Press
Courtyard will pay Equity rates
The Stage News - 13th April 2004 London's Courtyard Theatre general manager Tim Gill has announced the fringe venue is to pay actors and stage managers Equity minimum rates and is encouraging visiting companies to do the same.Currently, around two in three performers appearing in Courtyard in-house productions are already given the Equity minimum, with the remainder paid slightly less. Touring companies using the theatre for shows will also be encouraged to pay actors standard rates, although it will not be made mandatory.
Gill said: "We are trying to encourage companies to respect the actors. There are a lot of ways savings can be made and we aim to help them do that, whether it be with budgeting, or funding applications.
"In the last year we have had shows that were good enough and realistic enough to pay actors. It is the job of the producers to compromise."
The move comes a month after Landor Theatre founder Linda Edwards said she was quitting the venue because young actors were not willing to work for only a share of any profits. Edwards claimed newly qualified performers would get jobs in IT for around £20 an hour, rather than become part of a fringe company.
A spokesman for Equity said the union welcomed the move to pay performers but added: "The Courtyard has not been in touch with Equity so we have no information on the nature of the contracts issued. However, we welcome any contact so that we can advise them how best to pay actors and the creative team."
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