Freelance

I have worked quite extensively in Europe and just returned from a tour in Germany.  We did 23 different cities in 6 weeks and put in over 4000  miles (6400 km). We had one stretch where we played a matinee in one town, did an evening performance in another, then back the following day to the first city and then the evening in the second city.  Only those who negotiated for it got any extra money, and no one got enough sleep.

One does not have to work long in another country before realizing that American actors have the best working standards in the world.  A few years ago, in partnership with Fédération Internationale des Acteurs or FIA, Equity hosted Sankwe Michael Nkambole, who was then the president of the National Arts Association of Zambia (NATAAZ).  We showed Michael around New York, took him to see a few shows and had him as a guest at one of our monthly Council meetings.  He let us in on the state of the theatre in his country. Many of our actors snicker at seemingly frivolous requirements like the "Equity cot," while in Michael's country, when a production there got a bit controversial, and angered faction burned the theatre down.

In Germany, the arts are state-supported.  Most medium to large city have a Stadtheater or city theatre, and each of Germany's 16 states or Länder have their own Staatsheater.  These facilities are as good or better than anything we have on Broadway.  Most have full staffs of stagehands, stage management, front of house personnel, actors, dancers, orchestra, ballet corps, etc.  Actors get a 2-year contract and are therefore civil servants.  The idea of a freelance actor for the most part, does not exist in the consciousness of those in the lively arts.  Though the romance of words like "Broadway," and "Hollywood" resonate with German actors, when I explain the day-to-day life of auditions, meetings, agents, staged readings and the realities of the 90/10 ratio of unemployed/working, they are horrified and grateful that they are where they are.

They still long for America, though.

Though my tour did not involve anyone blowing up the theatre, I was still wanting many of the standards and protections afforded me as an Equity member in the States.  Though the GDBA Genossenschaft Deutsche Bühnen-Angehöriger (the German theatrical union) certainly has its standards and practices, it is nowhere near ours.

American actors have the idea that they are out battling the elements all alone.  So many long for a greater feeling of community.  Do you remember before you had your Equity card?  Having the card seemed like an unattainable goal; one that was prized and coveted.  How long did it take for some of us to lose that sense of accomplishment and fall into the jaded, been-there-done-that feeling that being an Equity member is now but a veritable tax which one is subjected to.

I got involved in things Equity like many, in that I was angry and "wanted to tell those clowns down there" a thing or two.  Very quickly did I find that I could not only affect change for the greater good, (as well as my own) but that I was part of a very vital community of artists and business people.  Yes, I am a free lance - roaming the countryside plying my trade - but I am also surrounded by a collective populace heading in the same direction.  It's a voluble, passionate, gregarious and talented group.  And I am one of them.

You can be, too.  Go to a quarterly membership meeting; join a committee (there is a committee for just about any facet of life in the theatre; attend a Council or regional board meeting as an observer (any member in good standing has this right) or run for Council.  You will get back much more than you give.