Jeffs vs Jeffrys?

The Jeff Awards have been Chicago’s highest local theatre honor for years. They are seperated into two groups: The Jeff Award for Equity companies, and the Jeff Citation for non-Equity companies. A recent “re-branding” effort seems to be leading to the tossing of the “Citation” title in favor of both groups getting “Award”s (Equity/non-Equity designation TBD). While the details still have to be worked out (many other changes are also recommended, not just the titles of the final awards), this has some in the Chicago theatre community cheering the name change, while others are crying foul:

Julie is completely correct. The example she chose (Goodman/Lifeline) is based on sound judgement and is unarguable. The Jeff Committee has made a terrible mistake in changing the nomenclature of the Jeff Citations. There must remain a clear and unmitigated difference between the two wings of the Jeff’s, as there is (whether you like it or not) a clear difference in products. Those of you arguing differently are living in a non-eq fantasy, and have clearly not experienced the exponential difference between the two wings. OR you understand the obvious chasm, and are hoping to grab a few of these “Awards” before the Jeff committee comes to their senses.

Now, the first thing to understand is that these changes were recommended by the Jeff member theatres. It’s not that non-Equity companies were upset about not being in “competition” with Equity companies for an award, it was just the “Citation” title didn’t seem quite right. As noted in Christopher Piatt’s Time Out Chicago post:

It may seem like a small thing, but when you consider that a citation is what you get for violating traffic or smoking reefer, Award sounds way cooler…

Personally, I doubt there was any issue with the Equity/non-Equity separation itself, just the “Citation” title. What is surprising was the attack on non-Equity companies and members of their productions by some commenter’s, accusing them of of being non-professionals, and more. While some seem concerned that the Jeff Awards will be sullied from the dropping of the “Citation” name, they also appear to be worried that non-Equity companies might actually be considered good. Kris Vire over at Storefront Rebellion wonders, like many of us, where this animosity is coming from.

Chances are quite good that some sort of designation will still be made between the Equity and non-Equity Jeff’s. It just won’t be “Citation.” But this idea that Equity shows are, by default, better, than any non-Equity show, or that big budget shows have more merit than smaller budget shows is ludicrous. Budget does not make art, nor does union affiliation. The work must stand on it’s own merits.

Yes, it certainly possible that a Court Theatre production of Glass Menagerie is going to wow its audience, but a low budget, intimate production of Glass Menagerie at The Side Project might be more powerful. The art is what is important. Yes, a theatre such as Steppenwolf can do things with productions, and bring in some actors, that smaller theatres simply do not have the option to do. But we all have seen big budget shows at the big theatres flop around like a dying fish. If you assume artistic value simply because of money spent, that means that Wicked has been the best acted, directed, designed, and written show in town for it’s entire Chicago run. This logic results in the infamous Broadway flop “Moose Murders” (Equity) still being “better” than “Equus” at Actors Workshop Theatre (non-Equity).

The awards are separate because it would be unfair for the smaller companies to have to compete with the big budget companies for awards. A production simply has a better chance of being complete when you have more money available. But claiming that a lower budget or lack of union affiliation automatically means that all involved with it aren’t “professionals” insults everyone in the business. Theatres such as the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Shakespeare, Court, and Lookingglass do not rest on their budget laurels or Equity contracts when producing shows, any more than New Leaf, Eclipse, Circle, Raven, Lifeline, or Redmoon theatres go into production thinking they are about to do a sub-par show.

Award-wise: separate the two, by all means. But all theatres, (Lifeline, Goodman, New Leaf, Timeline, Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, Eclipse, etc…) are constantly striving to create art, and regardless of budget, they usually succeed, and sometimes fail.

The union/non-union –professional/unprofessional argument has been going on for as long as there have been unions, and it is stupid. There is no great theatrical wisdom imparted on those who join the unions. You are either good, or you are not. As a union member, I can tell you that I have worked with plenty of non-union people (stagehands, actors, designers) who do better work than some of their union counterparts. While many of us who decide to do theatre for a living end up in a union, which does result in the unions tending to have more experienced people, not all of us do. Many work their entire careers non-union, and do just as good work as any union member.

If you want to show that you are a professional, you prove it by your work. My union card (which I am proud and honored to have), proves nothing, except that I am a member of the union. The work I do shows that I am a professional.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 3:01 pm and is filed under Chicago, General, awards, union. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.