As the world faces worsening environmental issues, theater productions are considering the role they play in that, both on and off stage. An increasing number of production companies are putting sustainability at the heart of their performances, resulting in a new wave of green theater.
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00:00A post-apocalyptic future, piled with trash and polluted by plastic.
00:12It's a bleak image brought to life on stage by Performosa Theatre in their production
00:17Future World Hypothesis at the famous Cloud Gate Theatre in New Taipei.
00:22We will try to imagine after 300 years later what kind of landscape we will leave.
00:30So I think everyone can imagine a lot of junk or a lot of something that couldn't digest
00:37by the sea.
00:39More than an atmospheric story about humanity's fight for survival, the play reminds audiences
00:44of the impact people are having on the planet.
00:47Their sustainability theme runs deep through the production, even to how it was put together.
00:53Probably 95% of the materials that I use are sourced, collected plastic bottles, PET bottles,
01:01which have been transformed into these marine-looking creatures.
01:07We basically try to avoid buying new materials.
01:12Some smaller grassroots efforts are also putting sustainability at the core of their practices.
01:19Theatre Naturally Connected, a production company based in Hsinchu in northern Taiwan,
01:23try to be waste-conscious in everything they do, sometimes by leaning into styles of theatre
01:29that were born from a lack of resources.
01:32In Poland, we have a famous director, Grotowski, and he was a founder of the Poor Theatre Method,
01:40the actor that can create everything from his imagination and this inner landscape that
01:46it's created in his mind.
01:49And the rhythm of the body can make music, and so it's really the less, the better.
01:56The move towards sustainable theatre practices has gained traction in recent years, becoming
02:01an international collaborative mission, with Taiwan playing a key role.
02:06A Symposium on Diversity and Sustainability in the Arts is being held here at the Kaohsiung
02:12National Center for the Arts, the biggest such venue in the world, and a building designed
02:18with sustainability in mind.
02:21It's a joint effort by Taiwan's Culture Ministry and the International Organization of Scenographers,
02:26Theatre Architects and Technicians, or OISTAT, an NGO building a global network for people
02:32in theatre production, as they agree to stay headquartered in Taiwan for another five years.
02:38We are hoping to bring awareness from all the international community that this is the
02:43moment, this is the year we need to really look into the possibility of bringing sustainability
02:49thinking into theatre design.
02:52At the event, conversations about how many small changes to industry practices come together
02:58to make a big difference in the environmental impact of a production.
03:02You can't do everything all at once.
03:05Choose the easiest, most simple sort of action for you, whether that is changing out your
03:10electrical equipment for more sustainable electrical equipment, whether that is considering
03:15the paint that you use for your set design.
03:21Every aspect of a piece of theatre or a concert can be examined and tweaked to reduce its
03:26energy costs, including using recycled materials to build sets, more energy efficient stage
03:31lights or finding new ways to repurpose existing props and costumes.
03:37You could maybe take parts of a garment and modify and make a new costume, or you could
03:44upcycle, which means taking for example two garments and changing them in such a way that
03:51you would make a third one, a new one.
03:53Although they admit taking a more sustainable approach to performance design can introduce
03:58new challenges.
03:59There is a worry that when you start adopting sustainable practices, that might reduce your
04:08creativity.
04:09But as creatives, many in the industry are up for the challenge.
04:14I think theatre companies and theatre makers are often thinking about sort of the cutting
04:19edge or what's coming next, whether that is within their community, whether that's in
04:23the arts or technology.
04:25They tend to be kind of on the forefront of these sort of global issues, and sustainability
04:32is one of those as well.
04:37Theatre has long been a medium that tackles the most pressing issues in society.
04:41Now, as the world grapples with an increasingly polluted planet, the theatre industry is reconsidering
04:47the role it could play in reducing its impact on the environment.
04:51Justin Wu, Alex Chen and Rhys Ayres for Taiwan Plus.