The Playgoer: Theatre Bullies

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Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Theatre Bullies

Maybe it's different in these United States, but in the UK, the theatre profession turns out to be worse than a high school locker room:
Bullying at work is more common in the arts than in any other employment sector, according to new research. Two in five respondents to a survey of theatres and arts centres in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland revealed they had suffered bullying in the workplace. This is the highest reported incidence in any single employment sector in the country - with a higher proportion of cases than those recorded by researchers conducting similar surveys within the police, the army and the National Health Service.
The research is published in a new book by arts consultant Anne-Marie Quigg, entitled Bullying in the Arts - Vocation, Exploitation and Abuse of Power....She explained the research figures focused on people working off-stage, in so-called non-creative roles, but she feared the figure for bullying among performers and artists could be even higher and was hoping to carry out further research.
At first I thought it's the divas. (Another reminder to be nice to your dresser. If you have one.) But then this:
The demographic breakdown of the survey results showed that “the individual most likely to be bullied would be a young, white woman working in a box office in London, outside the West End”.
Maybe it's the customers!

Thoughts? Anecdotes? Gripes?

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