Randolph W. Evans has performed a feat on both Broadway and London's West End that no professional has done before. Not Olivier, not Gielgud, not Bankhead.
But then, Evans didn't step on the legitimate stage to act. He's a neurologist. And in the mid-to-late '90s, Dr. Evans led a team that compiled the only surveys ever done of raked stages, and their effects on actors and dancers in both America and England.
Evans' studies are at the center of argument in the current production contract talks in New York, and a major reason that Actors' Equity has called for removing raked stages from any production-pact performance. The League of American Theaters and Producers has disputed the study and the union's proposal.
"We found raked stages to be a risk factor both on Broadway and in West End," Evans told Back Stage in an exclusive interview last Friday. "We found that on Broadway, raked stages increased the risk of injury by three times for dancers, and they also proved a risk for actors."
The bigger risk on Broadway, Evans explained, is because that, at the time of the surveys, the New York stage offered mostly musicals and few dramas, while the reverse existed in London.
Evans surveyed Broadway performers in February 1993, and his team of professionals compiled the information and released the study in January 1996. They did the same for West End two years later.
Evans has appeared twice before the Equity-league negotiators this year, along with a number of actors and dancers who described how they were injured while performing on raked stages. Evans said that, while his study now has a few years under its belt, hearing the performers this year makes him believe the situation hasn't changed.
Also, to the medical doctor, the risk of injury is just one important reason that the raked-stages issue must be resolved during the contract talks. Another concern should be, he says, the "quality of the workplace."
"As an observer, this seems to be an important issue: Shouldn't an employee have some say about the conditions under which he or she works?" Evans asked. "If the employee feels the conditions are dangerous, or newly stressful in ways that can be corrected, if it just makes the job unpleasant, isn't the employee's opinion important?"
The Physical Problem
Raked stages, inclined platforms at various angles, cause the performer to "put your weight back, making you reset the center of your balance," Evans explained. "It's like standing on a ski slope or an inclined highway. It's not your natural position."
The Broadway survey covered 313 performers appearing in 23 companies. The percentage of performers injured was 55.5%, with a mean of 1.08 injuries per performer. Lower extremity injuries proved the most common. And the survey noted that 62% of the performers felt that their injuries were preventable.
During the current negotiations, the Broadway producers have brought in their own witnesses to support use of raked stages. According to Equity's website, those testifying included two prominent Broadway set designers, a physical therapist, and a dance supervisor. They "defended the use of raked stages on a variety of levels: artistic intent, improved sightlines, the relationship between the audience and the actors; and historic value," the website said. "The physical therapist and dance supervisor said that although dancing is an inherently dangerous activity, the risks posed by raked stages could be significantly reduced by proper physical training (e.g, warm-ups and strengthening exercises)."
Evans didn't refer to those testimonies, avoiding any question which dealt directly with the negotiations. But, during his interview, he did say that medical research has resulted in a "controversy about whether stretching and warm-ups help. Some studies show stretching doesn't help."
Using the analogy of professional football, Evans said that medical studies showed "artificial turf led to more knee injuries. So stadiums have been going back to natural grass. If we learn that a surface for performers leads to more injuries, why not make changes that will decrease injuries and make them happier?"
Evans—who has a private neurology practice in Houston—also serves on the clinical faculty of the University of Texas at Houston Medical School and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He prepared and studied the Broadway survey results with two Ph.D.s and an M.A. with the University of Houston's Department of Psychology, Social Psychology/ Behavioral Medicine Group.
"The survey was a retrospective design rather than a prospective design," Evans explained, meaning the survey relied on performers recalling their experiences with raked stages, rather than a study of the actors and dancers as they performed. But Evans has emphasized that, for performers, memories of injuries remain vivid, because they affect their livelihoods.
It also seems important that Evans and his cohorts prepared and compiled the surveys on their own time, free of charge. Which leads Evans to believe their survey is as thorough as one will ever be.
To compile a perfect study, he said, would require performing the same show, say, "Miss Saigon," in two environments: one with raked stages, one without. And the cost would easily run into six figures.