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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4110-8846

Date Available

4-26-2026

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Fine Arts

Department/School/Program

Arts Administration

Faculty

Rachel Shane

Faculty

Jill Schinberg

Abstract

Human resource management plays a critical yet understudied role in the American regional theatre, an industry characterized by project-based labor, mixed union and nonunion workforces, and deeply ingrained cultural norms that prioritize artistic production over worker well-being. This dissertation examines how institutional human resource policies intersect with the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) collective bargaining agreement and the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), and the implications of these intersections for human resource practice in regional theatre organizations. While entertainment-industry unions predate the formalization of contemporary human resource management, little scholarship has examined how union agreements may shape or substitute for organizational HR systems within nonprofit arts institutions.

Focusing on LORT member theatres, this study situates regional theatre as a distinctive organizational ecosystem operating at the nexus of nonprofit governance, unionized artistic labor, and resource-constrained management structures. Drawing on institutional isomorphism, resource dependency theory, and industrial relations theory, the research investigates how HR policies emerge, adapt, or fail to materialize within this environment. These frameworks enable analysis of coercive pressures such as labor law compliance, normative influences rooted in industry traditions and professional expectations, and mimetic practices in which organizations adopt union-driven standards for broader internal use.

Using a qualitative research design, this dissertation analyzes institutional HR policies, organizational practices, and stakeholder experiences to identify patterns of alignment and disjunction between formal HR systems and the AEA–LORT agreement. Particular attention is paid to how organizations operationalize union requirements, where informal workarounds develop, and how HR responsibilities are distributed in the absence of dedicated human resource infrastructure. The study further explores how these dynamics affect equity, consistency, and organizational culture, especially for nonunion employees whose protections may not be explicitly governed by collective bargaining agreements.

Findings suggest that while AEA agreements provide a strong framework for regulating artistic labor, their influence on organization-wide human resource practices is uneven and mediated by organizational capacity, leadership priorities, and resource dependency. In many cases, union contracts function as de facto HR policy for some workers while leaving significant gaps elsewhere in the organization. This research contributes to human resource management scholarship by extending institutional and industrial relations theory into creative, nonprofit contexts and offers practical insights for arts administrators seeking to build more equitable, sustainable, and human-centered workplaces in the American regional theatre.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.123

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