>News Story
In Festival 2024, we aimed to make all our Minerva Theatre shows, plus Redlands in the Festival Theatre, to Theatre Green Book basic standards. And the results are in! Scroll down to read how we got on...
What is the Theatre Green Book?
The Theatre Green Book is a set of guidelines and tools to help theatres transition to a more circular supply chain. So instead of buying materials new, we should reuse and recycle the set, props and costumes from existing sources (e.g. a previous show or second-hand sellers). We must then store them or pass them on to be used again and again. Because the more we reuse and recycle, the less carbon we create.
To meet Theatre Green Book basic standards, at least 50% of materials used in the show (costumes, props, set) should be reused or recycled. At least 65% should go on to be reused or stored for future use. In an intermediate production, 60% of everything on stage should be reused or recycled and 70% should be stored or reused.
The House Party
We got off to a flying start with the first Minerva show of the season. The House Party achieved basic Green Book standards and was very close to intermediate.
Read the news story about making The House Party using the Theatre Green Book to learn more.
The Caretaker
Up next was the highest scoring Green Book show of Festival 2024. The Caretaker achieved the intermediate Green Book level!
The Promise
We hit a small bump in the road with The Promise, which ended up scoring just below the basic standard. But this journey is all about learning from each show and taking this forward.
So what did we learn?
During the process of making this show, we encountered some challenges around the set. Given this, we are very proud that 44% of the materials were reused and recycled and 55% have gone on to future uses. The results are measured by the weight of the materials used, so we were often held back if a large bespoke piece of set wasn’t made from reused or recycled materials. It can be tricky to find the time to research reused/recycled products when there is such a tight timeline for getting a show onto the stage. We are building up our knowledge of local suppliers and scenic artists and workshops.
This did mean that the costume and props teams were more determined than ever. 95% of the costumes were reused or recycled and 100% will have a future life, which is cause for celebration! We learnt that there were plenty of opportunities to source props and costumes second hand when making a period piece.
This show presented new challenges because there were lots of consumable props. We had to think about where we were getting food from, trying to source it locally where possible, and use a compost bin. It also opened conversations about the use of e-cigarettes on stage and whether these can be sustainably disposed of.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold met Green Book basic standards. We don’t yet have details of the future life of the materials used in the show as they are currently in storage for a potential future production.
Here's what we learnt
A setback we often encountered was last minute decisions – finishing touches can cost a lot in terms of carbon footprint. We are working with creative teams to make the most sustainable decisions early on, so that the show is in the best position going into the final days and weeks before opening. The production teams across the season reached out to their networks to source as many resources as possible. We will continue advocating for Green Book across the industry so theatres, suppliers and freelancers can work together.
The Cat and the Canary
The Cat and the Canary presented a new set of challenges and did not meet Green Book standards. Whilst sustainability is one of our core values, we are also proud to be creatively ambitious. Working with the Green Book, we will continue to learn how the two can go hand in hand.
The challenges (and some positives)
So much of the set was built from scratch because everything was designed to do something unexpected. We were unable to reuse existing items because of the surprising quirks across the design. We are looking for sustainable workshops we can collaborate with moving forwards.
There are always positives, too. Props and costume did amazingly well for this show and there was acknowledgement of the Green Book across the whole team. We will continue to improve on how we support and communicate with designers. Although the design was challenging to create using reused or recycled materials, 74% of the materials will go onto be reused. The floor has already been re-used for Hey! Christmas Tree.
Redlands
Redlands was our first Festival Theatre show to officially hit Green Book basic standards – result! A big win came from using our own revolve in the stage, as they are very heavy so it would have really set us back had we built something new.
Making a Festival Theatre show to Green Book standards brought a new set of challenges. Tracking the results was a huge job with the largest number of props and costumes that we’ve tracked by far.
We are feeling motivated going into Festival 2025 and continuing to incorporate the Green Book into everything we do. We have learnt so much from Festival 2024 and piloting the second version of the Green Book. Making theatre more sustainably will be a gradual process; we are often re-learning a lot of behaviours that we've got used to over decades of experience making theatre. But there's already a lot to celebrate!
