The comedy operation “Drunk Shakespeare,” wherein an actor drinks copious qualities of pre-show alcohol for comedic purposes, is facing a unionization demand from workers at its franchise on Wabash Avenue in Chicago’s Loop.
But it’s not about the booze.
According to server Ella Fent, the cast and crew have alleged ”inaccurate paychecks” and other forms of mismanagement, often forcing them to keep track of their own hours and correct accounting errors, and to deal with understaffing and “chaotic scheduling.” Fent also said that the waitstaff, many of whom are also actors, help set up many of the comic bits in the show and handle props, both tasks that the union Actors Equity generally would deem roles that belong to a stage management team. Fent did say that the company generally “takes good care of the drunk actor, sending them home in an Uber.”
The show rotates which actor will get drunk and then work with an otherwise sober ensemble.
A spokesman for the Actor’s Equity union said that 100% of the company has signed union cards requesting voluntary recognition. He also said that the use of alcohol in the show was “all the more reason to need union representation.”
In recent months, the union has become more aggressive about organizing workers in productions that are different from the historical norm, a group that recently has included museum lecturers and strippers. There are Drunk Shakespeare franchises currently running in Houston, New York, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
Emails requesting comment from the producers, Brass Jar Productions, have not yet been returned.
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Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.