The Noel Clarke and Kevin Guthrie cases have made it clear that people like me, at the top of the theatre, film and TV industries have not yet done enough to address the long term problem of sexual harassment, bullying and abuse in our industry. We have to do better. (1/ thread.) https://twitter.com/joannethomson22/status/1388469464669245441

One brave and determined survivor took on the legal system and saw it through to justice. The industry owes that woman an enormous debt of gratitude. One way to repay the debt would be strong, accessible industry wide measures to protect all theatre workers from abuse (2/ thread)

For too long, bad behaviour has been accepted or overlooked in our industry. This has resulted in a 'permission' culture where not being picked up on small incidents implies permission for worse or continuing harassment. Those of us in leadership roles must change this(3/ thread)

Our industry is fuelled on charisma, celebrity, intimacy and playfulness. Those qualities are too often used as cover for bullying, or harassment or to silence people. It's not just in rehearsal rooms. This can happen to bar staff, backstage crew & to office staff.(4/ thread)

Theatre relies on our vulnerability - all of us offer something of ourselves in the making of a play. It is utterly heartbreaking to hear and understand the full crushing effect of harassment and abuse on artists whose vulnerability is exploited in this way. (5/ thread)

Solving this problem isn't easy. We read out safe spaces statements. We have policies in place. But it's not enough. We need to do more. Industry leaders in Scotland are prioritising this. We're working together to try to develop best practice and implement it. (6/ thread)

The FST are leading on this in Scotland. Trade unions are also working hard on it. So are organisations like Stellar Quines and Persistent & Nasty. Work is being done. My theatre, the Lyceum is devoting time and resource to overhauling our HR and complaints procedure. (7/ thread)

I am desperate to get this right. I believe that is a desire shared by my colleagues at all levels of the industry in Scotland. We owe this to the survivors. We have to leave the situation better than how we found it. (8/thread)

If people want to feed in to the process of change, or if people want to make complaints, then please contact me at the Lyceum and I will do my best to address the matter swiftly. I would also encourage people to contact Equity, Bectu, or Stellar Quines, or P + N. (9/thread)

I love theatre and I feel so bleak when I think of how our art form has let people down. I know the survivors who have faced abuse and bullying love theatre too. While I lead The Lyceum I will do everything I can to make sure our industry deserves that love. (10/end)