A Call to End the Culture of Silence: The Theatre Transparency Initiative

This post appears simultaneously on the Costume Professionals for Wage Equity blog.

 

I’ve been following the effects of the pandemic on our industry on my costume production blog, La Bricoleuse, in a series of interviews with costume professionals impacted by the shutdown in April of 2020. These interviews–ostensibly about helping combat the virus using the skills and equipment we no longer used in making costumes–revealed the trauma my colleagues were experiencing not only from the pandemic itself, but also in response to the implosion of our industry in the face of a complete shutdown with little to no safety mechanisms in place to protect our institutions and ourselves from financial ruin.

These conversations with colleagues made clear the collective and significant challenges we would need to recover from.

We were due for a reckoning.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the theatre industry to confront the bias and inequities that have quietly plagued its workers for decades. Workers who were now demanding big conversations and even bigger changes. In a moment that inspired hope, our institutions pledged to do better. They opened their lobbies to Black Lives Matter protestors, they updated their websites with statements of equity and inclusion, they attended workshops. Then they went back to business as usual.

Masks made by Arts Workers for CPfWE’s 2020 MasquerAID auction juxtaposed with a surgical mask abandoned on a city street.

Calls for wage transparency and structural change have not only fallen on deaf ears, they have been shouted down and treated as acts of betrayal. A bitter irony given the inequities that have come to light. Lasting change needs consistent, targeted action.  One of the most frequent requests for information on theatre job posts is for salary information. A large number of theatre institutions have profiles on Glassdoor.com with little or no contributing feedback from theatre workers. This site has become a leading provider of information to prospective employees and job applicants, yet our voices are missing from their database.By participating in the Theatre Transparency Initiative, you can help provide this much-needed information.

The aims of this initiative are simple:

1. To expand the resources and information available about employers in the theatrical industries

2. To shed light on companies with unreasonable, abusive, or harmful work expectations.

3. To demonstrate the mutual benefits of transparency by highlighting companies who are treating and paying their employees fairly.

Now is the perfect time to contribute.

Many of us are returning from summer contracts and preparing for fall seasons to kick off. Your review is completely anonymous (Learn more about how Glassdoor.com maintains and defends the anonymity of contributors here), and helps open doors for the kinds of conversations that need to happen about pay and workplace culture in our industry.

Equity begins with transparency.

Join the initiative.

Contribute your reviews and experiences on Glassdoor.com.

 

Use these images (below) to spread the message!

Full size images and accessibility language can be found in our Transparency Toolkit.