THE ACTOR’S WAGE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 6046, 2 November 1906, Page 5

THE ACTOR’S WAGE

A SLUMP IN SALARIES. (By a Strolling Player, in the London “Daily Telegraph.”) A few years ago I remember answering some very doleful views i had just heard expressed on tho subject of tho stage as «i profession with tho remark. “It may have many disadvantage®, but so have other®, and, personally, I should not care to belong to any other.” This, as i have said, was tho opinion I honestly held only a few years ago. Now, looking back at what has happened since those words were spoken, X can only say L am amazed at having littered them.. Was i unduly optimistic? Perhaps eo. Or were the prospects generally of members ot my profession at that time such as to justify one’s being mGre or lees hopeful? Tho question is one that I cannot pretend to answer. The past is don© with, and, by way of seeking a remedy, it is of little uso now bemoaning the facts that things then were a good deal better—or, shall 1 eay, far less bad?—than they indubitably are at present. If aver an actor whose sphere of activity is the provinces has a right to feel cheerful and sanguine it is at this particular season, when autumn tours are on the eve of commencing, and h© is more or less confident of a "shop” which will tide him over till just before Christmas, at any rate. But, as a matter of fact, there are in London at this moment hundreds of actors ami actresses, many of them players of experience and repute, wno have lately knocked in vain at the doors ot managers and agents. And of the lucky ones who have secured a berth for the autumn, the majority, beyond all question, have by stress of circumstances accepted engagements at a salary which, before the era of "theatrical depression, ’ they would have scorned.

"Offer mo an engagement for two years certain at £6 a week and ITI tak© # it.” This proposal was made in all seriousness only tho other day to a manager who owns several “provincial rights by au actor of considerable touring experience, and who, not so long ago, could always command or £S a week, and. was seldom out of an engagement. The player in question, let me say, has done nothing to forfeit either the confidence of managers or the respect of his brother and sister professionals. He is still on the right side of forty, and so is well qualified, to play "Juvenile lead his particular line. Is there anything exceptional in hi® case? From intimate knowledge of what is going on behind the scenes, aud of the present condition of thing® theatrical. I unhesitatingly reply in the negative.

On the strength, of individual .instance®, it would not of course, be fair to deduce/too much. But X should-like to mention just on© further example as being typical of countless others. And it happens to be a quite recent one. in this case the actor wa© offered au engagement as "heavy lead” on tour in a popular melodrama which had been playing to big business. The terms he was asked to accept* were <£2 lOs per week, and the tour was to last three months. He was expected to find a frock-coat suit, a lounge suit, au evening dress suit, and a hunting costume, as well as such details us a silk hat, dressing-shirts, grease paint, and a wig, and in addition to pay his fare to Glasgow. The offer was deemed "not good enough,” and accordingly declined. The part was eventually given to another—and one may assume more impecunious—actor, who “signed tor a* week, notwithstanding the requirements above enumerated. ■

Now, any member of my proiession will at once hear me out when I assert tnat less than ten years ago it. would; not have been possible to find an actor ot tho smallest capability to play a role ot the kind indicated in a successful piece for lee© than £A a week. In all probability he would have got <£o. When I affirm that in recent years provincial salaries have dropped to tho extent of at least 25 per cent., and that they have now reached an irreducible minimum, 1 shall probably .bo expected to give hgurc® in support or the statement. In a matter of this kind it is not easy to generalise, for tho reason that where, as in thertheatrical calling, the scale of salaries covers a wide range, according not only to the particular line or part but also to tho class of company and management concerned, it is almost impossible to strike; anything like au average: But one or two examples may serve to en force my point. In days gone by an actor going on tour in a No. 1 company to plav the leading part in a recognised Loudon success of the comedy or “draw-ing-room drama” order would in most cases <hav© received not less than £9 and in not a few i instances, <£lo per week. At the present day, I venture to say, lucky are tho .actors of the same stamp who, for an engagement ot this nature, can secure more than .£o. That means ©even performances a week, no extra remuneration given lor the usual weekly matinee, as in London, and nowadays a tour, even of, a euccesstui p] a v —musical comedies excepted—that la hooked for more than forty weeks out of the 1 fifty-two : is a , rare tlnnp; indeed. And an actor, as has been seen, has to provide his'own wardrobe—save in the case of "costume plays”—besides various other "extras,” and lie has. moreover, to attend rehearsals, for which, of course, there is no payment, no matter . how many weeks they may occupy. Then there aro his agent’s fees, and his tips in the theatre—which amount to no inconsiderable trifle in the case of an actor who is cast for an important part, and is considered to be in receipt of a good, salary. I have referred to the "leading man,” and even on the average basis I have given there are thousands of provincial acters unknown- to fame who will account him a lucky dog. ‘Will members of other callings, whose earnings however small, aro at all events regular, think likewise? \nd what of the "leading lady"? ■ Well, if she is fortunate enough to be engaged *hy a- responsible manager for a tour of the principal towns, she may get £4, 10s, or perhaps even £5. But, as things noware. any number of actresses of proved capacity havo to he content with a good deal lets and when, as happens in nine case© out of ten, they have to supply their own dresses—for a tour, a© often as , not. which does not last more than twelve weeks —it will be seen that even,’ the lot of'leading ladies in reputable provincial companies is not such a® to encourage ®tngc struck girls to venture behind .the footlights. And far less roseate is the position , nowaday© of "ingenues and “walking ladles” (thosa with a few lines to speak;. Salaries under this head have fallen to fis low a© 30s a week. Thirtyfiro shilling© would be a fair average, and <£2 regarded, beyond doubt, a© a figure to be "jflmpecl at” by many' actresses of average looks and talent, wln> before the slump of The last few years would have been indignant if offered twice the amount. For that matter inelodraiha —tho staple fare still in most of the smaller townsr-can' count upon finding “heroes” without number at v£2 _ 5s a week, and deep-dyed villian© at 35s are by no means unploutiful. As for “utilitv” men, they arc to bo found anywhere at 25s a week, and for this sum are ready and willing enough to “double” part®. And bear in mind that, whatever tho class of part and whatever the status of the actor or actress, their period of employment must needs be uncertain, and that of those who join the ranks of my profession comnarativcly few only boast the pbj'sical strength to withstand the ©train of acting, coupled with the wear and tejir of constant travelling (remember I am speaking of provincial players), and tho suspense and anxiety which come of th© inevitable precarionsnc&s of their calling. It is a mere platitude at this date, of course, to say that the profession is. sadiy overcrowded". But the truth of tilt, statement was never so keenly felt as it is at the present moment. And,the pity of it is that of those who in recent years have helped to swell these overcrowded ranks only too largo a number are young men and women who never were fitted in any way for tho "business” which tlieyi in many cases, entered into so liglit-heartedly. This'is not the time or the place to discus© the qualification© needed by those who aspire even to earn

a "living wage” by play-acting. But those wno have at heart the best Intel cists alike of the drama and of those who have to live by it will be with me when I say that the present deplorable condition of things, and much of the bitter misery and disappointment is has brought in its train, are due to the hopeless ineptitude of many of those who, without the necessary training, temperament. and intuitive ability, have thought fit to "try their luck” on the stage. One disastrous result of this has been the gradual and steady reduction of salaries, a lowering of the general standard of performance in the provinces, and the consequent waning; of the public’s affection tor the drama. Hero are facts there is no denying. Ask any actor, any manager, any playwright, and you will hear the same story. There are probably more companies “on the road” now than over there were in the past. The theatres have increased and multiplied. But the building of new theatres has most assuredly not been attended, by a practical stimulus to playgoing. On the contrary, the provincial lessees now put o u wry- faces and tell the owners of touring companies that they can no longer allow anything like the percentage on the week's takings which was the rule in more prosperous times. And fallen receipts and this lowering all round of percentages have forced the tonring managers for their part to pay smaller and smaller salaries in order that they should have some- margin for profit.' And it was the raw, untrained, inexperienced actors and actresses, faced with the necessity of earning, if only a pittance, who, bowing to the inevitable, stepped in and accepted these wretched salaries, giving, in return, performances which were so far from being adequate that, in course of time, the theatre's patrons in the provinces have wavered in their allegiance to the drama, with results made increasingly manifest in the box office. It has been stated again and again of late that the competition, of the modern, luxurious music-hall, has almost been the ruin of many a provincial theatre, once prosperous. Doubtless there is a good deal of truth in this contention. But it is a phase of the question upon which I, as a mere actor; prefer to say nothing. Would that, upon other aspects of the matter, I could take a less despondent view. Unhappily, the lot of most of. my brother-professionals who have to depend on the provinces for their livelihood is such nowadays that it is impossible to look cheerfully into the future. We have all of us been driven to the darkest pessimism.