Equity

Zarganar is Burma's most famous comedian. He is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence for criticising the Burmese government's reaction to Cyclone Nargis in 2009. Join the campaign to free Zarganar.

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The Equity Council has signed off on two new pay deals in theatre which brings minimum weekly rates to £400.

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Members wishing to attend the Manifesto for Theatre conference on 22 March, 2010 should contact the union soon. Places are limited to just 250 and will be allocated to ensure a representative spread of members. For more details, click below.

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After many years of negotiations Equity has signed a formal agreement with both Isis and Soundings for the recording of their audio-books. This is an area of work that Equity has been trying get agreements in place with publishers to protect our members and to secure ongoing royalties from the exploitation of their work. Historically, publishers have rejected Equity’s approach and have refused to enter into negotiations let alone reach an agreement. A number of well attended meetings have been held with members who continue to work in this area who urged the Union to persist with their efforts to secure improved conditions in the area.

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Stage managers who work on Equity contracts which may require them to appear on stage and play a part will retain the right to be self-employed for tax Government authorities have confirmed. This welcome news comes after a series of contacts between Equity and officials from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Equity became concerned after an HMRC review called into question the right of some company stage managers, stage managers, deputy stage managers and assistant stage managers to be treated as self-employed for tax.

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Every year Equity holds eight meetings around the country open to all members where they can discuss what they want from their union and influence Equity’s policy. This year these meetings are being held in Belfast, Cambridge, Birmingham, Exeter, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Newcastle upon Tyne. Full details are below.

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As a matter of urgency the energies of the steering Committee for Shakespeare United for 2012are now being channelled into encouraging groups and individuals up and down the country to mount an event to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday (April 23rd) in 2010, writes Equity Council member Sheila Mitchell. We already have a number of firmed up dates (it doesn’t have to be on Friday 23rd, Saturday 24th is equally acceptable) and we are aiming for at least 100 productions, readings, street corner entertainment, costume, music, clowning, anything which has a link to Shakespeare and his times which will appear under the banner of Shakespeare United for 2012.

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HMRC has issued incorrect tax code notification letters for the tax year 2010 -11 to a number of our members. Incorrect tax code notifications have been issued by the Revenue as a result of an IT system error. If you have received a letter about your tax code and are self-employed you will need to ring the number at the top of the notification letter and ask for your tax code to be corrected. Equity has contacted HMRC for a full explanation about why these notices have been issued but in the meantime you should contact HMRC to ensure that this error is corrected.

On January 22nd the BBC announced that it has commissioned a major new piece of research to understand how well the lesbian, gay and bisexual community is portrayed by the broadcaster. You can let them know what you think.

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Equity members David Tennant, Honor Blackman, James Smith, Tony Robinson, Clive Anderson, Nicholas Grace and Roger Lloyd Pack joined Equity staff and Officers at a reception in Parliament where they lobbied Ministers, MPs and Peers on the future of the BBC, funding for theatre and Equity's campaign to free Burmese comedian Zarganar.

The reception was held under the banner of the Performers' Alliance which brings together Equity, the Musicians' Union and the Writers' Guild. The picture shows Equity General Secretary Christine Payne with David Tennant and Secretary of State for Culture Ben Bradshaw.

Equity and the Federation of Entertainment Unions presents The Dramatic Lives of Edith Craig, actor, director, costumier and theatre pioneer, with Dr Katherine Cockin, biographer of Edith Craig (1869 - 1947), as part of LGBT History Month 2010. At the Phoenix Artists Club in London, February 12th, 6.00-8.00pm.

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Congratulations to our members whose work was recognised in the Critics Circle Awards: Christopher Oram, Mark Rylance and Rachel Weisz and also to Oscar nominees Colin Firth, Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer.

Due to high demand, we are running two more Networking via the Web day courses in London. The places are very limited and are going fast so if you want to take part get in touch as soon as you read this.

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More than seven thousand people, including some of the UK’s best known performers, have signed a petition calling on TV companies to address the imbalance of male and female roles on UK television. Recent research reveals that for every two male roles in a drama there is just one female.. Make sure you join in the protest and sign the online petition here! Click here to go to the petition.

The petition is open to the viewing public to sign. Equity is calling on members to sign the petition and to forward it to your friends and family. If we get even bigger numbers, we can have a real effect.

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The Federation of Entertainment Unions which includes Equity have been running Digital Toolkit courses in the North West . There are 3 remaining coursed scheduled for the first part of 2010 - and there are still places on two of these: Create Your Own Website and Social Networking and Self Marketing.

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Not only does Equity provide legal support, advice, insurance, help when times are hard, but now we keep you dry in the showers as well!

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During February the union will be participating in various events around the country so if you are going to be there we hope to meet you.

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Equity is positioned to support professional artists but due to our unique place in the entertainment industry we can provide a range of useful information including factsheets on different careers in the performing arts and sources of further information. To get started - have a look at the Industry pages.

• The Industry

Youth Music Theatre (YMT ) auditions are taking place across the UK with sessions now open for booking.

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Members have made some suggestions so we have made a few changes to the online forum in the members area of this website. If you haven't started posting yet, log on, go to New to Forum , join the conversations, and get a free Equity gift.

Equity's Careers and Learning Advisors are all working performers with a broad range of experience and who have been trained to the national matrix standard for delivering specialist careers advice in partnership with Skillset .

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Muscle strain? Lost voice? Stage fright? If you are a member with any performance-related health problem you are entitled to help from the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine. (BAPAM).

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It is impossible to deny the speed and strength of the changes sweeping through the television industry...

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Equity research tracking the employment of actors in subsidised repertory theatre in-house productions between 2002 and 2008 reveals that while funding from Arts Councils in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has grown significantly employment for actors on the Equity/TMA sub rep contract has plummeted to lower than where it was at the start of the decade.

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