Happy Monday, people. Pleh. Mondays suck. Why don’t we just have three day weekends every weekend? I can’t bitch too much, though. It’s noon and I’m at home in my jammies, typing up a study guide that is going to be given to the high school kids that see “The Bourgeois Gentleman”. Rough going at times, but it’s cool to see the finished product up on the company’s website.
Had a kickass rehearsal last night. The tech crew was building our set last night (this company is a repertory company, so we’ve been rehearsing on the sets of the shows that have been running), so we had a speed through in the lobby. 1 hour, 45 minutes, baby. And that’s with music and dancing. We rock! Oh, if you’re in the NYC area and are interested in seeing the show, email me (contact info is now on the side), and I’ll let you know which theatre it’s with. Not going to put that up in lights for everyone to see! 
And now, a gripe. Another theatre company that I am associated with (*not* the one I am doing “BG” with) is taking advantage of me. I have been their resident dramaturg for two years now, and at first I had a weekly stipend. Not a huge one, but life was nicer with it. Then they told me they could no longer afford the stipend. I said, fine, and in the interest of the company stayed on, attending weekly readings and providing feedback, working with playwrights, etc. for free. I still did all their production dramaturgy and got paid for the shows I worked on.
Then I started working with other companies, and my “resident” company got a little snippy. I can’t prove it, but I have a feeling that this is why I was not asked to work on two of their productions this year. They did not feel that they needed a dramaturg for them. Fine, whatever. A couple of weeks ago, I saw my name on the draft of a grant they were writing. They had listed me as “key personnel,” along with the Artistic Directors. They’re using my name to get money that I never see!
And then this week…through this company, I went to Nebraska last summer and taught at a college playwrighting workshop with a few other company members. We had a blast, and are making plans to come back this year. The man in charge at the college and I are friends, and we started discussing ideas for this year’s program as soon as I left last year. Among them was that Rick come out with us this year so that there could be an acting component. We were totally in agreement about this. I talked to him (my Nebraskan friend) this weekend while he was in town, and he is still 100% behind this. But I have heard that our pay this year will come not from the college we will be teaching at (like it did last year), but funneled through this theatre company. And our pay rates are going down as a result, and Rick is supposedly not getting paid anything???
Excuse me, but FUCK that. I am no longer officially on payroll to this company. Rick has never been on payroll to this company. Another person coming out with us has never been on payroll to this company. There is, in fact, only one person coming out with us who is on payroll to this company. Funding for the rest of us should not come through this company, especially if they are skimming off the top (as it appears that they are), and not paying Rick at all. I am so fucking pissed right now, I want to take the managing director and rip his balls off. You do *not* fuck with me or my boy like this. This is not how to reward my loyalty to a company I have stuck with through thick and thin.
I sent said Managing Director an email requesting a meeting. I would tell him my points in an email, but he has a nasty habit of ignoring my emails. So, if he wants to play hardball, we’ll play hardball. And in then end, I’ll get what I want or I’ll walk. I still teach this summer, but as freelance with the college, not through this company. I’m tired of being fucked without so much as a kiss.
And now, rant over, I will go back to working on the study guide.