writing to thank the legal department
of Equity. I would very much like to offer
my gratitude to you for your generous
support in my claim for damages and
financial loss caused by a fall on Network
Rail property at King’s Cross, London.
Your offer of legal support with John
Morrison of Morrish Solicitors LLP, Leeds
was most fortunate as I found John
Morrison most helpful and professional in
all his dealings with my case.
As a result, the case concluded with
the opponents admitting liability and
paying the damages incurred.
Thank you Equity, so very much for the
support and interest you show to your
members and, come to think of it, I am
certainly very glad I had the common
sense to end up being a “long term
member”.
Diana van Stuart
www.equity.org.uk
In memoriam
With regret it is recorded that since the
publication of the last edition of Equity
magazine we have learned of the
deaths of the following members:
John Adrian, Charles A.M. Aitchison, Jackie Allen,
Michael Ashton, John Ayldon, Roger Bailey, Vic
Banks, John Barberel, Fontella Bass, Stephen
Bateman, Master Bates, Derek Batey, Beryl Baxter,
Sheila Beckett, Elizabeth Bell, Betty Benfield, Mary
Benning, Noreen Berry, Marian Berry-Hart,
Alexander Blyth, May Boak, Keith Bonnington,
Rafael Borzym, Barry Boys, Linda Brattle, Averil
Brennan, Stella Brett, Richard Briers, Moira Butt,
Edward Byles, Chris Canavan, John Carol Case,
Martin Chesterman-Harris, Peter Clay, Barry
Clayton, Clyde Clayton, John Clive, Brian Cobby,
Norman Collier, William Corderoy, Paul Critchlow,
Howard David, William Dawe, Patricia Donahue,
Alan Dudley, James Duggan, Clive Dunn, Greta
Dunn, Miss Durra, Peter Ebert, Carl Edwards, June
Epstein, Jon Finch, Lesley Fitz-Simons, Tony Franz,
Peter Gilmore, Victor Godfrey, Joyce Golding,
Lottie Goodwin, Penelope Gowling, Elspet Gray,
Julia Green, Larry Hagman, Roger Hammond,
Anjula Harman-Daniels, Julius Harris, Joan
Harsant, Frank Harvey, Roger Heathcott, Colin
Higgins, Michael J Hinchiff, Murry Hope, Bernard
Horsfall, Patricia Hughes, Ian Humphris, Juliet
Hunt, Bernard Hunter, Gow Hunter, J.O. Jones,
Ava June, Robert Kee, Pat Keen, Kenneth Kendall,
Morar Kennedy, Jack Klugman, Hilda Kriseman,
Joyce Latham, Oswald Laurence, Jeff Lee-Walker,
Huw Lloyd-Langton, Richard Longman, Patricia
Lovett, Miriam Makeba, Robert Marlowe, Michael
Marra, Keith Marsh, Valerio Martinez, Patrick
Masefield, Joe Melia, George Miller, Bernadette
Milnes, Joanne Moore, Amanda More, Bill
Morgan, Monty Morris, Robin Nash, Hilary
Neville-Towle, Joan Newell, Paddy Nolan, Eva
Norman, Neil O’Malley, Michael O’Reilly, Daphne
Oxenford, Joy M Parker, Robert Pearson, Robin,
Pemberton-Billing, Violet Philpott, Norman Platt,
Robert Poulton, Jo Powell, Reg Presley, Janet Lees
Price, Reg Pritchard, Prof James, Carol Raymont,
Fred Ridgeway, Don Rivers, Jean Roberts,,
Margaret Robertson, Kevin Robinson, Robert
Russell, Celia Ryder, Robin Sachs, Ian Sandy,
Alexander Schouvaloff, Paul Scott-Johnston, John
Serene, Olivia Shaw, Alan Shaxon, Viera Shelley,
Dinah Sheridan, June Sherrie, Barbara Shotter,
Jeffrey Skitch, Daphne Slater, Rhoda Small, Paul
Stassino, Yuri Stepanov, Ann Stephanie, Dorinda
Stevens, Jennifer Stevenson, David Stoll, Michael
Stringer, Keith Stringfellow, Allen Sutton, Bill
Tarmey, The Miracles (Bobby Rogers), Elizabeth
Thorndike, Paul Trent, Alan Troy, John Unicomb,
Roy Van Dyke, Charles Vance, Galina
Vishnevskaya, James Ward, Renee Bourne Webb,
Lizbeth Webb, Philip Webster, Timothy Welling,
Christopher Whittingham, Barrie Wilmore,
Michael Winner, Shaun Winter,
Cecil Womack, Jeff Worville
Branch update
Equity branches are your local meeting place to discuss the
industry, share insights and influence the direction of the union.
Find your local branch at www.equity.org.uk/branches
Milton Keynes MK12 5LY Contact: Rachel
Dobell on [email protected]
northern ireland branch
Date of next meeting: 22nd April, 7.30, Baby
Grand Bar, Grand Opera House, Belfast
Contact: [email protected]
Merry Merseysiders
north west england general
Date of next meeting: Please access our
Facebook page for the latest news of meetings.
Contact: David Corden on 0161 273 5990
north lancs&cumbria general
Date of next meeting: 16 April, Venue TBC.
Contact: [email protected]
north & east london general
Date of next meeting: Saturday 13 April, The
Italian Trade Union Centre 124 Canonbury Rd
N1 2UT. Contact: Shenagh Govan, email:
[email protected]
south & se london general
Go to the next level
Date of next meeting: Second Saturday
of every month, 11am, fourth floor, Conference
Room, Royal National Theatre, London SE1
Contact: Richard Dargan on 01737 559450,
or [email protected]
Meet the campaigning members of the North West London general branch
T
he North West London General
Branch is a friendly, campaigning
branch that welcomes members to
its monthly meetings at Central School of
Speech and Drama. The branch recently hit
the headlines when members wrote to The
Stage pointing out that in the 2012 season
at the Hampstead Theatre there were very
few roles for women. They have an exciting
range of regular guest speakers that
include casting directors, directors and
theatre journalists. They also have a
popular Playreading Group and usually do
two performances of a script at local venues.
n.west london general
west and sw london general
Date of next meeting: 2 May, 6.30pm at Royal
Court Theatre. Contact: Jenny Thorne, 020 8946
1859, [email protected]
yorkshire ridings general
Date of next meeting: 4 May at Central
School of Speech and Drama (62-64
Eton Avenue, London NW3 3HY) at
10.30am (first Saturday of every
month). Contact: Elise Harris on email
[email protected]
Date of next meeting: 13 May, 2pm at
Doncaster Community Arts, The Point, 16 South
Parade, Doncaster DN1 2DR Contact: Pete
Keal, 01422 885211 or [email protected]
at South Hill Park, Bracknell Contact: Natalie
Jenno on [email protected]
Date of next meeting: Last Wednesday of
every month, 8pm at The Nautical Club,
Bishopsgate Street, Birmingham B15 1ET,
Contact: John H Price, [email protected]
birmingham variety
brighton & sussex general
Date of next meeting: 10.30am, first Saturday
of the month. Friends Meeting House, Ship St,
Brighton Contact: Chris Webb 07973 465154
bristol & west general
Date of next meeting: 16 April, 7.30pm,
YHA, Bristol BS1 4QA Contact: Roland
Oliver, [email protected]
central england general
Phil Adams
Date of next meeting: 13 May,
7.30pm, The Old Royal, 53 Church Street,
Birmingham B3 2DP. Contact: Kelley
Costigan [email protected]
devon & cornwall general
Date of next meeting: TBC, venue usally
32 /
spring 2013
UNET Centre, St. Austell. For details see below.
Contact: Simon Curtis on 029 2039 7971
east of scotland general
Date of next meeting: TBC Contact:
Helen Raw, [email protected]
essex general
Date of next meeting: TBC Contact: Liz
Mullen, [email protected]
hertfordshire general
Date of next meeting: 27 April, 10.30am,
Abbey Theatre, St Albans Contact: herts.
[email protected]
home counties west general
Date of next meeting: Tuesday, 28 May 7:30pm,
merseyside variety
branch likes to work and play
kent general
Date of next meeting: 13 May, 7pm at The
George Hotel, 68 High Street Ashford TN24
8TB Contact: Marie Kelly 07703 207878,
[email protected]
liverpool general branch
Date of next meeting: 10 April, Bridewell, 1
Campbell Sq, Argyle St, Liverpool L1 5FB
Contact: Catherine Rice, 0151 286 1577,
[email protected]
milton keynes general
Date of next meeting: TBC usally at
Madcap Arts Centre, Creed St, Wolverton,
www.equity.org.uk
blackpool variety
Date of next meeting: 1st Tuesday of each
month, 1pm, Blackpool Cricket Club, Stanley
Park, FY3 9EQ Contact: Chris Cotton, 07941
550315
coventry & leicester variety
Date of next meeting: Tuesday 14th May,
8pm, Coundon Social Club, Shorncliffe Road,
Coventry CV6 1GP Contact: Annie Gay, 02476
221719, [email protected]
east anglia variety
Date of next meeting: Every second Monday
T
he Merseyside Variety Branch has
been established for a number of
years and is proud to host its
meetings at the beautiful Adelphi Hotel in
Liverpool’s city centre. The branch invites
in the month. Venue TBC Contact: Peachy
Mead, 01603 624981, [email protected]
east midlands variety
Date of next meeting: First Tuesday of the
month, 8pm, Plessey Club Nottingham, NG9
1LB Contact: Chris Shaw, 0115 974 5512,
[email protected]
humberside variety branch
Date of next meeting: 13 May, Centre 88,
Saner Street, Anlaby Road, Hull HU3 2TR
Contact: Christie Clifford, 01482 848031,
[email protected]
manchester variety
Date of next meeting: 15 April, 7.30pm,
Taurus, 1 Canal Street, Manchester M1
Contact: Yvonne Joseph, 0161 792 2035,
[email protected]
north east variety
Date of meeting: 7.30pm, last Tuesday of the
month, Pelaw Social Club. Contact Brenda Marsh,
0191 410 2660, [email protected]
north & w. yorkshire variety
Date of next meeting: Every third Monday of the
past, present and future members to join
them for work discussions and then a
social chat after each meeting. Members
pictured: Robbie Dale, Norah Button, Alan
Jacklott, Fiona Martin (treasurer), Les
O’Neill (branch secretary).
merseyside variety
Date of next meeting: second Monday of
every month, 7pm, Office Room D, Adelphi
Hotel L3 5UL. Contact: Alan Jacklott,
07773 652206, [email protected]
month, 7.30pm, The George IV pub, 770 Bradford
Road, Birkenshaw BD11 2ER. Contact: Valerie
Jean Mann, 0113 285 3848, [email protected]
scottish variety
Date of next meeting: TBC, usually 7.30pm at
Equity office, Glasgow G13QQ. Contact: Linda
Rifkind ,0141 639 6969, [email protected]
south wales variety
Date of next meeting: Date and venue TBC,
contact Shelli Dawn, 01685 812 779
south yorkshire variety
Date of next meeting: second Monday of
every month, 8:15pm, The Bridge Inn, 1
Greasborough Road, Rotherham S60 1RB
Contact: Joy Palmer on 07736 721674
west of england variety
Date of next meeting: Second Monday of
every month excluding Bank Holidays. Contact:
Mary Lane, 0117 373 0614
thames variety
Date of next meeting: 18 April, 2.30pm,
Guild House WC2H 9EG Contact: Deborah
Charnley, [email protected]
spring 2013
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