1.
Actors' Equity Association
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However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or through-storyline may be represented by the American Guild of Variety Artists. As of 2010, Equity represented over 49,000 theatre artists, actor’s Equity Association is currently under the direction of President Kate Shindle. AEA represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers nationwide, the AEA works to negotiate and provide performers and stage managers quality living conditions, livable wages, and benefits. In order to become a member of Equity, the performer must generate a number of Equity Membership Candidacy Points and they do this by securing a position at an Equity theatre and then registering as a candidate for Equity. Performers are required to maintain a minimum of 50 weeks of EMC work along with an initial payment in order to become an official Equity member. A person may become a member of Equity if they have been offered a position under an AEA contract. Leading up to the Actors and Producers strike of 1929, Hollywood, Hollywood was producing what was considered the 3 most important IWA/WIR films in the post-Kruse era. The films The Passaic Textile Strike, The Miners’ Strike and The Gastonia Textile Strike, gave audience and producers insight into the effect and accomplishments of labor unions and these films were set apart by being current documentaries and not melodramas produced for glamour. In 1896 the first Actors Union Charter was recognized by the American Federation of Labor as an attempt to create a minimum wage for actors being exploited and it wasnt until January 13,1913 that the Union Charter failed. It later re-emerged as the Actors Equity Association with more than 111 actors with Frances Wilson as its board president. A bronze plaque commemorates the room in which The Players met to establish Actors Equity, members included Frank Gillmore, who from 1918 to 1929 was the Executive Secretary of Actors Equity and its eventual President, a position he held from 1929 to 1937. Actors Equity joined the American Federation of Labor in 1919, the strike ended the dominance of the Producing Managers Association, including theater owners and producers like Abe Erlanger and his partner, Mark Klaw. The strike increased membership from under 3,000 to approximately 14,000, the Chorus Equity Association, which merged with Actors Equity in 1955, was founded during the strike. Equity represented directors and choreographers until 1959, when they broke away, the Actors Equality Strike was a series of walkouts that started in 1927, which started out in smaller local theaters in Los Angeles but quickly grew to the Motion Picture stage. The theater strikes combined with freelance contracts fueled the need for actors and stagehands to strike for better working conditions and pay. On July 20,1929, the Actors Equality would gain its first victory and this would also give all power and representation to one organization in order to create a more organized equality strike. Starting June 5,1929, Frank Gillmore flew and attended meetings in New York with the Heads of Broadway. After the meeting Mr. Anyone else who is involved in the production of pictures was also encouraged to attend
2.
Trades Union Congress
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The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are fifty-one affiliated unions with a total of about 5.8 million members, the TUC refers to themselves as the voice of Britain at work. The current General Secretary is Frances OGrady, the TUCs decision-making body is the Annual Congress, which takes place in September. Between congresses decisions are made by the General Council, which every two months. An Executive Committee is elected by the Council from its members, affiliated unions can send delegates to Congress, with the number of delegates they can send proportionate to their size. Each year Congress elects a President of the Trades Union Congress, the TUC is not affiliated to the Labour Party. At election time the TUC cannot endorse a particular party by name, however it can point to policies that it believes would be positive for workers’ rights, or to social cohesion and community welfare. It can also politically campaign against policies that it believes would be injurious to workers, the TUC also runs the Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum and annual Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival and Rally commemorating the Tolpuddle Martyrs and their impact on trade unionism. The TUC Library preserves documents related to history in Britain. It was established in 1922 and now focuses on expanding the online, the TUC archives are held at the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick Library. The archive contains files from c1920 -1991 consisting of correspondence, internal and external documents, minutes, reports, printed material, the TUC campaigns on a wide range of issues relating to the experience of people at work. Notably, the TUC succeeded in forcing Sports Direct to undergo an independent review into their treatment of workers in September 2016, in October 2016, the TUCs campaign against the Trade Union Bill won Best Public Affairs Campaign at the PR Week Awards. The TUCs Campaign Priorities for 2016-17 are,1, working people must not pay the price of the vote to leave the EU2. Standing up for abandoned communities 3, reaching out to young workers 5. Building a stronger movement after the union act In 1948 the NHS was created as a result of union campaigning. In 1970 the Equal Pay Act made it illegal for employers to give a woman worker different pay, in 1999 the National Minimum Wage was established to protect low-paid workers. In 1999 a limit was placed on working hours, largely as a health and this was quickly followed by a minimum holiday entitlement. In 2007 the no-smoking ban was introduced in areas in response to union arguments that workers were risking their health
3.
Irish Congress of Trade Unions
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There are currently 55 trade unions with membership of Congress, representing about 600,000 members in the Republic of Ireland. Trade union members represent 35. 1% of the Republics workforce and this is a significant decline since the 55. 3% recorded in 1980 and the 38. 5% reported in 2003. In the Republic, roughly 50% of union members are in the public sector, on a day-to-day basis Congress is run by an Executive Committee and a staffed secretariat headed up by the general secretary, Patricia King who succeeded David Begg in the position in 2015. John Douglas of Mandate became President of Congress at the conference in Belfast in July 2013 succeeding Eugene McGlone of Unite. The president serves for a period and is succeeded by one of two vice-presidents. This involved a series of seven corporatist agreements with the government and the main manufacturing/services employer body IBEC and it was a classic European-style alliance of government, labour and capital built on six decades of voluntary employment relations regulated by state institutions such as the Labour Court. For many years the leaders agreed to dampen pay rises in return for regular reductions in income tax rates. They also negotiated a new system of pay determination for public employees under the rubric of benchmarking using external assessment of pay scales for assorted grades. The era of Christian democratic style corporatism also saw a fall in trade union density from 62% in 1980 to 31% in 2007. Irelands period of centralised social pacts ended in late 2009 when the government imposed pay cuts of between 5% and 8% on public service employees, on a more positive note Begg asserted that the ending of social partnership arrangements liberates us to advocate and campaign for our own policies
4.
Scottish Trades Union Congress
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The Scottish Trades Union Congress is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists, the current General Secretary of the STUC is Grahame Smith. The Scottish Trades Union Congress is a independent and autonomous trade union centre for Scotland. It is not a Scottish regional organisation of the TUC and it was established in 1897 largely as a result of a political dispute with the Trades Union Congress regarding political representation for the Labour movement. A number of meetings were held by the various Scottish trades councils to discuss the situation, resulting in the formation of the STUC in Glasgow, Scotland, close contact was retained with the TUC with reciprocal arrangements existing for mutual assistance and co-operation when the occasion warranted. The STUC originally had an office at 58 Renfield Street, Glasgow, Scotland. Between 1900 and 1949 the STUC had offices in locations in Glasgow city centre. In 1998, the moved to Woodlands Road. The Annual Congress is the Governing Body of the STUC, the Congress was also involved with the Scottish Workers Representation Committee which continued to function until 1909 when its duties were taken over by the national Labour Party. A Scottish Council of the Labour Party was formed in 1915, despite this involvement in the process which established the Labour Party, the STUC is not, and has never been, affiliated to any political party. The STUC has always had women members. In 1897 a female delegate, Miss M H Irwin, obtained the highest vote in the election of the first Parliamentary Committee and she was nominated for chairman but declined nomination on the grounds that to appoint a woman chairman at that time was too premature. However, she acted as the Parliamentary Secretary and was also Secretary of the Scottish Council for Womens Trade, the first female President, Miss Bell Jobson, presided at the 1937 Congress. In 1926, the Organisation of Women Committee was established by the Congress, in 1937 the Congress agreed a motion to establish youth fellowships as a way of attracting young people to join the unions, and therefore encourage union membership regardless of sex or age. It was realised that to create separate youth fellowships was restrictive, suggesting that the old, therefore, in 1938, it was decided to establish the Trade Union Youth Advisory Committee encouraging youth sections within the existing unions. It also organises day and weekend schools and other activities for young trade unionists, from the 1930s onwards, probably the most important concern of the Congress has been the Scottish economy. The STUC has played its part in the legend of Red Clydeside 1910-1922, by 1947 the STUC consisted of 83 affiliated trades unions with a membership of 671,630. In addition,51 trades councils were affiliated, membership was made up of members of the Scottish unions and Scottish members of unions covering the British Isles
5.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
6.
Actor
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An actor is a person who portrays a character in a performance. Simplistically speaking, the person denominated actor or actress is someone beautiful who plays important characters, the actor performs in the flesh in the traditional medium of the theatre, or in modern mediums such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is ὑποκριτής, literally one who answers, the actors interpretation of their role pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character. Interpretation occurs even when the actor is playing themselves, as in forms of experimental performance art, or, more commonly, to act, is to create. Formerly, in societies, only men could become actors. When used for the stage, women played the roles of prepubescent boys. The etymology is a derivation from actor with ess added. However, when referring to more than one performer, of both sexes, actor is preferred as a term for male performers. Actor is also used before the name of a performer as a gender-specific term. Within the profession, the re-adoption of the term dates to the 1950–1960s. As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper, Im an actor – I can play anything. The U. K. performers union Equity has no policy on the use of actor or actress, an Equity spokesperson said that the union does not believe that there is a consensus on the matter and stated that the. subject divides the profession. In 2009, the Los Angeles Times stated that Actress remains the term used in major acting awards given to female recipients. However, player remains in use in the theatre, often incorporated into the name of a group or company, such as the American Players. Also, actors in improvisational theatre may be referred to as players, prior to Thespis act, Grecian stories were only expressed in song, dance, and in third person narrative. In honor of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians, the exclusively male actors in the theatre of ancient Greece performed in three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans, as the Western Roman Empire fell into decay through the 4th and 5th centuries, the seat of Roman power shifted to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. Records show that mime, pantomime, scenes or recitations from tragedies and comedies, dances, from the 5th century, Western Europe was plunged into a period of general disorder
7.
Stage management
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Stage management is the practice of organizing and coordinating a theatrical production. It encompasses a variety of activities, including organizing the production, Stage management is a sub-discipline of stagecraft. Stage managers may use a Stage Managers book to help organize the production, a stage manager is one who has overall responsibility for stage management and the smooth execution of a production. Between the Renaissance and the 16th century, actors and playwrights took upon themselves the handling of finances, general directorial duties, and stage management. Stage management first emerged as a role in the 17th century during Shakespeares and Molières time. This was the first time a person other than actors and playwright was hired to direct or manage the stage, many playwrights, directors and actors had as their first job in the theatre work as an assistant stage manager. One is very aware that everything depends on the delivery of the cue at exactly the right microsecond. One stands there, knees bent, breathing heavily. The responsibilities and duties of stage management vary depending on the setting of a production, most broadly, it is the stage managers responsibility to ensure that the directors artistic choices are realized in actual performance. As the lighting, sound, and set change cues are developed, the stage manager maintains a prompt book, sometimes called the book or the bible, which contains all cues, technical notes, blocking and other information pertinent to the show. Stage managers are responsible for helping establish a shows rehearsal schedule, the stage manager typically documents each rehearsal in a rehearsal report. Once the house opens for a performance, the stage manager controls all aspects of the performance by calling the cues for all transitions and acting as communications hub for the cast and crew. After a show opens, the manager is also responsible for calling brush-up, put in. The stage manager ensures that lighting and sound cues are acted upon at the time by issuing verbal standby. Each cue call begins with the word standby to indicate that an action is imminent and, in response, occasionally, after a long pause or break in the productions action, the stage manager will give a warning cue. This warns the technicians that the cue is approaching. At the appropriate time, the manager will prompt immediate execution of the action by saying go. In the United States, Stage Manager is a title that may be applied to anyone who performs stage management functions
