Invasion & Overtime

So, one of the benefits of working under an Equity contract is that you are entitled to invasion and overtime.

Two of the sweetest terms ever coined.

Overtime is what you'd expect. According to the Equity TYA rulebook that governs our tour, we are allowed to work nine out of 10 hours in a given day (although we can work 10 out of 12 once a week). Anything over that earns us overtime. We also are granted an hour meal break for every five hours of work, 30 minutes prior to showtime to prepare as actors (which means we are released from our ASM duties, except for me in my ASM #2 duties; again, in a few days there will be further explanation), and 12 hours from the end of one workday to the beginning of the next. Anything that cuts into these hours is considered invasion. And, on our tour, both have become semi-regular occurrences.

Our set is huge. We schedule about two hours for load in and set up, an hour for the show, and about an hour and a half for load out. Add to that our half hour of actor prep and driving to and from our venues (which is, indeed, work time), and we're already closing in on our 5 hour limit. Similarly, if we have two shows in a day and a long drive home, overtime kicks in really, really fast. And this means, as we are prone to shouting on the tour when the hours start racking up, "CHA-CHING".

Now, this might seem like milking a non-profit for all its worth (Theatreworks/USA does budget for this, I have been told), but I do understand why these protection measures are in place. Take yesterday as an example. We started our workday at 9am, when we met at the vans and started driving to Trenton. We arrived at our dinner location at 7:30pm. That's 10 and a half hours without substantive meal breaks, working the whole time. And, had our venue not been nice enough to supply us with sandwiches between shows, we would have had nothing but vending machine candy bars and the Builder Bars I carry with me all the time for fuel. That was an unusual circumstance (Theatreworks/USA's policies and actions indicate over and over how much they DON'T wish for these things to happen, and they do treat their actors and stage managers EXTREMELY well), but consider if this were standard practice at a less scrupulous theater. Doing a show is exhausting work, and we are our own tools. Now I understand very explicitly why Actors' Equity has fought for these benefits and protections, and am glad that I am currently a beneficiary.

CHA-CHING!!

Kid quote of the day: During the "froggie" scene, where Ruby tries to hurry Max along to Grandma's house while Max gets distracted by a frog (whose voice is provided by me), a little boy decided to start ribbit-ing along. And, in fact, he had good timing, and got a laugh. Future actor, anyone?

Call tomorrow: 10:45am, Manhattan Garage Near Columbia. We're going to New London, CT!