Equity President Maureen Beattie Urges Industry to Continue Fight Against Harassment

Maureen Beattie, who made history as the second ever female Equity president, recently gave a speech at University of Leicester on the subject of safe work conditions and mentioned that it's time for the industry to step up and fight against sexual harassment.

She says, "We must not give up because when the media has moved on and it's not [about] famous people anymore, that's when the bastards are going to crawl out from under their slimy stones," The Stage reports. She says now is the time to take "the right to proper pay and conditions back."

Beattie also mentioned changes in the industry such as the popularization of immersive theatre. Rules of conduct were recently altered when unsafe work conditions due to sexual harassment were reported at the popular immersive production of The Great Gatsby, a production that allows audiences to fully immerse themselves into the world of Jay Gatsby and the glamour of the Roaring 20s including cocktails, dancing and scandal.

Beattie says that while immersive theatre is fantastic, due to the rise of reality TV culture, audiences are struggling "to make the connection that we actors are not the person we're pretending to be."

To read on, visit The Stage here.