A Theater-Going Habit

A Theater-Going Habit

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A Theater-Going Habit
A Theater-Going Habit
State-sponsored Week Long Artist-Retreat

State-sponsored Week Long Artist-Retreat

Unemployment $ - Student-Loan Payments = $30/week

Oct 31, 2023
∙ Paid

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A Theater-Going Habit
A Theater-Going Habit
State-sponsored Week Long Artist-Retreat
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+$83.25 from unemployment.

I had received my final paycheck for the semester from Amherst College; $666 for the month of May. Massachusetts-issued unemployment gave me half of my previous pay rate in weekly installments….well, if the person on the other end of the line liked my voice well enough to be convinced that showing my portfolio to theater companies for freelance work counted as looking for work. They all wanted me to apply for university teaching jobs.

Hmmm….what if I had asked those theater companies to provide some documentation saying that I applied for a job there. There is never a job application for a designer. I would have had to make something up.

Ooooo…now that I think of it; adding a few more pieces of paperwork to the freelance hiring process is a great way to support the freelance workforce. If theaters had a list of union designers in their area, they could mail out paperwork to them after the hiring process for the season is complete. These forms would say…we di…

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