MORE MONEY, SAME PROBLEMS FOR DC-AREA ACTORS

Union actors in D.C. saw an overall increase in pay at major area theaters from 2019 to 2022, but are still paid less than the living wage for the area.

A comparison of audition announcements from 2019 and 2022 for the major D.C. theaters revealed that the average minimum payment for unionized D.C.-area actors increased by 12% from 2019 to 2022, from about $792 to about $889 per week.

This analysis examined the audition announcements for Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, and Ford’s Theatre.

Actor salaries increased the most at Studio Theatre, jumping from a minimum of $601 per week to $950 per week, a 58% increase. The smallest increase was at Arena Stage, where actors saw a 6% increase in minimum weekly salary, from $873 to $926.

The only theater in this analysis that saw no change was Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, which pays actors $700 per week.

These are imperfect estimates, as each theater pays actors at a different scale according to rules set by Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), which is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers.

Essentially, AEA requires theaters with larger budgets and more seats pay higher minimum salaries.

The numbers in D.C.’s biggest houses, imperfect as they are, seem to offer good news to local actors, but that’s only on paper.

The reality of the theatre business and the cost of living in the District makes this hike in pay a drop in the bucket, and most actors will continue to be unable to afford to live in the city where they work.

In the American regional theatre, most actor contracts last about six weeks. An actor is paid from the first rehearsal to closing night, and then the money stops flowing.

That means that an actor working at Arena Stage could make a minimum of $5,556 for six weeks of work. If they worked the entire year nonstop, they would gross around $48,000. Since most theaters pay actors as contract workers, each actor would need to pay self-employment taxes in addition to the state and federal taxes they owe. This means that of that yearly paycheck, the actor would net roughly $42,000, according to Keeper Tax, an online tool that estimates 1099-worker tax payments.

According to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator, the cost of living for one childless individual in D.C. is about $52,549 per year — more than $10,000 higher than that actor’s best-case scenario.

And it is a best case scenario, because the reality is that these large theatre organizations can only hire a certain number of Equity actors per season, most actors don’t work nonstop every year, and many actors are not members of Actor’s Equity Association and therefore are not guaranteed the minimum union payment.

These financial challenges are even tougher for actors from marginalized communities and women. A report published by the union found that “white male actors earn more because they are more likely to receive overscale payments.”

This holds true in the Eastern region, which includes Maryland and D.C., according to the union’s 2019 Diversity Report, which found that of the 50,315 contracts awarded between 2016 and 2019, 53.62% went to men and 44.64% went to women.

But actors are not the only employees of a theatre whose overall compensation changed from 2019 to 2020.

Artistic Director salaries decreased from an average of $286,375 in 2019 to an average of $283,708 in 2020, slightly less than a 1% decline.

Considering that Molly Smith, the Artistic Director of Arena Stage, made $433,340 in 2020, or around nine times more than the best-case scenario for an actor employed by her theatre for a full year, the decline is negligible and frustrating for those working contract gigs.

“The whole business depends on exploiting underpaid…labor with no guarantee of employment after,” said Alabama-based actor Benjamin Jacobs, who added that the pay-to-play nature of the theatre world excludes performers who do not come from wealthy families and who work for theatres that do not allow outside work while on contract.

But there are signs that some organizations are taking it upon themselves to level the playing field.

In 2017, Round House theatre in Bethesda launched a “Fair Play” initiative which acknowledges the pay inequities and seeks to “focus on building artist loyalty with an across-the-board salary increase to make us competitive with the largest theatres in our market,” according to their website.

In a January Zoom panel discussion, Round House Associate Artist Sarah Cooney said that the theatre would pay a minimum of $910 per week to its union actors, which is significantly higher than the $739 per week minimum set by Actor’s Equity Association.

Round House is not only targeting more equitable actor pay as it moves forward, but also more equitable hiring practices.

Starting with the 2019-2020 season, Round House committed to ensure that at least 50% of its artists are women, and at least 50% are people of color.

“This commitment will continue in all future seasons,” according to their website.

Sources:

DATA (990s):

Arena Stage 990s: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/530246894

Round House 990s: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521289737

Shakespeare Theatre 990s: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521405988

Woolly Mammoth 990s: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521242900

Studio Theatre 990s: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521136132

Ford’s Theatre 990s: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/526073157

DATA (Audition Listings):