Theatre activists are rallying today to demand safer work place environments and a more transparent union
Today at 1:00 p.m. EST in New York City, members of the Broadway community are organizing to 'March On Broadway' in response to the Scott Rudin allegations, the silence coming from those close to him and concerns with the union. The march is intended to call on the Broadway League and Actor's Equity Association to acknowledge what is going on and for specific changes to be made.
“We do not want this to be actors versus the union; we do want the union to do its job and keep us safe." (Nattalyee Randall and Courtney Daniels for Playbill)
Social media has played a huge part in organizing this march. The Instagram accounts @50milerunforjusticeprotest and @randomblackgirllll have been posting information regarding the march and have utilized the hashtags: #NoNewsNoDues and #NoPlansNoDues. The hashtags are aimed at the union, signifying that the actor's won't pay their union dues until changes are made. The organizers have released a list of demands that they wish to be met. Those demands are:
1. Scott Rudin to be removed from the Broadway League - If he is not removed from the Broadway League, we want restoration. We want Scott to publicly choose 20 BIPOC run theatres and donate a LARGE SUM of money to them.
2. A full list of organizations that AEA is working with to help Black, Indigenous, and POC feel safer.
3. A full report of how the 2020 Equity dues were spent and what percentage is being spent to help conversations around diversity.
4. Achieve greater inclusion for trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming artists.
5. We want visibility on how the national council votes for policies. We also want efforts to improve diversity within the council.
6. We want to achieve greater inclusion for artists with visible and nonvisible differing abilities.
The 'March On Broadway' is happening today, April 22nd, at 1:00 p.m. EST in New York City. Organizers are meeting at Columbus Circle and encourage everyone to wear black. For more information, check out the Instagram accounts listed above.