THREAD:

Things I would like to see an end to in theatre during 2021:

- Communities being marginalised/displaced in favour of commercially-driven art
- Jobs being offered through the back door (i.e. to mates, or speculative enquiries) rather than being advertised

(1/?)

- Local artists being gaslit through workshops delivered by 'external practitioners', which imply local artists lack skills/knowledge
- Youth/community work not being considered 'core activity', and marginalised from main artistic strands

(2/?)

- Freelancers being treated as though they have the same capacity as orgs
- Staff in buildings being treated as though they endorse all the the sins of their employers
- Arts leaders not admitting to/owning their mistakes & failures, which allows us all to learn from them

(3/?)

- Not giving honest feedback to shortlisted/interviewed candidates
- Not replying AT ALL to people who apply for opportunities, not even to say "not this time"
- Those in secure paid jobs asking freelancers to give their time for free to solve problems of access/inequality

(4/?)

- People lying about their privilege to pretend they've had a huge struggle (HI, ELLA)
- Unpaid 3+ month full time internships
- A lack of recognition of just how fucking HARD it is to work in the arts, and how people's mental health is at an all-time low after 2020

(5/6)

The big themes here?

Be honest.
Be generous.
Be kind.

And let's be frank - this is stuff we've needed to sort every year. Let's get on it.

(END)