Love, Hate, Equity

So I was telling my roommate about my audition with Intiman and it sort of turned into a discussion about Equity.

Me: It would be nice to work in an Equity house though.
My Roommate: So Equity. Is that like a union?
Me: Yeah, basically. Actors Equity Association, it's basically the union for actors.
My Roommate: Are you in it?
Me: Hahahahahahaha. No.
My Roommate: How do you get in?
Me: Well you get points for being in rehearsals and performances at an Equity house.
My Roommate: But I thought you said Equity people get priority at auditions.
Me: They do. An Equity person can bump a non-Equity person or an EMC*. (*I had already told her what that was.)
My Roommate: Well then how are you supposed to get points?
Me: That's the rub isn't it? It get worse though, once you're Equity you can only work in Equity houses.
My Roommate: And there's only 3 in Seattle.
Me: Yep. If you did do anything fringe, it would have to fly so low under the radar that no one would recognize that you were doing something non-Equity.
My Roommate: Does Equity do anything good?
Me: Well, yeah. I mean they standardize the rate of pay for actors, put limits on how long rehearsals can be or make sure you get regular breaks, and what directors or theaters can ask of you. Stuff like that.
My Roommate: Huh.
Me: Yeah. Huh.

I started thinking of the love-hate relationship I have with Equity. Of course, I want to make acting my profession but at the same time the student theatre I did in undergrad brought me such an amazing respect for fringe work. But fringe work won't pay the bills. And for that matter neither will Equity in Seattle. The truth is there's just too little of it. Do the math with me here: 3 theaters each doing there own season of 6 plays (9 at the Rep because they have two theaters). Sure that looks like a lot of parts, but how many of them are looking for a caucasian twenty-something; especially my type? Mostly the ingenues seem to start at between 28 and 30. And no one is looking at the mid-twenties BA graduate. But there's a good deal of the plays I couldn't possibly be in. The Women at ACT for example. The Cook or Birdie Blue at the Rep? No way, The Cook is set in Cuba and Birdie Blue in the Black neighborhoods of Chicago.

It's sort of amazing how few parts there are for my type. Even though historically it was one of the most written types ever.