Fringe theatre and actors' pay

[Sean2]

Posted: 5/4/12 at 12:02pm

I'm started a new thread after learning that the actors in 'Edwin Drood' at the Landor Theatre aren't being paid for their work.

Is this common in fringe theatres? How do actors survive? How are rehearsals scheduled? I'm speechless that a theatre with a full audience at £18 per head doesn't pay their actors. I'm just using the Landor as an example, but how do actors survive?

[DeNada]

Posted: 5/4/12 at 12:25pm

It's extremely common in all sorts of Fringe productions for the actors to be engaged on a profit share basis - and frequently the rest of the creative team as well. Many of the grunt technical staff will be students using the shows to gain experience and thus paid very little on top of that.

The simple reason is that at £18 a head in the Landor you are still only grossing £1,080 per performance if you've got all 60 seats in there and they've all sold at full price. So in a week the most a show can gross there is £8,600 if you do 8 performances. After you take off taxes and credit card commissions you're left with your net figure, from which you've got to take running costs (maintaining the technical side of things, marketing costs, renting the theatre itself etc.) which you CAN'T not pay, and you've got very little left for the actual people involved - particularly if you want the show to make any money, which is absolutely the first priority that any producer has (as they need to prioritise paying back the people who've invested in the show). You've got the costs of putting the show on in the first place to pay off, of course!

Rehearsals are scheduled around availabilities, basically. It's very common for rehearsals to revolve around work shifts, auditions for paying productions etc. etc.

Actors and creatives see Fringe productions as a chance to actually do some work which they might be able to get casting directors, agents, producers etc. to come and see to hopefully generate more work (that might pay). There's surprisingly little difference in London between a Fringe show and something SEDOS or Centre Stage might put on - unemployed actors frequently end up in SEDOS shows, for instance.

[Sean2]

Posted: 5/4/12 at 5:32pm

Thank you so much, DeNada, for taking the time to share all that. What is a SEDOS? and what is Centre Stage?

Of course paying all the upfront and running costs make sense. My thought was that for a pub theatre, the profit comes in getting up to 60 people extra into the pub as customers. There is the inter-dependency of not being able to do a show without a producer, but also not being able to do a show without the actors. I'm glad (and hope) that there will be some profit sharing.

[DeNada]

Posted: 5/4/12 at 7:04pm

SEDOS and Centre Stage are two of the bigger London amdram societies - SEDOS perform most of their shows at the Bridewell, although I don't know about Centre Stage. Their casts often feature trained actors who aren't working alongside "normal" amateurs - for instance, SEDOS's forthcoming production of Baby features two Royal Academy of Music graduates. Sometimes they even have "pro" creatives - Simon Lipkin, for instance, directed Centre Stage's production of The Wedding Singer after having been in the pro touring production!

There's no real link between the money that the pub makes and the money the producer makes at the Landor. The space is only used for theatre because it draws in customers in the interval, that much is true, but Aria Entertainment (the producers of Edwin Drood) aren't going to see any of the beer money - that'll go to the pub landlord.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 5/5/12 at 7:26am

Every-time I go down the Landor, which is several times recently I have had something to eat before the show in the pub, as it is tasty grub that is good value for money, I have also bought a drink with my meal and had a coffee afterwards.

I know when they did Ragtime the cast was huge, so the cast did it for love, which brings its own problem, that when people are volunteering, they might tend to get unfocused and unreliable, which is a nightmare for a show, as every cast member is vitals, so says a lot for the piece and the director that people were willing to give their time.

The same director who did Edwin Drood, also did Ragtime, Lucky Stiff and the Glorious One, who I have got to know and if I could bottle his enthusiasm and sell it, I be a millionaire, a really nice guy.

[Sean2]

Posted: 5/12/12 at 12:51pm

Oh, I do know of the problems 'volunteer' casts can have. And of course actors want to work, but I must admit that I'm appalled that any actor wouldn't be paid for their work. For instance, 'Drood' was £18. I would have happily shelled out £22 or £25 and it could be put towards some compensation to the actors. (I am not involved in the profession, I hasten to add!)

I hope any producers out there will do so. Fingers crossed, at any rate.

[exedore]

Posted: 5/12/12 at 4:05pm

To be fair, things aren't much better here stateside, though I'm trying to raise funds for my own upcoming show and yes, the budget is indeed to pay everybody.

Please feel free to through a couple quid my way in support. :)
Kickstarter: 'Four Nights in Knaresborough' in Seattle