• Advertise
  • Request Review
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy
  • Login

Theatre Bubble

The UK Theatre Network

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Opinions
  • Interviews
  • Guides

The Writing is On The Wall – Reading The Small Print

December 15, 2014 by Alexander Parsonage Leave a Comment

(c) James Millar - Mimetic Festival @ The Vaults

(c) James Millar – Mimetic Festival @ The Vaults

 

Today on my Facebook page I noticed several performers complaining about a video released with footage of them at a competition. Cutting a long story short – when they applied to take part in the competition they had to confirm they’d read the T&Cs where it reportedly stated the producer owned and could exploit any images or videos gathered. One of them commented this felt ‘Sneaky’ – another was just obviously unaware of what the terms and conditions had said*. In another event I was involved in several performers were caught out as they just hadn’t read the contract they’d signed. I myself lost a couple of thousand pounds several years ago as I hadn’t read the contract properly: which is a mistake you only make once!

Now the obvious response is to just say it’s our own fault – if you don’t read the small print you deserve everything that happens to you. And that’s clearly the case – the blame is only our own. BUT I wonder if there’s something more interesting underlying these cases – in an industry with a disproportionate number of people with dyslexia why are we so surprised when people don’t read small print properly. We’re a creative bunch – who’s entire job is communicating stories and ideas creatively – surely we can find a better way of getting important information across when talking to each other. I had a bit of a rant about it last year here – but once again find myself wanting to do something more practical.

I think this is going to be a large part of our planning for the Mimetic Festival 2015. We’re probably not going to be able to get rid of contracts all together – but we can at least try to find as many creative ways as possible to get the information across. So far suggestions include audio and video version of any news letters or artists updates and an initial application process that can be made by video and image instead of, or as well as, text. We’ll never be able to make a perfect system and no matter how hard we try some people will manage to miss important information. But I do think was an industry we could do a lot better. It’s going to be a really exciting year ahead starting that process.

*And in this case it could well be that the T&Cs didn’t actually cover everything the producer claims. But as it’s currently not on line it’s very hard to say.

Alexander Parsonage is Artistic Director of Finger in the Pie and Mimetic Festival

Author: Alexander ParsonageAlexander is an award winning theatre director and documentary maker based in London, England. He writes on arts policy, funding and theatre development.
T: Twitter F: Facebook

Filed Under: Featured

Join the discussion Cancel reply

NEWS / ZU-UK presents Radio Ghost

ZU-UK presents Radio Ghost, a walking game for three participants journeying through a haunted shopping mall. Premiering at LIFT Festival [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Sophie Leydon on Rapture at Pleasance London

Sophie Leydon (She/Her) is a Writer and Director whose practice centres staging LGBTQIA+ experience through interdisciplinary forms. She tells us [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Claire Cunningham talks 4 Legs Good in BE festival

Garden State (8 – 11 June) is an art installation made up of hundreds of houseplants lent by local residents [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Paul Bourne talks about Bliss at the Finborough Theatre

Written by Fraser Grace (Breakfast with Mugabe, RSC), Bliss is based on a short story by censored writer Andrey Platonov. It’s at Finborough [Read More]

NEWS / Japanese Romeo and Juliet to the songs of Queen announced

Coming to Sadler’s Wells in September as part of its world tour, A Night At The Kabuki is a retelling [Read More]

Top Posts & Pages

  • 5 Stage Elements to Consider for a Rousing Theatrical Production
  • 10 Tips to Help You Prepare for Your Reality TV Auditions
  • Amit Lahav - Artistic Director of Gecko Theatre
  • ZU-UK presents Radio Ghost
  • Cinderella at Hounslow Arts Centre
  • Katy Owen: Auditioning for Oxford School of Drama
  • Tamburlaine at the Arcola Theatre
  • Romeo and Juliet- Rose Theatre, Kingston Sublime Shakespeare.
  • After All This- Ovalhouse
  • Ameena Hamid on Tales from the Tombstone Tavern
  • Alexander Parsonage
    Editor

  • December 15th, 2014
  • comment iconNo Comments
  • FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

    Newsletter

    Enjoyed what you've read? Get even more great content directly to your inbox - Completely Free

    About Theatre Bubble

    Theatre Bubble is the news, review and blogging site created by Blue Pie Media and run by a dedicated team of outstanding editors and writers: we're always looking for new contributors - to find out more click here.

    Contact Us

    News: news@theatrebubble.com
    Reviews: reviews@theatrebubble.com
    Website: webmaster@theatrebubble.com

    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2022 · Blue Pie Media

     

    Loading Comments...
     

      Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

      Email sent!