Triga Creative is proud to have contributed to the Canadian Green Alliance’s Sustainable Theatre Guidebook. Our chapter would not be possible without the numerous innovators who paved the way for us, and it draws heavily on the ideas of Dr Tanja Beer, originator of the term “ecoscenography”. Our chapter can be read below, but the entire Sustainable Theatre Guidebook can be accessed through a free membership to the Canadian Green Alliance.
DESIGN
“Being ‘ecological’ means integrating an awareness that no decision stands on its own: every design choice is intertwined with social, environmental, economic and political consequences that are far reaching and capable of having long-term effects and, ultimately, benefits.” (Beer, Tanja. Ecoscenography: An Introduction to Ecological Design for Performance. Palgrave Macmillan, 2021)
As designers we can consider the impact of our aesthetic and practical choices and acknowledge that they are capable of having long term effects on the stories we tell, the people who participate and witness, and the places that the story, and its refuse, will inhabit. A scenographer is practiced in creating interactions between the various elements of the theatrical experience: light, form, movement, costume, space and so on. A scenographer who wishes to practice an ecological approach is exploring ecoscenography, a term coined by Dr. Tanja Beer meaning the consideration of how design for performance, “affects and relates to the broader ecosystem (beyond the theatre). (Ecoscenography) entails incorporating principles of ecology to create recyclable, biodegradable, restorative and/or regenerative performance spaces.” (What is Ecoscenography, Tanja Beer) How can the typical design process be hacked to produce positive change beyond the stage while enriching the story and the human work experience?
Design for Future Lives.
Consider how your design will be brought into three dimensional form: what space, labour, and materials are required? Now imagine what will happen to the design once the show closes: how can it be taken apart into groups of similar materials? Who in your community could find use for the design as a whole or in parts? If designing an object that is versatile and has the potential to be reused, design using high quality, long lasting materials to maximize that object’s lifespan. If you are designing something that is highly specific to a theatre production or intended to have a limited lifespan, it is especially important to design with biodegradable materials.
Lifespan
Consider the unique limited lifespan of a theatre production as a design opportunity, not an obstacle. How can your design exist uniquely in the time and place that it was conceived? Are there any natural phenomena in your environment you might incorporate in your design; can an actual sunset be the backdrop, or can the floor’s surface be grown, rather than painted? What biological materials are uniquely suited for the creation of garments in limited-run theatre productions, such as bacteria-based natural dyes?
Design Conception
Category 1: System Swaps
Save a collection of empty model boxes from past projects that can be reused for upcoming design projects and offer these to designers.
Save model pieces too!
Save foam core, plastic and metal model-making materials, and all sorts of paper for model building.
Clearly organize these useful materials and off-cuts by type and size so that there are no wasted pieces lost between projects and ensure that they are easily accessible and used first.
Start building a collection of basic materials and design tools that are for collective use. All contracted designers should be encouraged to take from and contribute to this collective stock, helping reduce the probability of every designer purchasing the same things over and over again for short term use.
Category 2: New Systems
Employ a green model making process (which we learned from Donyale Werle’s Green Model Making Workshop)
Eliminate foam core as it contains polystyrene foam which is one of the most difficult plastics to recycle.
Use only water-based white glue or hot glue sticks because this will ensure that your surfaces remain recyclable.
Maintain a collection of cardstock of varying thickness to replace your standard model making materials. Try collaborating with other departments to source these (for example, re-using front of house food packaging).
Print your surfaces rather than paint them as this will make it easier to separate your models into recyclable pieces when it is time to dispose of it.
Category 3: Community
Use what is abundantly available to you. Take a thorough look through the theatre company’s existing stock and see if you can be inspired by re-imagining existing materials and design elements before you start the design process.
Apply this approach to your engagement with the world at large by designing from found materials outside the theatre stock rather than defaulting to designing elements that need to be built. This could include considering waste from other industries such as construction and fashion as well as thrifting from second hand consumer sources.
Host and participate in eco-design charrettes to exchange and develop green design practises alongside local and international design communities.
Design Realization
Category 1: System Swaps
Prioritize building techniques that are a combination of like materials, ideally biological based, which will make your deconstruction of scenic elements less wasteful.
For example, sew cotton garments with cotton thread
Use joining components that are easily removable, ideally reusable and that won’t contaminate the other raw materials.
For example, assemble wood tables with wooden pegs rather than metal screws or nails
Proper disposal of toxic products and non-reusable materials like paint cans and fabric scraps.
Opt for second hand options whenever possible
For example; Kijiji, Ready Set Recycle, Facebook Marketplace
For example; Stylist Pulls and Rentals
Prioritize local purchases of raw materials only when necessary.
Category 2: New Systems
Include a wrap plan as part of the design process, in consultation with the Production Manager and production team.
Get all of your designers on a season to collaborate on sharing built design elements between shows and encourage them to creatively modify and extend the lives of these elements exponentially.
Eliminate toxic products and non-reusable materials. Opt instead to use products like Milk Paint, or build your elements out of fabric scraps.
Don’t buy anything new, prioritize hiring local labour to source and transform reclaimed materials
Category 3: Community
Extend this collaborative practice to include other theatre companies in your community - share materials and design elements across companies and seasons. Find out what other productions are in your area and when they are striking their shows. Coordinate picking up useful materials from those productions on the day they are planning to do a run to the dump!
Challenge yourselves to only build things that will have multiple lives and think about how elements could be useful outside of the theatre realm as well. Check out this interview with Marie- Renée Bourget Harvey on joyful eco-creativity.
Use biodegradable products like kelp leather or mushroom bricks and regenerative materials.
Use theatre design as a platform to encourage other industries like fashion and architecture to see the possibilities of new sustainable products and materials.
Spotlight: Écoscéno
Écoscéno is a company from Montreal that specializes in helping arts workers design, implement and plan ecologically responsible theatre. Check out their services, such as their online shop that repurposes design elements from past productions.