Exclusive: Two-year project launched to tackle class inequality in theatre

An industry-wide initiative to address class inequality and tackle a sector that is becoming “more elitist by the day” is being launched.

Fair Play has been created by Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme artistic director Sue Emmas with directors Stef O’Driscoll and Caitriona Shoobridge. It is described as a two-year "plan of action" to "urgently address this often-overlooked area of inequality in theatre".

Emmas told The Stage: "It’s something I have been interested and passionate about for a long time, and comes from a recognition in the industry that people still think it’s a level playing field and don’t really understand that class is socio-economic – about cultural, social and financial capital – and all those things intersect. It has been something I have been very much committed to raising awareness about."

She said that O’Driscoll and Shoobridge had "their own experience of the barriers within social class".

"It gave me real momentum to know these were the people we could put RTYDS expertise and infrastructure behind to make something happen," she said, adding: "A lot of people in theatre are trying to make stuff happen but it feels as though there is no an organisation dedicated to trying to do something. We are not going to magically change structural inequality around class and soco-economic inequity but we can do something to get people to recognise some of the soft and harder barriers that exist."

The project will seek to "challenge the systemic financial, social, cultural and organisational barriers that prevent theatremakers from low socio-economic backgrounds from sustaining careers and fulfilling their potential as leaders", a statement said. 

It aims to support creatives from low socio-economic backgrounds and to "empower regional theatres to use their own agency to tackle inequity", in a bid to ensure the future leadership of British theatre is more reflective of society.  

Emmas said the project would tailor opportunities for artists to develop artistic skills, particularly around leadership, and that RTYDS would partner with organisations to "challenge practice" and address changes they could make structurally to help them become a "more inclusive and achievable place for those from low socio-economic backgrounds".

"We are trying to change things at a very structural level – it’s great to give artists opportunities that will have an impact, but fundamentally it is about changing practice – governance, how you pay people and advocating for change," she said. 

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