According to a new survey of women working in the UK theatre industry, a decline in freelance work is one of the main challenges that they have faced over the past 19 months.
The survey of 387 women working in the sector found that 98 per cent had experienced challenges during the pandemic, with 74 per cent saying that there had been a decrease in freelance work in the industry.
The survey was carried out by playwright Jennifer Tuckett, working with bodies including the December Group, Equity, Stage Directors UK and The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. Overall, 85 per cent voiced concern that gender disparity would grow worse following the pandemic and 60 per cent said they were considering leaving the theatre sector.
The research has led to calls for the government and Arts Council England to unveil support for the sector, including quotas. Jennifer Tuckett commented: “We hope, as business returns to normality, both ACE and the UK government will commit to providing support for women in the arts, which as an industry contributes billions to the economy each year.”
Other than a decline in freelance opportunities, other challenges cited by the respondents were more domestic tasks (38 per cent), unemployment (32 per cent) and childcare (27 per cent). One major concern among respondents was that theatres would increasingly seek to attract audiences by staging “safe” and well-known work, which, Jennifer Tuckett said, “often means male-written”.
Those surveyed also voiced concerns that discrimination against women aged over 40 would increase and that women were often in emerging and mid-stage jobs, which are generally seen as being more dispensable.
