Act for change

A working class hero is something to be

The legend of the storefront scene—the “off-Loop movement” of the 1970s and ’80s of Steppenwolf, Remains, Organic, Wisdom Bridge and others like them, performing in makeshift spaces all over the city to critical acclaim—is what put Chicago theater on the map, and it’s no doubt what brings groups of recent college grads here year after year to start their own ensembles, each hoping to become the next Steppenwolf; some critics and audiences, for their part, hit the storefronts hoping to discover and crown the next Steppenwolf.

The vitality of the non-Equity storefront scene is what makes Chicago such a draw for young actors looking to start their careers; there’s plenty of work to go around, as long as they’re willing to work for free. They can build a résumé, get reviewed, and eventually work their way up to the larger theaters. Sooner or later, they’re faced with the question of joining the union.

Many actors we spoke to have described this as a difficult decision. Naturally, Equity bars its members from working without a union contract; again and again, we’ve heard actors used to working as much as they want voice fears that there isn’t enough Equity work to go around.

Sweat Equity by the numbers

Actors Equity Association, the national stage actors’ union, was founded in 1913 in New York, following the establishment of the stagehands’ and playwrights’ unions. Through collective bargaining agreements with producers, Equity sets pay minimums and rules regarding work hours (limiting both rehearsal hours and the number of performances per week), among other protections, and also requires that producers contribute to health insurance and pension plans for its members. (Stage managers, who enforce the union’s day-to-day rules, are also covered by Equity.)

Equity currently has dozens of different contracts in use across the country, many standardized, some negotiated with individual producers. There are several different types of contracts in use in the Chicago area alone. Every one of them is a descendant of the sort of Contract Prime known simply as the Production Contract—the Broadway contract. Most of Chicago’s Equity theaters produce under a CAT, or Chicago Area Theatre, contract, which has several different “tiers.”

Of the 200 or so members of the League of Chicago Theatres, fewer than half use Equity contracts; a great number of those are on lower tiers of the CAT contract and are only required to hire one Equity actor for a show. (The minimum wage for that Equity actor at the lowest tiers is about $160 a week—not exactly quit-your-day-job money.) Add to that the fact that some of the larger houses regularly bring in talent from out of town, and a perception (right or wrong) voiced to us by many actors that several big companies cast the same actors over and over—and you won’t get cast if you’re not in the club.

Then there’s the ensemble problem. As illustrated by Nicole Wiesner’s story this week, some actors who choose to go Equity are giving up the ability to perform with the non-Equity companies they’ve helped to build. There are few provisions in Equity’s contracts for labors of love—at least not in Chicago. New York and Los Angeles both have special contracts (called the Showcase Code and the 99-Seat Plan, respectively) that allow Equity performers to forgo their salaries for smaller shows, under strict limitations on production budgets and length of run.

Consider the case of Pine Box Theatre, a very young ensemble-based company whose members are getting work at the Goodman and Steppenwolf, and turning Equity at breakneck pace. Though it’s barely two years old, nearly half of the company won’t be able to appear in its shows come fall. If Chicago had a version of the Showcase Code, they’d still be able to act together.