Time of the Moment

Reading the book Shakespeare by Anthony Burgess, I was captivated by the part that can be understood as an interpretation of the word professional. According to Burgess, the term professional has two meanings:
First, to prefer the things that are done for money.
Second, it is contents where the meaning and endeavor towards perfection are reflected.
Both meanings of the term professional are reflected in all time intervals of the artistic and cultural development of man. But, the example that the author gives in the book speaks about the period of Elizabethan-Jacobinian drama.
Despite the fact that in the period stated the characters of the play were performed by actors-fans, they were not prevented from doing their jobs professionally, and they were professionally paid. Namely, the guild that had its influence on the selection of parts of the Bible, and then their staging, also had money to pay the actors of the theatre.
It is known that the Blacksmith Guild for the “Birth” play in 1490 rewarded the actor in this way: The one who played God was paid 2 shillings; the one who played Herod was paid 3 shillings and 3 pennies; the one who played Judas-Devil was paid only 7 pennies.
So, as one of our well known directors would say: In a non-professional situation, everybody (actors and Guild members) acted very professionally.
In Burgess’s explanation on where this division of money came from it states: “The role of Herod was very important and for its fulfillment, the actor was asked to have a high-pitched and loud articulation.”
This brings us close to the conclusion that the actors in an Elizabethan-Jacobinian drama were rewarded on two basis: importance of the role and the passion, meaning, that is, craft invested in it.
So, those who held a mirror in front of themselves for a longer time while they were looking for their reflection in it, that is, those who knew more and put passion, clarity in their articulation, also took more money.
“the way of acting also”, says a theorist, “is inherited, as it has bit of the trade as well.”
After such a description, I often wonder: What have the today’s actors inherited when Schiller’s statement “There are no bad roles for good actors” or Schepkin’s “There are no small roles, only small actors” are all Greek, and they refuse to play the Devil in “Birth” not because of moral of aesthetic reasons, that is, the mouse of the adapted fable Cat in Boots? Or, what have the actors who suffocate their stage capacities on behalf of the business as bakers, carpenters, glassworkers, grocers, sandwich maker inherited? It seems that theatre teaches many things, even the skill of taking money without work.
The word professional only has one meaning for these actors, and it is reflected in taking money even for things undone.
Having and not having – three and a half. Playing God, Herod of the Devil-Judas or not, he gets his material satisfaction at the end of the month (salary) that confirms his status as a professional.
For how much longer? Until a Guild appears that will know what to order and for how much. Until they all realized the Old Testament proverb –“Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel”