Ethics in the workplace- Theatre

At first glance I thought that there would be very little in the way of ethical guidelines for performers, and to my knowledge there is no official code of conduct, other than terms and conditions outlined in equity contracts, but on closer inspection and deeper reflection I have come to the conclusion that in my opinion there are two different sides to the same coin of ethics in the theatre. The first side of theatre ethics is personal and professional, and the second is public.

Let me explain my thinking…

The word “ethics” refers to a system of moral principals with regards to other human beings; groups or cultures and I think in the theatre, professional ethics is actually extremely important. The way in which we interact with our fellow colleagues is extremely important to our professional practice, and extremely important to ensuring that we have long and successful careers. Like any other working environment or culture model we work with peers, superiors and as self employed actors we also have people working for us (agents, accountants etc.) and it is extremely important to conduct yourself in a courteous manor when at work. I think it’s important to treat others how you would like to be treated, it may seem like common sense and good manors but things like being quiet in the wings whilst there is a scene going on or arriving on time for rehearsals to the seemingly more trivial like not chewing gum in the wing or making sure you keep your dressing room tidy, I think all of these things come under personal and professional ethics.

The other way of looking at ethics within the theatre as a performer is that you have an ethical responsibility to the audience. The audience after all are the reason that we are there in the first place and surely on the top line of our job descriptions as actors is to perform the show to the best of our abilities and remain professional at all times, especially whilst on stage. Sometimes doing 8 shows per week, 52 weeks per year it can be very hard to keep the energy in your performance and make sure that a Monday afternoon audience with 300 people gets the same performance as a Saturday night audience with 3000. I think this is a key ethical area, it is our responsibility as performers to create an illusion for our audience and we should give that 100% at all times.

 I think our public persona as performers is just as important as our private and professional persona. If you conduct yourself ethically at work, you should gain the respect of your colleagues and by working hard on stage you will also make sure that you have fulfilled your duties to the audience who have paid to see the highest level of professional performers in their fields, giving everything they have got. Every performance should be the same whether your mum is watching or Cameron Mackintosh is watching, they should see the same vigour and passion in the show.

I think it is how we conduct ourselves backstage as well as our abilities on stage that will build a reputation in the close nit theatre industry and ensure that we can achieve career longevity and success, and so ensuring that we have a sound ethical code is vital.