Some advice for new theatre artists from Grinder of Grinder’s Grumblings:
“The CAEA is not your ticket to stardom – in fact you’ll be slamming the door shut on just the sort of places that would be happy to have you and where you can un-learn all the pretentious, holier-than-thou attitudes you picked up when they made you feel like God’s gift to acting back in theatre school.”
Are actors’ unions really that unhelpful when starting a career in theatre? Are there any good reasons to join an actors’ union in the early stages? What’s your experience?
I think it depends on whether you’re in a primarily union or non-union town. In some cases, if you’re talking sheer numbers, there is just plain less union work out there. Non-union actors can always audition for union work, but the reverse is not the case. So you’re starting out by limiting your options. And particularly if you’re young, female and white (sorry, but it’s true; that’s just who makes up the vast majority of theatre school grads) – there is already a huge amount of competition from other people who are the exact same type. So I don’t think it’s so much that the unions are negative… just that joining too soon can really limit your options.