Greening Up the Theatre

Who was not saddened by the image of the polar bear treading water in An Inconvenient Truth? After I saw the film, I went home and tried to figure out if I could afford a hybrid car -- I couldn't.

Even though it might seem increasingly difficult to "go green," the onus is on theatre and film productions to become more ecologically friendly. Ninety-seven percent of the set materials used in the Matrix sequels was recycled after shooting wrapped. Many film and TV productions purchase carbon-offset credits, which are used to plant or protect trees to counterbalance the waste created by a production.

But though you might have the best intentions, theatre is already an inherently unsustainable medium. There are thousands of products that make it possible to build a house in an ecologically sustainable way. But houses are built to last; your set for A Doll's House is not. Unless you plan to tour or remount repeatedly, you're not going to keep those flimsy nursery walls. Parts might be in good shape and useful for the future, but finding a space to perform is hard and expensive enough without having to store sets from old shows. And if you are going to throw things away, you aren't going to buy expensive green materials. However, throwing things away is no longer an option. Although our constant creation puts theatre at odds with the wider sustainability movement, it also gives us many opportunities to remake the way we make theatre.

There are things you can do now. Tap into the community around you to share and reuse materials, keep trash costs low, and combine efforts to afford greener materials. Budget your energy use and maximize your energy efficiency. Work on saving money to update your inventory.

Think smaller. A full 100-seat house is the same or better than a half-empty 200-seat house. So why not put your efforts into a smaller show and save electricity and raw materials while marketing a sold-out run instead of papering half the house? Many shows, such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, are intimate pieces anyway.

Email scripts, schedules, contact sheets, paperwork, and marketing materials instead of printing them on paper. Collect better marketing information and stop printing post cards, brochures, and fliers that get mailed to incorrect addresses or to people who aren't coming to the show. And this is only the tip of the (remaining) iceberg.

There is a growing movement afoot to make bigger changes. With new restrictions on general service incandescent lamps -- the California Assembly is working on legislation calling for stronger restrictions on using those energy-inefficient lamps -- and the marketing potential of green technology, you already see companies like Electronic Theatre Controls and Chauvet making moves to be more eco-friendly. Portland Center Stage in Portland, Ore., has earned the highest certification given by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. New York Theatre Workshop is also building a shop to LEED specifications, and the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles recently pledged resources to study how to green up its theatre spaces.

There are an increasing number of us using the Internet to get more-current information out to more people, and we need your help. Do you have more ideas on how to make theatre greener? Visit and contribute to the Green Theater Wiki at greentheater.toasterlab.com.

Ian Garrett is a producer and designer currently finishing a residency at DiverseWorks Art Space in Houston, where he most recently served as technical supervisor on performance artist Claude Wampler's piece PERFORMANCE (career ender). In L.A., his work has appeared at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, Pico Playhouse, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Greenway Arts Alliance, Attic Theatre, the Center for Inquiry, REDCAT, the Brewery, and many other spaces. He recently received the Richard E. Sherwood Award from Center Theatre Group to study sustainable practices in theatre. He also teaches that topic at the California Institute of the Arts. To see samples of his work, visit www.toasterlab.com.

Comments

[thom trick]

Portland Center Stage says thanks for the mention! In addition to cleaning up our act with LEED certification, the building in question is a remodeled armory, originally built in 1891, also listed on the National Register of Historic Places...i suppose that qualifies as re-use. We're also trying to stay on the cutting edge of webspace with a site that leans toward the interactive. Blogs, polls and audience reviews are just a few of the newish things to be found at the re-invented www.pcs.org, launched in Sept. 2007.

[Seema Sueko]

Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company has also gone green. We are a gypsy company, without a permanent home, so we have focused on greening up our operations. We published the GREEN Theater Categories & Sustainable Guidelines in June 2007. You can find them here: http://www.moolelo.net/mission/green.html
Our current production, COWBOY VERSUS SAMURAI, has been produced under these guidelines. Here are some examples of what made the production "green":
• The Audition Notice included language about our greening initiative and our preference for receiving digital submissions
• Employee new hire information was sent to the cast and crew via email.
• All promotional materials were printed using an FSC Certified print shop and on FSC Certified recycled content (PCW).
• Recycle bins are placed in our offices, rehearsal rooms, and performance venue.
• Ticket discounts are provided to people who "travel green" to the theater.
• We decided not to print a traditional vinyl banner and instead used a banner printed on eco-friendly Satin Cloth with water-based inks. Made by a local company.
• The paints on the set are environmentally friendly and non-toxic AFM Safecoat paint. AFM is a local company (www.afmsafecoat.com).
• The platforms were recycled from La Jolla Playhouse.
• Projections have been used in lieu of constructing walls.
• Costumes were rented and borrowed, not built.
• Scenic furniture was rented and borrowed, not built.
• Office supplies from greenline paper (www.greenlinepaper.com)
• Party supplies for opening night from greenline paper.

[David Fairhurst]

I was intrigued but also disappointed by your essay. You talk about the need to "remake the way we make theatre," but then you don't follow your own advice. You list several conventional ways of dealing with sets--such as sharing and reusing materials--but if you really wanted to "remake" theatre, you'd say, "Let's do away with sets altogether." Who needs them? The Greeks didn't. Neither did Shakespeare. The only reason we have them today is because at some point artists stopped trusting the imaginative powers of the audience. The same goes for costumes, props, and special effects: Who needs them? When I read your statement that theatre is "inherently unsustainable," I was floored. Dude, all you need to make theatre are actors, a script, a space, and an audience, and when you're done, everybody goes home and nothing remains. That's the beauty of theatre, the most perishable--and most sustainable--of arts. The type of theatre that's unsustainable is the kind that treats the audience not as imaginative collaborators but as passive, dull-minded consumers who need everything spelled out for them. Unsustainable theatre is unimaginative theatre. What a fantastic opportunity we have today to re-educate the theatregoing public that theatre is not a live-action TV show; it's not about oohing and aahing over elaborate sets and costumes. Theatre is an imaginative collaboration between artists and audience. And what could be more sustainable than that?