Exit, Stage Everyone

This isn’t a blog. It’s a loophole in stage makeup.

What Is This?

Exit, Stage Everyone is Shadowplay Theatre’s side stage—where performance meets protest.

This blog is home to our ongoing series of videos, resources, and commentary about refusing burnout culture, reclaiming your time, and legally stepping out of line.

It’s theatre with HR paperwork.
It’s activism with a costume budget.
It’s a toolkit for anyone ready to stop performing compliance.

Here you'll find:

  • A cast of characters (starting with Anita Breque) who explain your rights with a wink

  • Resource links & Downloadable information sheets

  • Plain language breakdowns of PTO, FMLA, sick leave, and more

This isn’t a “blog” in the usual sense.
It’s a quiet exodus, stage-managed by Shadowplay.

Resources

You’re not powerless. You’ve just been overworked and under-informed.

This section is a basic guide to your legal protections at work—not the ones they pretend don’t exist in orientation. These aren’t loopholes. These are rights.

We’re not lawyers. But we are theatrical. So consider this your script for lawful refusal.

Your Basic Federal Rights (U.S.)

Sick Leave

You may be entitled to sick leave depending on your state or employer policy. Some cities and states require it. Know yours.

PTO (Paid Time Off - sometimes known as Vacation Time)

If it's offered, they can't stop you from using it once approved—and they can’t require a reason if your policy doesn’t.

FMLA (Family & Medical Leave Act)

  • Covers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave

  • Applies to serious health issues, mental health crises, caregiving, and more

  • Can be taken intermittently (not just in one block)

  • Employers can’t punish you for using it—but you have to document

Bereavement Leave

This is usually policy-based, not federal. But if your job has it? They have to honor it. Check your handbook.

Retaliation Is Illegal

If you’re punished for using a legal leave, filing a complaint, or even talking about your rights? That’s retaliation. Screenshot everything. Report it.

State & Local Help

We can’t list every law for every state—but MutualAidHub.org is a damn good place to start.

Use it to:

  • Find legal clinics

  • Contact local worker centers

  • Locate tenants’ unions, protest defense funds, and community orgs

  • Get connected with people who actually give a damn

Note: Some links on MutualAidHub.org may be outdated or broken. This isn’t a perfect system—but it’s a starting point. If you run mutual aid in your area, add your info. If you see a broken link, report it. This only works if we build it together.

(CYA Statement: We don’t run these organizations. We don’t vet their funding. We’re not your lawyer, your union, or your HR department (thank God). We’re just pointing toward what’s out there. Some links may be outdated. Some may lead nowhere. That’s part of the problem—and the reason this list exists. If you're part of a mutual aid group or legal resource and want to be included, contact the site directly. We're just the actors. The script is yours now.)

Document Everything

  • This part’s not optional:

  • Use email, not just verbal requests

  • Save all approvals, denials, and comments

  • Screenshot weird texts

  • Keep a paper trail like it’s your closing monologue

Meet Anita Breque:

Your HR Nightmare’s Worst Nightmare

PTO / Vacation Time

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” – Vincent van Gogh

This is the "earned" time they say you should take—but they still raise an eyebrow when you actually do. Use it. No reason needed. If they ask why you're gone, smile and say:

“Because I can.”

They bank on you saving it “just in case.”
Anita says: cash it in. You don’t owe them an explanation for needing rest.

Sick Leave

“I’m not acting today.” – Every understudy ever.

You're sick? You don't need to prove it. You don’t need to limp in coughing to be believed. Use your sick time when you’re sick—or just done.

And if they demand a doctor’s note for a single missed day? Anita’s already laughing.

FMLA (Family & Medical Leave Act)

“Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.” – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

This one’s federal. And a lot of managers don’t understand it, which makes it your secret weapon.

If you qualify (and many more do than think they do), they can’t punish you for using it. But they might try.

That’s why Anita keeps everything in writing.
Email. Screenshot. Repeat.

Bereavement Leave

“Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o’erwrought heart.” – Shakespeare

Someone died. A person. A pet. A part of yourself.
Grief is not polite, predictable, or on a clock.

If your company only allows it for “immediate family,” Anita invites you to consider who the hell gets to define “immediate.”
If you're mourning, you're mourning. Period.