Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1982 - 16

Graduate Assistant:
One 20-hr. appointment = 20 hrs.
Student Assistant:
One 20-hr. appointment

20 hrs.

Work Study:
One 20-hr. appointment

20 hrs.

Scenography
Instructor 1:
1) teach scene design. sound, and thesis
design
2) design or supervise design of

production

Instructor 2:
1) teach scenic crafts and lighting design
2) design or supervise design of lighting
3) supervise execution and laboratories
4) bookkeeping

Technician 1: construction
Technician 2: construction
Graduate Assistants:
Two 20-hr. appointments

= 40 hrs.

Student Assistants:
Two 15-hr. appointments

Work Study:
Four 1O-hr. appointments

= 40 hrs.

30 hrs.

Those protesting such typical imbalances in resources and expectations
are admonished to design more simply.
but for the costumer, who does not have
the option of suggesting a garment with
the use of light, but must always contend
with the issues of bilateral symmetry and
nudity, this type of advice is frustrating.
Fitting is no less a task with previously
made costumes than with those built in
house. Most costume changes are dictated by the script rather than by the
designer.
In spite of the invention of the sewing machine, the washing machine, and
the electric iron, most of the costumer's
craft is little evolved from a time when a
woman sat in her cave joining hides with
a pierced bone and some unknown filament. For the most part, costumers even
work in the modern equivalent of the
cave. Costume shops across the country
are by and large tiny, windowless.
poorly lit. unventilated, with cement
floors. and frequently subterranean.
Such handicaps are not unique to
educational theatre. According to
statistics published in 1979 by the International Ladies Garment Workers
Union (which represents constructionists in commercial costume shops),
14

Theatre Design & Technology

whereas the average skilled worker in
America earned $6.00 an hour. garment
workers in either the entertainment or
fashion industry only averaged 54.00.
By 1981 the figures were: skilled worker
57.00/hr .. garment worker 55.00/hr.:
auto workers 5 l2.00/hr. Even with this
money-saving device. the lack of even
these jobs to compete for do not seem
commensurate to the work load. A
select few are each required to
accomplish two or three persons' jobs.
(When the cyclic work does drop off
and workers are subjected to one of the
periodic sudden layoffs. in order to
qualify to unemployment insurance.
they "must be ready, able. and willing"
to accept any union job for which they
are qualified. 6 This means that a costumer is not legally entitled to employment in her own field. but must accept
work in the fashion industry if so
assigned rather than accept unemployment insurance. Hence the reluctance of
most young professionals to become
unionized, which in turn exempts them
from insurance benefits. reduced optometrist's fees, legal holidays, and the
35-hour work week.)
Though verification is in order, one
might suspect that as far as salaries are
concerned, what we are seeing here is
women's pay for women's work.7 The
subsequent sexist jeopardy is that when
a man enters the field he will be subjected to this inequity. Observe that at
such salaries, commercial theatre
workers can not afford to attend the
Broadway productions which they help
to prepare, let alone to buy the type of
garment which they could make, but
have no time to provide for themselves
or their families.
Then what motivates our submission to the current state of our profession? Simply this: we have allowed the
powers that be to convince us that art.
especially our art. is expendable.
Therefore, we persist in saying yes when
we want to say n0 8 in an effort to appease the authorities who might deprive
us of the work we love. So must we always fear those with an even greater
capacity to say yes when they want to say
no. But by doing so, we incur greater
long-range risks. The first, almost certain one is that we will each self-destruct
under unreasonable pressure. The second is that the profession may fail to
evolve to a point where it can no longer
survive in a technological society. and
therefore will become an extinct art
form like those of oration and fresco
painting.

The problem of stress in costume·
related fields clearly requires a political
solution.
ot only must costumer~
become aware of individual ways in
which to handle stress. but they muSl
assume responsibility for their situation
by making a concerted collective efforl
to deal with the source of stress: unfair
expectations and unfair labor practices
They must either become capable of garnering additional support. or they must
insist on a work load in proportion te
their current resources. Towards thi~
end. we propose that each of you adopt
the log exercise and catalog comparative
resources with other areas of
design/tech in your departments a~
shown. In this way. the initial task of the
Stress Committee will be performed
First, keeping the log will be a means of
collecting data. Secondly. analyzing the
information will define the topic for you
personally, as well as for us collectively
It may also suggest new avenues of investigation. Thirdly, publishing the
results of our findings may become a
vehicle for change_ We must be committed to educating our administrators and
executives to the crisis of our profession.

NOTES
1 Sylvia J. Hillyard. Chair of Costume
Commission's Stress Committee.
correspondence (October 20. 1980).
addressed to Dr. Kenneth Greenspan.
Director of the Center for Stress Related
Disorders. (Dr Greenspan unfortunately
canceled a presentation on biofeedback
scheduled for the Cleveland conference.)
2 These statements reflect common
knowledge of the profession rather than
statistics. which are presently unavailable.
This of course suggests an urgent task for
the Stress Committee: the development of a
survey to obtain such data. Any individual
interested in such a project should contact
the author.
3 Lewis Burke Frumkes. "The Addictive
Personality." Harper's Bazaar(March 1980).
This brief but interesting article examines
the addictive personality and its potential
addictions. These are divided into two
groups: "hard addictions" such as
narcotics. alcohol. caffeine. and nicotine.
which involve physical dependency. and
"soft addictions" such as food. work.
power. sex. and TV. which involve only
psychological dependency for some
people. Says Frumkes. "consider the
workaholic for instance. who must work.

USITI Fall. 1982

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