by Peter Crawley12 March 2010
At a time of severe budget cuts across the theatre sector and tentatively proposed new models of making work, not all fee reductions are being readily accepted.
In a letter to acting agencies this month, seen by ITM, Abbey director Fiach Mac Conghail referred to the National Theatre’s decline in state subsidy – from €10m in 2008 to €7.25m in 2010 – as a rationale to explore new operational methods and to cut production costs. Having instituted a pay freeze on actors’ fees for Abbey productions in 2010 last December, he informed the letter’s recipients of a new policy to reduce actors’ fees at the Peacock to €600 a week – potentially a 35% pay cut for actors earning the Abbey’s top pay rate.
The proposal met a vigorous response...