The Equity Foundation is collaborating with the University of Sydney on a world-first research project. To be an actor is to be open to ideas, to be an adventurer and a risk taker. But is physical, emotional and mental damage the price to be paid for the privilege of being a performing artist or are there things that can be done to address these issues?
While there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence about the effects of the stress and strains of actors’ lives, there is precious little ‘hard data’.
All Equity members are invited to participate in the ‘Actors’ Well-Being Study’, a world-first research project being conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney in collaboration with the Equity Foundation. Once all the data is collected through the online survey tool, researchers at the university will collate it and outline the findings for Equity members.
These findings will cover actors’ physical and psychological wellbeing, looking for any potential patterns between health and training, diverse acting work environments and non-acting work (as supplementary income), preparation and debriefing practices, and perception and management of stress.
Several scholarly documents will also be produced to advocate for further research into this area, where little has been done to monitor the wellbeing of actors. The initial document will also identify the areas where further analysis may be conducted to prepare for the second phase of the study, involving interviews and focus groups. You will be absolutely anonymous!
For more information and to complete the study, click here!
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