Chicago Support Group NOT IN OUR HOUSE Creates Sexual Harassment Code For Non-Equity Theatres

As reported by BroadwayWorld, in January of this year Chicago actor Lori Myers created the advocacy group Not in Our House (NIOH), addressing issues of sexual harassment in the theatre industry,

Their first meeting, a panel discussion on sexual harassment, provoked lively discussion and soon a support group for survivors was established, along with an initiative to write a code of conduct for the theatre community.

That code of conduct, created by Myers and another Chicago-based actor, Laura T. Fisher, will be introduced at an April 18th event hosted by Theater Wit.

Intended for Chicago's non-Equity theatres, where actors work without the benefit of union protection, the 25-page document is a response to artists and administrators dealing with sexual harassment, discrimination, violence and various issues faced in the arts community. The code aims to provide an early response to problems, discourage negative practices and provide a clear vocabulary for dealing with various issues.

"There are always spoken and unspoken house rules that actors learn in college or by being a part of the culture," Fisher says to the Chicago Tribune, "but in terms of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct and other health safety issues, there's really a deficit.

The theatre companies that thus far have committed to employing the code are the Factory Theater, the Gift Theatre, The Inconvenience, Jackalope Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, The Neo-Futurists, No Stakes Theater Project, Oracle Productions, Stage Left Theatre, Steep Theatre Company, Underscore Theatre Company and WildClaw Theatre.

The code will be re-drafted after feedback received during the coming experimental year and will be available to any non-Equity company or Equity company that employs non-Equity actors.

"We have to learn through experience what works, what doesn't," says Fisher. "The document is not a legal one, it's a cultural one."

The code will be posted in its entirety after the event at notinourhouse.org.

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