We’re very excited to announce new theatre partners who are joining Surviving on a Shoestring, our financial equity programme that addresses financial inequity in the industry by trialling new ways of paying creative freelancers from working class backgrounds.

Welcome to the movement Bristol Old Vic, Leeds Playhouse, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Mikron, Northern Broadsides, Odd Arts, Streetwise Opera, and Unfolding Theatre!

 

“We understand the realities of being a working creative – juggling lives, families, bills and making ends meet. We don’t ever want these to be a barrier to working with us. We endeavour to be fair with our payment structures and never ask anyone to wait for payment. We have always been flexible with payment terms with our creatives. It has to be what’s best for them, not us as an organisation.

We’re so grateful to the Fair Play team for opening our eyes even further and providing us with structure, guidance and resources.”
“We attended the brilliant Class Assembly event in Bradford last year and from that knew we wanted to take part in Fair Play.

Widening representation and tackling the barriers to establishing a career in the arts is a key part of our mission and Surviving on a Shoestring has provided practical tools and support to improve our financial processes for working class artists. We hope it’s the start of a partnership that can bring about systemic change.”

Ruth Cooke, Executive Director and Joint CEO
“Odd Arts strives to engage in ethical workplace practises, that not only make experiences better for individuals collaborating and working with us, but also to address the systemic inequalities at play within the wider cultural sector. The recent Class Ceiling report highlights this without question.

We are very proud to be part of the Surviving on a Shoestring pilot, that explores innovative but common-sense approaches to addressing financial inequity for creative freelancers from low socio-economic backgrounds.”

Rebecca Friel, CEO Odd Arts
“At Streetwise Opera, we believe it’s everyone’s responsibility to work to reduce the uncertainty and instability that freelance workers often experience, so we’re proud to be partnering with RTYDS on Surviving on a Shoestring. We hope it can help us improve our employment practices and allow the freelancers we work with to feel more supported.”

Joël Cottrell – Head of Finance & Operations, Streetwise Opera
“Joining the Surviving on a Shoestring programme is an important step for us as a company, as we work to remove barriers for artists experiencing financial insecurity. This initiative will help us to rethink our own payment structures, whilst contributing data that helps RTYDS to build a stronger evidence base for change.”

 

These theatre companies are also joined by our three partners for the Fair Play Associate Artistic Director residencies:

JOIN US!

If your organisation thinks deeply about ethical workplace practices and you want to be a part of a movement to make the industry a more accessible place for working class creatives, get in touch with us on fairplay@rtyds.co.uk or find out more about Surviving on a Shoestring here.