Wednesday 4 June 2014

One little rant.

Counting down.  We are both so very tired. It is making us even more peculiar than usual.

The Arts is the only workplace you pay for the privilege of being allowed to work!  Seriously.  We pay our travel costs, parking, uniforms, food...for no reimbursement.  I can remember my cousin rocking up to something we were involved in & blasting off because her agent had said she'd do it *for charity*. *sigh* Artists have to eat too & pay their bills.  Unfortunately the costs of staging a performance are so exorbitant most of those involved don't get paid.  Yes, even for professional performances.  And people scream about the price of tickets.  I know I do.  Too high & I just can't afford to go no matter how much I want to!

Take this performance. Bouddica.  At La Boite.  Where I think they fancy themselves on the cutting edge of Brisbane theatre. Nice theatre.  They let you take your drinkies in with you.  Reminiscent a la Shakespeare. In the round so always a little different.  And honestly, the tickets are more than reasonable.  Between 25 & 45 dollars.  I was expecting them to cost way more than that.  Now if you are having ONE night out, all is well & good, but every night the familiar refrain begins.  Am I coming tonight?  Will I be in the audience tonight?  Can't you come again, mum?  Well, no, I can't.  If tickets were about 5 dollars a pop, what the heck?  But they aren't.  I am going twice ~ & that is stretching the bonds of friendship.

So what's the deal?  Well it's really very simple.  I know people.  I know them well enough to pick up on stuff the general audience will probably miss.  I don't just watch the action on the stage.  I watch the pit too.  I know the music.  I usually know when there is a massive regrouping taking place to cover up a boo~boo.  And what Cait likes to do as we navigate the traffic home is reminisce:  Did I see...?  Did I hear...?  How about that.  What did you think of so & so tonight?  I get it.  I really do.  It's called sharing ~ but it comes with a price tag I can't afford.

I know some of you buy season tickets to the theatre & the ballet & are signed up for every orchestral performance at your local.  Lucky you.  What's more I know starting prices for the Suncorp Stadium or the Gabba are between 30 & 40 dollars.  Many of them are way pricier than that.  I know people will fork out for their sport.  They don't do the same for any of the Arts.  And that keeps prices high because they have to cover their costs. We lost last Wednesday's scheduled performance due to the State of Thuggery State of Origin.  The theatre knew the streets would be blocked, the parking at a premium & everyone would be at the game anyway so they cancelled out.  Not fair. 

 Every night I am parked in the bar area & while the turnout is respectable by no stretch of the imagination are they playing to a packed house. There is something wrong with our priorities.  Each & every person on that stage each night is a professional performer.  Yes, including Cait.  The majority have another job ~ so they can pay their bills.  They are working double time, & like Cait & I are exhausted.  They may love what they do but it takes a toll.

And it's worse.  I stick my nose in my book but I am a people watcher from waaay back.  My children are always admonishing me, Don't stare mum!  So I don't stare...but my ears flap wildly in the breeze.  I know from listening a lot of the audience each night is also involved in the Arts.  They are writers & actors, musicians & composers, singers, set designers, Uni students. And they ALL have a 2nd job!  Some have been in the business for decades.  We pay our sportsmen way better than our artists. It is not our sports stars that make us think about the way we view our world.  They do not grace us with music to die for or paintings that make us weep or novels people will die to defend.

And just to be clear, I am not anti sport.  Half my household is sports mad & the World Cup being about to start we are watching the Aussie line~up with trepidation. I just think there should be greater equity.  Man does not live by bread alone & the arts provide an intangible quality to life that nothing else provides.  Which is why we will continue to be exhausted,  And peculiar. *sigh*  Not that anyone's listening to me.

1 comment:

  1. Your content is very creative and nice for all of us. Keep writing.Thank you

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    ReplyDelete