What is YOUR definition of "PRO"?

People throw that term around a lot. What does it mean to you? That a person is PAID for performing? That they behave in a professional manner? That they belong to a Union despite the fact that they never work under a union contract?


Discuss...

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So if you do it for free you are NOT a pro?

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No. That is not to say however that they aren't "professional" about their attitudes, or that the quality is any less...but they are amateurs by definition. Nothing wrong with that. A lot of the most vibrant, energetic theatre I see comes from amateurs.

Akiva

I use each of the definitions of the term, depending upon the context:
1 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession b : engaged in one of the learned professions c (1) : characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace
2 a : participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs b : having a particular profession as a permanent career c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return
3 : following a line of conduct as though it were a profession

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I stand corrected, you are as vapid as they say.

If your question was "what makes good theatre," I'd have a hard time answering with non-equity, community theatre, and equity as terms.

However, since you say professional, I have to go to the definition, which has NOTHING to do with membership in a union. I can be a professional teacher, but because I teach at a certain school, I don't belong to a union. To call me not professional is to demean what I do.

In the same way, a non-equity actor isn't somehow "less than" an equity one. In fact, in most productions I see where they cast both equity and non-equity, the non-equity folks tend to be more talented (because they have more people to compete against for fewer slots). It's, of course, not always true, but it often is true.

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I think "professional" implies something approaching a living wage. It disgusts me that there are theatres in Chicago that pay the actors 20 bucks a week for performances (and NOTHING for the weeks and weeks of rehearsals) and call themselves "professional theatres". I call that "community theatre that reimburses you for your carfare".