A random audit of a small theatre in Seattle earlier this year led the State to rule that actors should be paid as employees rather than contractors. That means theatres have to make deductions and pay new taxes… and where does that come from? Actors’ pay. “I don’t think there’s any producer in town who wants to screw [over] actors—it’s just a matter of what you can afford to do. It sounds weird to [debate whether] actors should get minimum wage. Well, they should—but they weren’t getting anything before, so the theaters that are actually trying to pay something are being told, ‘Unless you can pay them the whole amount, don’t pay ’em.’ That’s pretty much what’s being said.”