Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983 - 16

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by James Maronek

"The theatre must be one oj the chieJ
weapons against lVar and an international instrument oj universal peace. "
-Stanislavsky
[n an heroic attempt to transplant
Western culture into seventeeth-century
Russia, Tsar Alexis constructed a stage
in a boyar's house in the Kremlin. On
the opening of the first play, with a cast
of sixty, the Tsar sat riveted to his seat
for the entire ten-hour performance. In
a nation of superlatives, this was not to
be either the largest, or the last, marathon display of Kultura with a capital K.
The tsar has since been replaced by the
people, and the national inferiority complex has been tamed (i f not cured) by
massive doses of superiority, but the
thirst for Kullura is never quenched.
To demonstrate how the people have
husbanded this heritage, the Soviet Cultural Workers' Union hosted a delegation of ten union representatives from
the United States for two weeks during
No\'ember and December 1981. Our
group included Mac Harris, President,
and John Kailin, E.xecutive Secretary, of
the Twin Cities Local, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists;
James Maronek, President, Elena i\ Iarcheschi, Business Representati\'e, Tony
Norrenbrock, Recording Secretary, and
Cynthia Staples, graphic artist member,
of Local 350, United Scenic Artists of
America; Suzanne Brown, E,xeculive
1-1

Theatre Design &

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Assistant Secretary, and Carole Maronek, actress member, of Actors' Equity
Association; Clarence Kalin, photographer; and Janice Dietrich, Executive
Board member of the Twin Cities
Chapter Coalition of Labor Union
Women. We were given a rare and valuable insight into the behind-the-scenes
balance of power between USSR cultural workers and their institutions, as
well as a backstage tour of Soviet entertainment sliced from the broadest crosssection of show business. The result was
a fran k and rewarding exchange.
The Cultural Workers' Union
Unions in the USSR are organized
"vertically" by industries, not by trades.
Thus, the CWU consists of 2,850,000
workers of theatres, circuses, concert
organizations, libraries, museums, recreation parks, film studios, cinemas,
radio and television stations, publishing
houses, physical-t herapy and sport societies, writers, composers, and artists,
among others. iVlikhail Pashkov, chairman of the Central Committee in Moscow, explained Ihal the union sels
quotas for cultural work, fixes rates for
its labor-intensi\'e activities, provides
recreation, maintains a home for stage
\'eterans, establishes celllral clubs to encourage creati\'e \vork among artists,
and, he said, "provides Kleenex for actors." (To an ear becoming accustomed
10 Ihe Russian accent, he was understood 10 mean clinics.) One importanl

USITT Spring 1983

task of the union is the "cultural penetration" of remote areas of the USSR
-artists are dispersed into these regions
to share their art, to inspire and assist
the many young people who wish to become professionals, to sponsor live theatricals, and to supervise amateur talent
groups. In a nation which spans eleven
time-zones, there are many remote areas
to penetrate.
The chairman of a local union committee at a theatre is a member of that
theatre's artistic council. The council
determines the repertory, advises on
honors and promotions, determines
measures of labor safety, social welfare,
and leaves for health, disability, and
leisure; it administers recreation facilities, sanitoria, and hotels, and it determines lay-offs and firings. Each theatre
has a Safety and Health Commission. A
regional committee oversees these matters, with both a medical doctor and a
labor-health expert. [t has great powers,
including the ability to levy heavy fines.
Productions are surveyed for safety before they are approved for performance.
Should a theatre's manager ignore the
commit lee's advice, he proceeds at his
own risk, subject to punishment in the
event of an accident. (The sexist assumplion of a male Iheatre manager is
strictly theirs, not mine, For a counlry
with such notable advances in equality
of Ihe sexes, Ihe USSR i surpri ingly innocent of the finer poillls of women's
liberation, , ,or at least il was, before the
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983
