THE “evasive and contrived” owner of the world-renowned Cambridge Shakespeare Festival can no longer hire performers on a weekly volunteer rate of £50, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Judge Louise Brown said Dr David Crilly’s “high degree of control” of performers who worked “extremely long” hours six days a week meant that they are entitled to worker rights such as the national minimum wage.

The case at the Cambridge Employment Tribunal was brought by Equity union members Kit McGuire and Elizabeth Graham who in 2022 performed in the festival’s 35th season.

In the year prior to this, the £19-a-ticket festival had a budget in excess of £250,000, the tribunal heard.

Ms Graham was offered roles to perform as Maria/Officer in Twelfth Night and Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream before the festival’s more than 25,000 visitors.

She was working just over a month when she was abruptly dismissed and replaced in August after the Oxford-educated Dr Crilly took issue with her informing the director — rather than himself — that she had caught Covid.

He wrote to her: “I am the owner and director of the Shakespeare festival. I’m afraid you can’t just ignore what I say and come and go as you please… as you didn’t have the professional courtesy to contact me, I have had no option other than to replace you in the production.”

Judge Brown said their exchange of emails “was compelling evidence of the high degree of control that Dr Crilly exercised over Ms Graham” and that “he had taken offence at her not showing enough deference to him.”

Referring to him also accusing her of not helping with striking — clearing up after shows — which she denied, Judge Brown added: “I preferred Ms Grahams’s evidence to that of Dr Crilly, and I found her an honest and credible witness.”

Ms Graham was paid £150 a week “towards expenses” as she had found her own accommodation while she worked for the festival.

Mr McGuire was meanwhile paid a measly £50 a week after being offered to play Antonio/Captain in Twelfth Night and
Dauphin/Williams in Henry V in April 2022.

He was told to be “off book” before first rehearsals started two weeks before the first show and also had to find, arrange, compose and practice music to be performed in the shows and teach this to his fellow cast members when necessary.

The tribunal heard he worked on the productions without incident until deciding to leave on the July 31 2022.

In a text to Dr Crilly on June 20 2022, he said he would not return for Henry V saying he had suffered “stresses since arriving this summer that have made me feel uncomfortable with living and working here.”

Under cross-examination he told the tribunal that he considered the working conditions to amount to an ”exploitative business model.”

Dr Crilly accused Mr McGuire of acting out of “malice and spite”over being given a minor role but Judge Brown said: “I found Mr McGuire to be an entirely honest and credible witness.

“I found Dr Crilly’s evidence at times to be evasive and contrived in that he would try and avoid using certain words when replying to questions put to him.”

Compensation awards are to be agreed at a remedy hearing.

Speaking after the ruling, Mr McGuire said: “I’m really grateful for Equity’s support throughout this process.

“Especially now, with ongoing cuts to arts funding and individual artists struggling with the cost of living, it’s so important that we value ourselves as workers.

“This claim has been about ensuring our engagers also value us as such. I’m thrilled with our success on this, which of course wouldn’t have been possible without Equity.”

Ms Graham said: “Of course, bringing a case like this is the last thing you want to do.

“I’m extremely grateful for Equity’s steady support throughout this process, and for the solidarity of my colleague Kit McGuire.

“Thankfully we arrived at a good outcome, which I hope will also be of help to other performing arts workers.

“The protections afforded by worker status are essential for all workers, and a strong and supportive union is a true blessing.”

A spokeswoman for Equity said: “Cambridge Shakespeare Festival must be held accountable to this ruling, which constitutes another major victory for Equity in reaffirming that performers are generally ‘workers’ in law.

“This means they are entitled to basic employment rights that cannot be circumvented by an engager’s attempts to cast them as ‘volunteers’ or ‘self-employed’ through bogus contracts and statements.

“This judgement shows that many engagements that might be perceived by the producer/engager as ‘voluntary’ are in fact not at all, and that the bar for what constitutes a contract is not as high as might be believed.

“Therefore, the tribunal’s decision also suggests that student productions may be acting unlawfully where they seek professionals to work for free.

“Universities may, therefore, need to reconsider their policies or advice to students when a student production forms part of an academic course.”

Cambridge Shakespeare Festival has been contacted for comment.