ABSTRACT

The concept of balancing acts, for the purpose of this chapter, reflects the competing operational, economic, political and socio-cultural contexts and challenges that theatre artists must negotiate to work in the theatre and performance sector in Ireland. Recent studies and reports (‘Pay the Artist’, Arts Council Ireland 2019; ‘Who We Are’, Theatre57, 2018; ‘Gender Counts’, WTF 2017; ‘Payscales Survey’, Theatre Forum 2018; ‘Living and Working Conditions of Artists’, Arts Council Ireland/Northern Ireland 2010) demonstrate that deeply embedded gendered and economic inequalities pervade how the arts sector operates and develops. Prior to this pandemic, questions of theatre survival and sustainability were already at the forefront of artistic discourse in Ireland and, indeed, further afield. The question this chapter asks of itself and puts to the readership is how can this imbalance in theatre production and working conditions be addressed to move beyond a near-constant condition of crisis and survival to one of balance and sustainability?