The ‘R’ word. Recession. I shall say that word once and only once. From now on I’ll call it ‘Fred’! Fred is here, dossing down in our spare rooms, eating all our food and not really trying too hard to get himself out of the doldrums. But we have to get on with our daily lives as best we can .Yes; we are currently in an economic state of change and uncertainty. We are constantly bombarded with stories of job losses, the increasing live register, factory closures, interest rates and negative equity and it did get me thinking about money again recently. Money and the theatre. Walking through the Green Room of the Opera House lately, it has become like what the 80’s would have called a Tupperware Party, but with the food included. I mean, lots of people are now bringing lunch from home and on long rehearsal days even dinner is in there too, the second plastic container in the bag. Now I know this is far from a new phenomenon and only one example, but the increase is amazing. There’d be a queue for the microwave, followed by vying for a place at the table and a steady stream of plate scrubbers and cutlery rinsers, all ready for the next Tupperware toting, hungry punter. I am party to this myself too. A little group of us decided “ok, enough of this €10 everyday, we’re going to make our own”! So every fifth day, your time comes around to bring in lunch for the other 4 as well and it’s great. Every day is a surprise and we’ve gotten to taste a little bit of Germany, Italy, and America and of course egg and onion ‘funeral sandwiches’ from Ireland! We also don’t see artists laden down with shopping bags to beat the band so much either. It’s been quite noticeably a more frugal season all round.

Then I got to thinking about how people working for WFO this year cope with their job uncertainty and monetary situation, in other ways, when Fred is lounging around on the sofa watching day time TV in trackie bottoms. What measures have people taken, if any, to make their lives as stable as possible? Has being more established in your career made any difference than someone just trying to carve out a niche for themselves? With a very productive week 2 at an end, I caught up with a member of this year’s company to ask them some questions about this very subject.
Kimberly Prescott is an American stage manager. She is stage managing The Ghosts of Versailles for us this year. Kim was the Production Stage Manager for 12 years with Houston Grand Opera one of the top ten largest opera companies in the US. She had a stable income during this time, would work very intensively for 10 months of the year, be paid for 12 months and then have 2 months off. Unfortunately, in 2004, her mother became ill and Kim took time a year out to look after her. She then decided to return to work, but freelancing. This coincided with Fred’s visit, so times were very unsteady. Luckily, she had 3 mainstays in Palm Beach Opera, Opera Theatre Saint Louis and Portland Opera Repertory Theatre (PORT), in Maine. She would work for 6 months of the year and then spend another 6 caring for her mother again. But, because of Fred, PORT pulled their production this year which Kim would have worked on but the WFO opportunity came up thankfully, because of her association with Saint Louis and it’s co-production with us.

Q. So, Kim with the arrival of the aforementioned ‘Fred’ and in no particular order of importance just pure curiosity; have you cut back on any spending?

A. Yes. Not necessarily solely because of Fred but because I’m not full time anywhere and salaries that I would’ve been accustomed to, are being reduced year on year. Also, companies are getting more commercial to get people in to see things that are more accessible. This is something I’ve noticed too.

Q. What three things would you not be able to live without, if you were tightening your belt?

A. Hot water (I love Baths), Air conditioning (even though it’s expensive to run) and shellfish (I love lobster)

Q. Have you switched any of the following because of Fred? For instance, savings accounts, mortgage, credit card or bank?

A. Yes. My credit card had a fee attached for overseas use so I changed to Capital One because they had no charge for transactions in Europe and I also consolidated my checking/savings account to avoid fees.

Q. What have you got in your wallet right now?

A. $40, $2 in quarters, some €’s, credit cards, pictures of my family, Social Security Card, Tesco Clubcard (even though she’s not here for long she can still see the savings), Medical Insurance Card, receipts, a fortune cookie slip, a lucky 2 Dollar bill, post-its and a pen (you’d know she was a stage manager by the last 2 items)

Q. Have you ever been refused by a bank or lending company, because of the unpredictability of your career?

A. No.

Q. What has been your best investment?

A. My house. I love my home. It’s my haven. I spend all my free time redecorating, refinishing and doing the garden, when I can.

Q. ‘Save it’, ‘spend it’ or ‘nearly-never it’ (credit card)?

A. Save it. My Mother grew up in the Depression and instilled in me the need to be careful with money. And I always pay my credit card on time and in full every month. My only debt is my mortgage. My younger brother however, definitely a ‘spend it’ - haha!

Q. What was your very first job and how much did you earn?

A. I was a theatre accountant’s assistant. Don’t really remember how much I earned, maybe around $3.50 per hour. I used to do 2 hours before class every day.

Q. What businessperson/s do you most admire?

A. Bill and Melinda Gates, for their business acumen and their humanitarianism.

Q. What is the worst financial mistake you’ve made?

A. I sold a house and didn’t invest the money into something; I left it sitting in a bad account. Hiding it under my mattress as it were.

Q. Do you shop with price in mind now or do you buy whatever you want?

A. If the product is not important to me I will price watch but if I care about the product then it has to be the best. For example, I will only buy the best contact lens solution and I have favourite toothpaste that I have to buy!

Q. Generally, do you walk, cycle, drive, or take public transport to work?

A. I used to always drive but now I’m trying to lose weight so, in Palm Beach I cycle and in Portland I walk but in Saint Louis I have to drive.  And obviously here in Wexford I walk everywhere.

Q. What do you spend more on in a year? Travel, eating out or luxury goods like designer clothes etc.?

A. Eating out.

Q. Finally, how much is a 1L carton of milk?

A. No idea about the Irish milk price. But, at home I buy it buy the gallon and its $2.49…I drink a lot of milk and its better value in this quantity, so I save money.

So, a sensible lady is our Kim. Definitely not one to splash the cash with abandon!

I want to thank Kim for taking time out of her very busy schedule to speak to me for a little while yesterday.

It’s funny, I went out behind the Opera House last night in a break between the Stage and Orchestra rehearsals and was chit chatting to 2 with two of the musicians. It came around to the subject of where they went for dinner and not how nice it was but how expensive it was, comparing prices and value for money and so on, oh the irony. Fred is knocking on everyone’s door!

Justin