NEWS: Exceeding Theatre Green Book targets for ‘The Children’

The Children by Lucy Kirkwood, tells the story of a couple living out their retirement in a cottage by the sea. But their idyllic life is not what it seems – they live just outside the exclusion zone of a nuclear disaster. This environmental theme seemed to chime perfectly with the aims of the Theatre Green Book in promoting sustainability.

What is the Theatre Green Book?

The Theatre Green Book sets standards for creating productions sustainably, as well as wider issues of making theatre buildings sustainable and improving sustainability through things like catering and front of house.

A Baseline target was set across all areas of the production. Baseline means 50% of all materials used at source are either reused or from recycled sources, and 65% of materials have a further life after the show by being either reused or recycled.

The Theatre Green Book targets were introduced right at the start of the process for the creative team on The Children, as it requires everyone’s commitment and is essential to help shape the direction and timelines of the project. This commitment was even included in the creatives’ contracts.

Data collection

In 2023, we employed a Sustainability Officer to help us focus on this area and to improve systems for recording data, which led to the set up of a Carbon Impact Tracker (CIT). The CIT shows the analysis for the source and end of life for materials but also records the associated C02e emissions, which means we can calculate a carbon footprint for any materials used. (A Carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of a particular activity).

Creating the data for the CIT meant that every piece of set, every prop etc had to be weighed and its constituent materials logged. This involved using a lot of initiative and the purchase of some very large, portable weighing scales, but these will now be a re-usable tool for the future.

The Design process

Even before the Designer spoke to the rest of the creative team about their concept, they assessed what items we already had that might be incorporated into their design – set items, props, costumes etc.

The set

The ‘domestic’ setting of The Children meant some items seemed straightforward to source – doors, windows – and a kitchen. A search on eBay, with a small radius to minimise emissions from transportation, uncovered a kitchen which was being disposed of by someone renovating a house. At the appropriate time, two Nottingham Playhouse staff removed the kitchen and brought it back to the theatre.

A wooden floor was created by using some second-hand dance flooring. A painted cloth, created by Nottingham Playhouse in 2023 for The Beekeeper of Aleppo, which subsequently went on tour, was borrowed back from the producer for this production.

A particularly difficult part of the set design was creating a realistic cliff face. Traditionally, this might be made by carving polystyrene, which is oil-based and not sustainable. In fact, we had a stock of Alushape, a flexible aluminium material, left over from a previous production, and this was found to be perfectly suited. The surface texture was then moulded with Dekozell, which is made out of sustainable wood fibre.

Some elements of the set still had to be constructed from timber, metal and fabric, but these were sourced from local suppliers with ethical sourcing policies and sustainable processes.

Costume and props

Being a production set in the near future, The Children lent itself to using second hand clothing and everyday items as props. As well as using costumes from our existing stores, these were easily sourced from local charity shops and some online vintage retailers. The cast also used some of their own clothing. A trike was borrowed from another theatre company.

Props that need to be replaced on a daily basis are called running props. This includes items such as food being prepared in the on-stage kitchen. In this case, dairy milk was replaced with pea milk, which is the most sustainable kind of milk. Jackfruit was used to imitate tuna, and all food that could be used afterwards was eaten, to prevent wastage.

Our Set and scenery were the only areas that narrowly missed meeting the Baseline target of 50%. This was due to the large ‘flats’ that were created to form the ‘walls’ of the kitchen. Otherwise, we were delighted that all other areas actually achieved Intermediate level, and some areas even the Advanced level.

With the Carbon Impact Tracker, we were able to record our Carbon emissions for all aspects of the show. As we record more data going forward, we will be able to better understand where we can make improvements.

The future

We plan to continue producing shows to Theatre Green Book standards. We learn something new about how best to manage the process and about materials, with every production. Building in more time to the design development process ensures everyone can work in a more sustainable way. And interestingly, all creatives and staff involved found the additional focus on sustainability was a motivator to try new approaches, rather than being a constraint.

Working sustainably can save time, money and contribute towards saving the environment. Find out more about our environmental activities.