Part 23

Having achieved a certain amount of experience on tour and in London, and being more or less proficient in her profession, does not, however, ensure an increase in the actor's value. A domestic servant receives a character, which is, if satisfactory, a sure means of employment; a teacher, inspector, etc., has a certificate which is a pronouncement of efficiency; but however great the achievement of the theatre there is no lasting sign of your work, and the want of definite aim is mentally demoralising. I have heard men say, and I think not unjustly, that as many of these women are practically "on the rocks," they will do anything for money; and this brings one to a question which looms largely when considering unskilled trades. The unskilled, pleasure-loving, short-sighted but ambitious girl, is apt to lose her sense of values, and to be an easy and sometimes very willing victim. If she be attractive, the eye of a powerful person may alight upon her, and several shades of temptations are placed before her. Not only money, and the advantages which an outward show of prosperity may bring with it; not only amusements and luxuries; but a much more dangerous and difficult temptation, which is not possible in other trades, is placed before the worker--the offer of greater opportunities in her work, the opportunities which an "understudy" may bring in its train; the opportunity of a small part; the gratification of ambition. There is no more immorality than in other trades, but there is an amount of humiliating and degrading philandering, a mauling sensuality which is more degrading than any violent abduction. To be immoral a certain amount of courage is required; but the curse of modern theatrical conditions is this corrupt debauchery. Many girls have come to me explaining their difficulties, and many in asking my advice ended up with the persistent cry of the modern woman, "I do so want to get on!" This is a transitional stage in the world, as well as in the theatre. When women are more intelligent and independent, there will not be the same amount of selling themselves for the necessities of existence. They will be able to secure the necessities, and a large number of the luxuries, for themselves--one of the reasons, doubtless, why the reactionaries cry out so loudly against the woman's movement.

People love power over others; they love to control their destinies; and there is a very large number of men who drift towards the theatre, and like to consider the poor little butterflies as creatures of a different species from their wives and daughters--a species provided by a material Providence, who supplies their other appetites. The poor little butterflies are glad, for a short time, to put up with stupidity and egoism for the sake of a temporary relief from sordid discomfort and gloom. Of course, I am not speaking of the women who, without economic pressure, lead an illicit life. There are a few of these women who are more than able to protect themselves, and occasionally avenge their sisters.

Of course, there are also theatres which are obviously dependent for their great success upon this "oldest profession in the world": theatres where a fairly good salary is offered with the suggestion that it is as well to sup at some well-known restaurant, at least three times a week; to drive to the theatre in a motor car, and to be dressed by one of the famous dressmakers, whose names are given with the salary. There are theatres where an eye is kept on the number of stalls which are filled by the employed. But on the tours of these successes, the managers are often very strict in their regulations, and do everything to prevent those employed from supplementing their incomes in this manner.

There are, unfortunately, too many women who still believe in dependence, so the supply is quite as great as the demand. To the real artist who is deeply centred in her work, this particular evil is of practically little importance. A great belief in her own powers enables her to push aside opportunities which are not genuine. Men are also human, and if met frankly and straightforwardly in work, or for that matter, out of it, are as capable of honest, helpful good fellowship as any woman. In fact, the work of the theatre, which employs men and women, on more or less equal terms, is a splendid place to find out that humanity is not limited to sexual problems, and that the spirit of work removes these limitations, and gives place to a healthy, invigorating atmosphere of _camaraderie_. It is quite a false idea that a move in the wrong direction is in any way necessary to success.

Something must be said with regard to the sanitation and ventilation of the theatre. Though there has been latterly a great effort to improve the dressing-rooms in the new buildings, there is still a great deal to be remedied. Here is a description of a dressing-room used by a young artist in a modern West End theatre.

"We were seven in a room which just held seven small toilet tables on a shelf running round the wall, and a narrow walking space from the door to the window in between. This dressing-room was two floors below the level of the street, and the one window opened on a passage covered with thick glass, so that there was no direct air channel. Next door was a man's urinal used by about forty men--actors, stage hands, and scene shifters. A pipe from this place came through the dressing-room; the smell sometimes, even in the winter, was overpowering; and we ourselves bought Sanitas and kept sprinkling it on the floor of the room and the passage. Added to this was the fact that the stairs from the stage led straight down facing the entrance of this men's urinal, and not infrequently the door would be open and shut as we came down, and it was altogether very objectionable."

The report of a young artist who toured for some time with a comedy sketch in the music halls shows equally bad conditions. This sketch was sent out by a first rate London management, and the halls visited were on the first-class tours. She told me that in one of the largest towns in England the Music Hall had only one ladies' lavatory, which was on the stage exactly behind the back-drop. A horse was necessary for an Indian sketch on the same bill in which the comedy sketch was played, and the recess by the lavatory was found to be the only safe place to stable the horse. The door of the ladies' lavatory was therefore nailed up for the week. Should anyone wish, she could, on explaining to the ushers in the front of the house, receive a pass of admission to the ladies' cloakroom, but to reach the front of the house meant a walk of four minutes round a complete block, and, even if it had not been winter time, it is almost impossible for any actress, when once dressed for her part, to go into the street without attracting a great deal of notice, and also very likely entirely spoiling her appearance, as theatrical "make-up" is only meant for the dry atmosphere of the theatre.

On this same tour, in a famous south coast resort, this lady had to dress in an underground dressing-room with twelve others, and the only lavatory for women's use was opposite the stage-door box, where all letters were called for, and the stage hands lounged about the whole evening. In the most important town on this tour the dressing-room in which she was directed to dress had, for its sole ventilation, the door by which one entered, exactly facing the one general lavatory. The aperture, high up in the wall, opened into another room where, during this week, fifty cocks and hens, used in an animal turn, were kept. It would be quite impossible to describe the sickening smell which all this meant. The only thoroughly clean, sanitary hall which she visited, was in Scotland.

In almost all the theatres, even where the conditions are considered above criticism, the lavatories reserved for the ladies are, by a curious arrangement, generally on the floor where most of the actors dress. They are almost invariably difficult to use, for as the dressing-rooms are usually allotted by men, there is little consideration of women's comfort in this matter. It is a curious side-light on the intelligence of men that they almost universally seem to think that women, by a special Providence, are exempt from these natural laws; and almost all women are still too Early Victorian to insist upon some change. Many of the old theatres in London and the provinces suffer from want of proper ventilation; and many of them are appallingly, incredibly dirty. In the provinces dressing-rooms are sometimes dripping with damp; and it is not an uncommon experience to share the room with mice and other vermin.

It is only possible for me to touch very lightly on employment by the cinematograph firms; but from the enquiries I have made, the usual payment seems to be roughly from 5s. to 7s. 6d. a day, the workers finding their own clothes: 10s. 6d. if the workers can ride and swim: 3s. a day for walking on, when light meals are provided. There is a form of application to be filled in, which demands the following particulars:--

Height. Bust measurement. Waist measurement. Skirt length. Age. Line of work. Remarks. Ride horseback. Cycle. Swim.

The pictures take about ten days to prepare, and as a supplementary trade, undoubtedly this work is of value to the actress.

An evil which attacks the theatre of the present day is the horrible mantle of respectability which has settled on the profession. Respectability in Art is a blight which undermines, and the moment any worker or profession of workers is accepted on equal terms by the non-workers of the community, misery invariably ensues. It is impossible for a non-worker to comprehend the life of a worker, or to make any margin for the work, which, if we judge by the example of their own lives, they evidently despise. The restrictions which all honest work brings, along with its compensations, are annoying to ornamental parasites; and the contempt for restrictions is apt subtly to undermine the mind of the worker.

There is no doubt that for the average actress, when such an enormous number of people are rushing into the theatrical profession, there is little security. The life of a successful actress is undoubtedly one of the very best, so far, open to women. It is not a fact that the best and greatest actresses are always the successful ones: but it is a truth that all the successful ones have some natural qualifications which have enabled them to gain that position.

Then what is the matter with the theatre? and why has it become such a miserable life for the average worker? It is an unskilled trade, and the people who have control of the trade have a contempt for the average worker. They believe they can teach in a few weeks, what they have not, in years, succeeded in mastering themselves. The unfortunate worker is taught like a parrot, used for a short time, and then thrown on the scrap-heap of the unfit for the theatre, when the theatre has unfitted them for more honourable work.

The employer is at the present moment a man, and a man will offer a salary of 30s. a week to a woman, because she will take 30s.: but he will not offer that sum to an actor. There is a subtle assumption that because women will take less, they are not entirely dependent on their work; and a manager will sometimes offer a large salary to a woman who drives up in a motor car, magnificently dressed, most obviously not dependent on her earnings; whilst the accomplished actress, without these powerful assets, and obviously dependent on her work, is paid practically a third of that salary.

Let us sincerely hope that this transitional stage from the days when each town had its own theatre, and engagements were always for the season, to the waste and despair of the present conditions of the mass of the workers in the theatre of this country, may give place to some system which will select the fit from the unfit, and give them a permanent engagement with a proper clause of notice on either side, such as that to which workers in other trades are entitled. More care in selection; more belief that an actress, if she be of any use, can represent a diversity of types; a shutting of the doors on those who are obviously unfitted, however cheap their labour may be, would be salvation to the women who are trying to earn their bread in the theatre. For it is time we ceased to grovel before this misused word "Art," which covers the wasteful cruelty the present conditions in the theatre permit.

APPENDIX I

SCHEME OF WORK OF THE FABIAN WOMEN'S GROUP

The Group was formed by some women members of the Fabian Society in 1908, chiefly with the object of studying the problem of women's economic independence in relation to socialism. The work was mapped out on the following lines, to which the Group has adhered:--

_Part I.--Differences in Ability for Productive Work Involved in Difference of Sex Function._

Division 1.--Natural disabilities of women when not actively engaged in childbearing.

Division 2.--Natural disabilities of women when actively so engaged.

_Part II.--Women's Economic Independence in Relation to Social Conditions._

Division 1.--Women as productive workers and as consumers in the past.

Division 2.--Women as productive workers and as consumers in the present.

_Part III.--Practical Steps towards such Modification of Social Conditions as will enable Women:_

(_a_) Freely to use and develop their physical and mental capacities in productive work, while remaining free and fully able to exercise their special function of childbearing.

(_b_) Each personally to receive her individual share of the social wealth.

Two Summaries of the lectures and discussions arising out of Part I. were issued for private circulation in 1910. Copies, 1d. each, can now be procured through the Fabian Office, 3 Clement's Inn, W.C.

Fifteen papers of the Historical Series, Part II., Division I, have already been given, and the subjects considered in them have nearly covered the field of material at present available for the rough preliminary enquiry, in which the Group has led the way. When the series is finished, it is hoped to shape the material into essay form for publication.

The present volume is the outcome of lectures and discussions arising out of Part II., Division 2. It is hoped that it may prove to be the first of a Series dealing with this part of the investigations undertaken by the Women's Group.

APPENDIX II

LATEST CENSUS RETURNS[1] OF WOMEN WORKERS IN THE SEVEN PROFESSIONS CONSIDERED IN THIS BOOK

Total. Unmarried. Married. Widowed.

I. Teachers 187,283 171,480 11,798 4,005

II. Physicians, Surgeons 477 382 76 19 and Registered Practitioners

III. Midwives, Sick Nurses, 83,662 55,288 11,867 16,507 Invalid Attendants

IV. Poor Law, Municipal, 19,437 14,439 2,514 2,484 Parish, etc., Officers

V. National Government 31,538 25,843 3,410 2,285 Employeés

VI. Commercial or Business 117,057 114,429 1,733 895 Clerks

VII. Actresses 9,171 5,259 3,540 372

In a volume which may be issued by the Census Office in February, some sub-divisions of the above headings will be made. Thus (1) teachers employed by Local Authorities will be separated from those in other schools; (2) the number of dentists (not included above) will be given; (3) the number of midwives will be shown separately; (4) Poor Law will be distinguished from other Local Government Service; (5) Post Office Servants will be distinguished from other Civil Servants; (6) clerks will, as far as possible, be classified according to the industry with which they are connected; (7) actresses in music-halls will, as far as possible, be distinguished from those in theatres.

[Footnote 1: In connection with these returns of 1911, it must be remembered that a large number of women workers resisted the census in that year as a protest against their exclusion from citizenship. The above figures are, therefore, though official, unavoidably an understatement.]