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Sunday Theatre?Dateline: 11th June, 2006The lead story in the current edtion of The Stage is an interview with Nicholas Hytner about his plans to open the National on Sundays and his discussions with BECTU, the backstage union. The paper's leader also quotes Louis Benjamin, president of Stoll Moss Thetares, saying in 1989, “Sunday matinees are going to be a must and I have no doubt they will come to the West End.” We are also told that BECTU is about to sign an agreement on the subject with the Society of London Theatre. Indeed, if we believe the national press, such an agreement is a foregone conclusion. The Stage's leader advises caution on this matter. Comparing The Woman in Black, for example, with the major musicals, it says, "Quite simply, successful musicals which have several months and several million pounds worth of advance bookings have no need to fear their trade on Mondays. Why then should they want to add an extra day’s worth of labour costs each week?" BECTU's Willy Donaghy, quoted in the National Theatre story, points out that BECTU is in a different position to other unions, because Sunday openings will affect their members on a full-time basis, whereas for performers it would only change working practices for the length of their contract with the NT. Hytner's answer is to write Sunday working into the contracts of new staff whilst allowing existing staff to choose whether or not they will work on Sundays. The problem, both he and BECTU agree, is balancing the needs of the audience against the right of the staff to a home life. But, as he points out to both The Stage and to Michael Billington in the Guardian the same day, the National is the only building on the South Bank which is closed on Sundays. There is no doubt that there is a demand for theatres to open on Sundays. Many London fringe venues do it, as do a large number of smaller venues (usually arts centres rather than theatres) right across the country. As churchgoing is in what seems like near-terminal decline, the public is demanding entertaiment on Sundays, especially Sunday afternoons. Football matches are played and cinemas are open, as are supermarkets and many large shopping centres, as I discovered some weeks ago when, arriving in Salford one Sunday afternoon, I realised that, although I had my suit, dress shirt, tie and cufflinks, I had forgotten my braces. Had the Lowry Mall not been open, I would have spent the entire evening in the Lyric Theatre with my hands in my pockets to keep my trousers up! However, despite the fact that Sunday has lost, for the majority of people, its Sabbath status, it is still seen as a day of rest and most peple would prefer to have Sunday off than a weekday. As a result, if they do work, they expect overtime - usually double time. After a quick survey of my local theatres, I discovered some interesting facts. The large commercial theatres, which don't open regularly on a Sunday, all pay staff double time when they do. So do some of the smaller venues which have occasional Sunday openings. However the smaller venues which open regularly on Sundays have time off in lieu of overtime for Sunday working actually written into their contracts. However the shows they have in on Sundays are almost always touring productions (usually small-scale), the only (occasional) exceptions being pantos, so it is the venues' tech and FoH staff who are affected. It's bound to happen. Theatres will open on Sundays, although probably matinees only, but it means working practices will have to change in line with what happens in other areas of the entertainment industry, retail and public transport. The challenge willl be to find a way of meeting both the expectations of the public and the proper concerns of the unions. Good luck to Nick Hytner, to SOLT and to BECTU in their negotiations!
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