Equity president warns working class struggle to get into acting | Stage | The Guardian
Maureen Beattie, the president of Equity, says low pay and non-disclosure clauses are also key challenges for the union. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
Working class youngsters who dream of becoming actors or performers are increasingly being kept out of the profession because of the cost and failures in the education system, the new president of Equity has warned.
Maureen Beattie became the union’s president last month after being elected unopposed. In her first interview, she has talked of the challenges ahead, including tackling harassment and bullying, pay, the union’s profile and the particular struggle for youngsters from less well-off backgrounds…
via Equity president warns working class struggle to get into acting | Stage | The Guardian
4 comments on “Equity president warns working class struggle to get into acting | Stage | The Guardian”
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Rogues & Vagabonds 
I sincerely hope her passion can help to make some changes.
Best wishes, Pete. x
Reblogged this on Ace News Desk.
She sounds terrific. I had not heard about non-disclosure agreements regarding one’s salary, but I suppose that’s strategy for being able to pay one person a lot and many other people a lot less without anyone finding out… I am sorry to read this sentence: “The situation today is worse, she said, with cuts to drama teaching in schools and the government’s decision to not have a compulsory arts subject in the new English baccalaureate.” Being part of a theatrical production — whether onstage or off — teaches so many valuable lessons about collaboration and community and responsibility (all qualities were are going to need more and more of to respond to the extraordinary environmental/geo-political challenges we are creating here on planet earth…)
To be frank, I just don’t understand why we always have so much trouble trying to make politicians understand how important drama is whether on or off-stage, as you say. It seems anyone who chooses to be a politician is severely lacking in imagination and compassion. We’re producing clones of these passionless bullies by not including drama on the curriculum. I hope, as Pete says above, that Beattie’s passion can bring about further change.