September 2024

PAY RATES & WORTH

So I am writing this against a backdrop of re-launching myself back into the wider industry, with multiple questions about my profession and where I am best placed to work in it with the monumental history of experiences I have behind me … which I must admit, leaves me in a bit of a quandary as to exactly what do to do next, where my skills are valued, why I do what I do - and will there EVER come a time when the creative industries are not having to justify their existence or be perceived as a luxury?!

I think it is universally recognised that the cultural industries are in crisis at the moment. Audiences have not returned post-pandemic, funding is exceptionally hard to secure, and anyone from a working class background (such as myself), has a real dilemma on their hands when it comes to pursuing their career while also having to pay the bills! In that way, art really IS a luxury - and despite the industry acknowledging the need for more people from working class backgrounds to pursue the arts, without the safety net (or introduction in school/at an early age to the opportunities available under the umbrella of the Creative Industries), pathways into the profession will continue to stop anyone from joining unless they can self-fund.

As someone who has been able to sustain a career, something I have noticed as I re-emerge into the wider profession, is that the pay scales for facilitators are not good! There are essentially two levels (well three if you count volunteer) - workshop assistant and workshop lead. Typically (just like in education), the only real upgrade takes you out of teaching i.e. a director/strategic lead type role - where you are project managing, employing and training other freelance artists … which is fine - it’s exactly what I was doing at SAVVY for 23 years, and there are roles out there I could apply to should I want to take on another similar post, but if I am working solely as a freelancer in the industry, working for multiple companies, in various settings, it seems that my 30+ years experience is paid at exactly the same rate as someone who is straight out of drama school!

Transferable Skills

I have toyed with the idea of utilising my transferable skills in the corporate sector … that’s another option for increasing my earning capacity … but I’ll be honest, at 53 I’m pretty sure my soul is set - if I wanted to work in corporate I would have done so by now … no, I have to be honest, my heart lies in community. There is something joyously wonderful that feeds my soul when working at grassroots level - inspiring and aspiring - utilising my skills and experience to raise the bar, create moments in time that are appreciated and will live on once the performance/workshop has ended. It cuts deeper.

That cutting deeper is what I need - what I aspire theatre to be - what I, as a professional facilitator, champion as the necessity of the arts.

It’s also where I believe the future of theatre lies.

Audiences need to feel the live experience in their soul. That doesn’t mean the work needs to be ‘worthy’ in the traditional/often parodied sense … even the most frivolous of shows can touch the soul. Theatre is live, it is living, it is present, it is unrepeatable.

I need to continue creating work that touches on the unrepeatable experience - and facilitating/creating theatre at grassroots level (for me), does that.

Now if only it paid what the corporate sector pays for basically the same experience!

Books I'm reading this month:

The Only Way Home Is Through the Show: Performance Work of Lois Weaver

by Jen Harvie & Lois Weaver

A Good Night Out, Popular Theatre: Audience, Class and Form