Monday 1st November, SOLT and UK Theatre released an updated version of their 10 Principles for creating safe and inclusive working spaces in the theatre industry, to prevent and challenge bullying, harassment and discrimination.
We at Theatre and Dance NI along with 20 other leading industry trade bodies, membership organisations, unions and members of AAPTLE, support these Principles. We encourage all theatre employers, employees, freelancers, trainees, volunteers, and Board trustees and directors to adopt these principles and download this free A3 poster and display it in your offices, rehearsal rooms and backstage areas.
Originally created in response to the #MeToo movement, the 10 Principles first launched in 2017 as part of SOLT and UK Theatre’s Safer and More Supportive Working Practices Handbook, designed to help employers meet their legal requirements and promote a shared responsibility for creating and maintaining a healthy working environment.
Among the relaunched Principles is the recognition that harassment and discriminatory language or behaviour may be unlawful, and the commitment to explicitly address and seek to prevent racism and all other forms of discrimination and bias, their manifestations and effects.
Theatre employers are urged to accept their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and to respect everyone’s dignity and differences, regardless of seniority.
Download the 10 Principles here and download your A3 poster here.
The following organisations have publicly supported the set of principles:
- Association for British Theatre Technicians
- Association for Lighting Production and Design
- BECTU
- Casting Directors Guild
- Creu Cymru
- Equity
- Federation of Drama Schools
- Federation of Scottish Theatre
- Freelancers Make Theatre Work
- Incorporated Society of Musicians
- Independent Theatre Council
- League of Independent Producers
- Movement Directors Association
- Musicians’ Union
- Parents and Carers in Performing Arts
- Production Managers’ Forum
- Society of British Theatre Designers
- Stage Directors UK
- Stage Management Association
- Stage Sight
- Theatre and Dance NI
- Writers’ Guild of Great Britain