Download Response to changes in Helen Hayes Award Eligibility Guidelines

Ty Hallmark, Artistic Director
PO Box 19, College Park, MD 20741
Tracey Elaine Chessum, Assoc. Artistic Director
www.pallastheatre.org
December 22, 2014
RE: Changes to the Helen Hayes Award eligibility guidelines published last week.
“The theater is the only institution in the world which has been dying for four thousand years and has never succumbed. It requires tough and devoted people to keep it alive.” ― John Steinbeck, Once There Was a War This has been quite a month for the DC theatre community—from the news of Signature Theatre’s bailout, to
the announcement of Artisphere’s closing, to Ari Roth’s recent termination, and, of course, the new Helen
Hayes Award eligibility requirements. There are so many things to say about all of these events - many of
which have already been said by others.
We will leave many of these discussions to those who have already spoken; however, as a leadership team,
we want to address the new professional compensation guidelines for Helen Hayes Award eligibility. Let us
say first and foremost: Pallas does not (and will never) discourage the right to fair pay for individual
theatre artists. In considering our mission (and Tracey’s work as a theatre professor), it would be utterly
hypocritical. We are so proud of the artists we have worked with for the past four years, and we hope they can
receive something closer to the compensation they deserve. Pallas is in an interesting position in that its
budget projections should meet these guidelines in a few years; although, we could easily pay artists fair
wages now if we were not paying so much for performance and rehearsal space.
These new guidelines do provide an especially interesting opportunity for us smaller theatres that do not selfidentify as community theatres but may also no longer be considered professional theatres in the eyes of the
Helen Hayes Awards. We believe there is a difference between the community theatre and the professional
artistic incubator. Professional theatre artists are at the helm of many of our fellow small theatres (artists who
have long professional careers in D.C., participate in Helen and Hayes Award-eligible productions, and teach
in our universities), and their theatres showcase professional artistic products necessary to the artistic
development of our artists and audiences. Our theatres are the continuation of the historical “Little Theatre”
and Avant-garde movements that formed the bedrock of the American Theatre today – those theatres arise
when professional theatres are unable to change quickly enough to encapsulate the mood or ideas of a nation
redefining itself. We ask everyone to consider American theatrical history when deciding the worth of these
types of organizations.
Pallas has been privileged to be a 'springboard' for actors, designers, playwrights, and musical theatre creators
for four years - and we are elated to be a home for many young artists as they seek to establish themselves in
the artistic community – no matter what happens, we will keep oiling our springs.
We hope that the Helen Hayes Award changes will lead to three possibilities for our community:
First, we hope this encourages a community of transparency when it comes to finances and nonprofit
management. As such, Pallas will continue to release its annual budget at the end of the fiscal year, and we
hope other theaters will do the same. With such specific compensation guidelines, we are interested to learn
about how other companies will (or will not, if they choose) attempt to meet these criteria. Pallas operates on
the mantra: people first. While we may not be able to pay more than a small travel stipend, we present stripped
down productions and our leadership team does not take any compensation in order to leave more for other
artists. We know that plenty of theatre leadership teams in our position do the same - hopefully, transparency
will corroborate this.
Second, we hope this encourages existing small incubator theaters to band together to strengthen their
chances of full recognition within the Helen Hayes Award system, and discourages others from
forming new companies before they have explored working with already existing companies. Pallas
welcomes anyone or any organization to discuss mutually beneficial partnerships. As part of our mission, we
partner with many of our collective members to produce work outside our season, and we are happy to explore
new partnerships that fit within our dedication to "American voices."
Third, we are invested in exploring a new way to recognize the work of professional artistic incubators,
as recognition helps us secure the funding to continue work and pay artists a living wage. We hope
theatreWashington has created, along with its Helen Hayes Award restructuring, a place for us within its ranks.
With the creation of the Helen and the Hayes Awards, there may be benefit in examining the League of
American Orchestra’s system of defining professional orchestras by tier according to operating budget. This
system has been in place for many years now, and allows for multiple levels of artist compensation while still
defining many orchestras as professional. Perhaps this is where the professional D.C. theatre community
should be headed? We are incredibly interested to see how theatreWashington reaches out to the number of
member theatres that are now ineligible for Helen Hayes Awards.
What is already clear, but worth repeating over and over again, is that small theatres are vital to a vibrant
culture. While we may no longer be considered a professional theatre organization according to the Helen
Hayes Awards compensation guidelines, we are still a theatre made up of professionals, providing
opportunities for the next generation of artists. Without us, the real-world, professional training (that every actor
in D.C. experiences) would be eliminated. We are those who continue a long historical tradition, providing the
groundwork for the American Theatre of tomorrow.
We look forward to finding a way to work together – small professional theaters, theatreWashington, and the
greater D.C. community that we love – so that D.C. remains a front-runner for professional theatre in the U.S.
John Horman
Board Chair
Ty Hallmark
Artistic Director
Tracey Elaine Chessum
Founder, Assoc. Artistic Director
Caroline Brent
Managing Director