Maura Tighe
Fellowship Report 2024: Green Arts Initiative
For my project, I visited theatres in London, to investigate what these organizations are doing about sustainable practices in production. My initial research into environmental issues around producing theatre led me to London, where there was an initiative called GREEN THEATRE BOOK, in which artistic producers in the UK had begun to address the urgent need to think about climate issues as they relate to theatre production.
My initial plan was to meet with any producers or managers who were doing this work, especially the National Theatre of London, which outlines their plan on their website. I had little success in setting up a formal meeting, so I visited theatres and took notes, talked to ushers, house managers and other staff to get a sense of what was being done and what the challenges were.
At the National Theatre London, there is much being done that is visible and aligns with their mission as stated on their website:“
We are tracking material usage across Scenic Construction, Props and Costume to determine the percentage of material reused on each production, as well as the percentage being repurposed afterwards.Further to this, we are using our tracking tools to predict material use on each production at early design phase. This new approach aids us in making sustainable decisions on our shows. It’s an enormous team effort, which needs every single person working on a show to rethink what they do. Every decision counts.”
This company actually uses the Green Book in the early stages of design to make sure they are meeting baseline initiatives (50-60% reuse/recycle/repurposed materials). In London Tide, the production I saw, the design elements clearly demonstrated an innovative use of space, environment, materials to tell the story. The lighting at the National is full LED, and that creates a cleaner energy. And then, they used the lighting as a major set piece, as the linesets were dropped and moved to create the sense of the ocean. The furniture was all repurposed from stock with very little adjustments and the costumes as well, were mostly of organic fabrics, many from stock. Hardly any aspect of this production was produced from new, man-made material, which carries a high carbon footprint.
It was the same with operations. No paper tickets, only digital scans. No colorful printed programs, only a small piece of paper with a QR code to read the program in more detail. They did offer full programs at a kiosk for a price, for tourists, but I got the sense that they are trying to phase these out completely.
I then went to two other productions: Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre and Operation Mincement at the Fortune Theatre.
The Savoy is an older theatre that focuses on Broadway shows/previews. There is no language on their website about the GREEN THEATRE BOOK, and they did not demonstrate any signs that they are creating any intentional sustainable actions. Programs were what you’d expect- pages of high-quality color ads and articles. There were paper tickets, and lots of plastic used at the concessions stand, with not even a bin for recycling.
The actual production did have design elements that are aligned with green initiatives. The set and lighting design was minimal, and projection elements played a very large part of the story telling. Projection seems to be a “go – to “choice now for many productions. It may be over-used but it can be considered a strong green initiative as well as design choice, because it creates set/environment and elements of story without the use of much material.
Finally, I attended Operation Mincement at the Fortune. The Fortune is a severely old theatre, with tiny seats, a tight and tiny stage and what seemed like ancient resources. There also was no mention of green initiatives here. And the set/costumes, props and lighting all looked basically “old school”. Although the production was hilarious, I left feeling sad that there seems to be a hierarchy of resources for theatres. Some can create and stick to sustainable practices, and the culture of the entire company supports it, and others either don’t have the money/time and leadership to take these steps, or they are housed in such old buildings there are too many barriers to taking that first step.
This research has made me realize that BAA is in a good position to start its own GREEN ARTS initiative, mostly because we have a brand-new green building, and our main theatre is also newly resourced will LED lighting and electrical wiring that is carbon neutral, I believe. Even our air quality systems are top of the line and take up much less energy than most buildings.
I am excitED to create steps to help our community begin to build that basic commitment to sustainable practices in productions.
How have your knowledge, skills, and capabilities grown? I am certain my knowledge has grown in my awareness of what sustainable practices mean in production. I am also emboldened by the work of the National Theatre as a paradigm for best practices. Capacity for making change is always a challenge in a public school, but I am up for that challenge.
As a result, in what ways will your instructional (or other) practice change? I hope to begin to take more time in the initial planning stages of production with the designers, actors and stage manages, to help them think first about what is possible to reuse, recycle and repurpose before we begin the building the production. And, as Artistic Director, I can help everyone on each team identify resources that can be shared and borrowed across productions.
What is the greatest personal accomplishment of your fellowship? I can honestly say that I am now witnessing every production I see with this new lens. What are they doing that could be streamlined, or designed with an eye toward sustainability. It has changed my entire experience at the theatre.
How will your experience positively impact student learning in new ways? Our students often seem way ahead of us when it comes to cultural issues, including environmental concerns and climate change. I think having important conversations about what we are doing at BAA will empower them to use their agency to make change. Many of our students are the designers and implementers of this work.
What are your plans to work collaboratively with colleagues? I have already introduced my slide deck with our theatre faculty. I will roll it out to dance, music and VAD as well to begin the conversation among the entire arts staff.
I am also hoping to engage small groups of faculty and students to create their artistic projects during Intersession, in a way that addressed climate change. Intersession is our yearly project-based learning week, in which students can take a break from regular classes and work independently in small groups on projects of their choice. It is my goal that some of these address the questions learned in this project.
Are there issues or challenges in your school, community or the world that you feel better prepared to address with your students? I would say yes, that I feel like I have more data and examples to support any initiative. Its important to connect to what is happening locally, nationally and globally.
How would you describe to a friend the most fundamental ways in which your fellowship has changed your personal and/or professional perspective? I was initially naïve about how creating sustainable practices in production can impact climate change. We all know that climate change is happening, and we all talk about taking action. In my personal life, I do just that: I compost, I recycle, I reuse. Now, I have a way to think about this in my professional life. I have been frustrated with our school’s lack of ability to commit to recycling and composting. We do it on a very limited scale, and there is still real waste being generated. I have tools now to address this within my own responsibilities as the Artistic Director.