Building green momentum

Theatre Green Book is an initiative by and for theatre makers and sustainability experts to create common standards, guidelines and resources to support theatre, dance, opera and performing arts to become more environmentally sustainable.

Started in 2021 with the energy of ‘build back better’, we launched a simpler, streamlined second edition following three years of trialling and feedback. This second edition includes a raft of practical toolkits on everything from special effects to modular design, travel and transport audits and dressing room action plans, and seating replacement and green roofs.

It is both a growing resource and a network of people committed to making deep, long-term changes to how we make work, run our organisations and look after our buildings.

A lingua franca

Tackling the climate crisis on and off stage has been making its way up the agenda across arts and culture for a generation, thanks to pioneers like Julie’s Bicycle. The last decade has seen significant policy interventions, financial support, specialist organisations and individual champions play a critical role in creating the conditions for change.

Theatre Green Book adds a set of standards and tools to empower those on the frontline with knowledge and suggestions for how to make that change faster -individually, organisationally and collectively. What began in the UK has grown to involve theatremakers across the world, creating a common lingua franca.

The sense of momentum is unmistakable. I have been overwhelmed and humbled by how much good, innovative work is happening at all scales, and by the enthusiasm and commitment of everyone I’ve met. This determination and energy, at a time when the wider context could not be more challenging, has only deepened my sense of purpose and ambition for the part Theatre Green Book can play in helping us reach net zero.

Climate crisis has been a green thread through my career – from putting on a ‘theatre by bike’ festival, to embedding carbon reporting in Arts Council England funding agreements in 2012, to my time as a director of Jerwood Arts funding extraordinary artist-led projects speaking to and/or about climate change.

What is the green book?

Theatre Green Book comprises three interconnected areas: productions, operations and buildings. All its resources are free and adaptable to your scale and context – whether you’re freelance, working for a large commercial producer, a small annual festival or in a Grade-II listed building.

Its toolkits will help you to make shows and run your buildings on fewer emissions and fewer resources, reducing your impact on nature and, in most cases, your bills too. Our website features guidance videos and case studies to inspire and explain.

We’ve also introduced forums for collective problem solving, and you can self-certify your progress by uploading completed checklists and downloading logos as you move along your sustainable journey from preliminary, to basic, intermediate and advanced standards.

What has been particularly exciting is how creative and generous theatre practitioners have been in the move towards a greener future. Our many case studies highlight how writers, directors, designers and technical teams have been using sustainable parameters not as a restriction on creativity, but as an opportunity to imagine, play and work in new and brilliant ways.

One of the sector’s many strengths is collaboration, between organisations but especially between the freelancers that make up 70% of the sector, moving between them, sharing their expertise. This has been vital to the development of Theatre Green Book: larger organisations share their resources, smaller organisations and individuals offer nimble and innovative practices.

A wealth of resources

A fantastic example of a recent production using Theatre Green Book was The Children by Lucy Kirkwood at Nottingham Playhouse which worked towards basic standard. The full report by Jill Robertshaw, the deputy production manager, can be read on our website, including a breakdown of how they included sustainability in planning and design meetings, and the success and challenges they faced across set, costume and props.

From a building perspective, The Bush theatre is a fascinating case study. They used our building survey tool to identify and prioritise work they wanted to do to their historic building.

And there is so much more support: Arts Council England’s recent Circular Economy Networks Report provides a wealth of information and opportunities to join the dots, the Green Captains are supporting students to green, and Climate Dramaturgy offers an artistic approach that centres climate-positive choices and climate justice, to name just three.

Continues…

The Bush theatre used the Theatre Green Book’s building survey tool to identify work needed on their historic building. Photo: Spudgun67/Wikimedia Commons

What next?

Our aims over the next year are to embed the second edition of Theatre Green Book into organisations already using it, continuing to support them to share learnings, inspire each other and their audiences, and to welcome those who want to get started.

We will continue to develop tools to support not only the theatre sector, but also opera, dance, touring and live performance. We’ll do this by continuing to listen to expert practitioners and collaborating with aligned initiatives across the creative industries, academics and policymakers.

We also want to connect more widely with environmental groups in the arts, culture and heritage sectors. If you know of, or are part of, a sustainability group please do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you and explore how we could work together.

To welcome new people and organisations starting out, we’re offering a free consultation to any organisation when they sign up, to understand where they are at and direct them towards the best resources. We are also hosting regular, free, online webinars to support those new to using the Theatre Green Book tools, or those who need a refresher.

We also want to hear from anyone who has felt, for whatever reason, Theatre Green Book isn’t for them. There is so much we can do together, using our collective wisdom to find sustainable new ways to solve old problems.

Collaborative energy

We will also be focusing on communications. We know theatre is an incredible space to tell stories of change, share messages and spark national conversations that drive wider social action. Yet talking about green achievements is not straightforward. Organisations are often making more progress than their audiences realise and we want to help them tell that story.

The recent results of the 2024 Act Green Survey by Indigo show audiences care about the climate crisis and want to know what the culture sector is doing in the face of it.

At heart, our aim is to keep growing the collaborative energy that makes change not just possible, but happen. If you work in the theatre and performing arts, sign up to the Theatre Green Book website, and get in touch, wherever you are on your environmental sustainability journey.