Equity Dispute Forces Show’s Postponement : ‘More’ Premiere Set Back Over Dispute on Equity Theatre Plan

The American premiere of Snoo Wilson’s “More Light,” scheduled to open Saturday at the Lex Theatre in Hollywood, has been postponed to Jan. 21.

The play, a Director’s Theatre production, ran afoul of Actors’ Equity’s new Los Angeles 99-Seat Theatre Plan in what may prove to be the first full-fledged test case between a member of ATLAS (the Associated Theatres of Los Angeles), an organization of about 40 theaters of 99 seats or fewer opposed to certain provisons in the plan, and Actors’ Equity Assn., which controls it.

Dorothy Lyman, founder of A Director’s Theatre, ATLAS member and producer of the Snoo Wilson play, resigned from the company board in protest against its decision to sign onto Equity’s plan.

The decision was made after four of the seven members of the “More Light” cast received “cease and desist” letters from the union because of the production’s failure to comply with the new plan. A decision not to sign on, Lyman said, would effectively have shut down the production.

Lyman, a member of Equity since 1968 and also a board member of ATLAS, acknowledged Wednesday that her resignation was a tough decision to make but that she understood the board’s desire to comply in order to protect the theater’s season and subscription drive. She is also one of 14 members of Equity who have filed a suit (still pending) against the union charging that it abrogated its members’ rights in arriving at the new plan.

“Until an agreement is negotiated (with Equity) which all producers can sign,” she said in a prepared statement, “I cannot be a party to my board’s action.

“My objections have nothing to do with payment to actors. ATLAS finds intolerable four points on which the union is holding firm.”

Those four points are (a) developing objective criteria for who may use the plan, (b) dealing with the problem of large casts and small-budget shows, (c) differences of opinion on length of run and (d) plan safeguards.

Lyman explained that when “More Light” went into production in December, Equity and ATLAS were talking to each other and it seemed as if their remaining differences were about to be resolved. The discussions were ended by Equity, however, without a resolution.

“My biggest feeling about it now is sadness and disgust that the union has allowed things to go this far, pitting actor against actor.”

To date, 53 theaters of 99 seats or fewer have signed on to the new plan. ATLAS has been holding a series of meetings to consider its options under the increasing pressure from the union. The producers are expected to make a statement some time in the coming week.

Meanwhile, three actors in the production of “The Fox” at the Back Alley, an ATLAS theater, have withdrawn as a result of similar “cease and desist” letters from the union. They have been replaced by the second cast consisting of one non-Equity person, one member of Equity’s sister unions (SAG and AFTRA) and one member of Equity.