The Theatre Times: It should be not at all surprising that climate change was one of the hot topics of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Whether authors wove the theme into their plays or solo performers elaborated on it at length, the variety of the ways in which ecological crisis made it to the stage was striking. Moreover, the stylistic features of these works were often in direct correspondence with what the artists were attempting to convey.
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It does not surprise me at all that many performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival center around climate change. The festival itself lends itself to hot button and topical works, whether they be one person shows or full scale production. Even back when I was at the fringe in 2014, there was a wonderful performance where the scenery was entirely made out of found plastic soda bottles pointing out humanity's ecological impact. In this article, I find the "Are we not drawn onward to new erA" performance extremely intriguing, from both an artistic and technical standpoint (how do you have performers take apart a set live, and then put it back together again?). These nuanced and possibly outlandish performances can thrive (or, in many cases, die) at the Fringe. As an additional aside to the content of the plays, we even see our own industry under scrutiny for its wasteful practices of striking massive amounts of wooden scenery to the immense power lost using incandescent lighting fixtures. I have old friends who worked in a troupe in Baltimore that dubs themselves the "Green Globe Theater" that aims to reduce their ecological impact. At the Fringe, this can be seen in piece "Pathetic Fallacy", where the performer quite literally removed their own environmental impact of traveling to Scotland from the equation. In the progressive world of theatre it doesn't surprise me that there are many conversations about global warming and the environment, and the Fringe festival is one of the best places to put on these outlandish or 'fringey' productions.
The use of theatre and art to bring awareness to important social issues is incredibly important, however I always find it to be slightly hypocritical when we in theatre and the arts try to shed light on environmental issues since by nature our industry is incredibly volatile in the amount of waste we put into the environment, though I think of all paces to do it a fringe festival that is already willing to discuss the taboo and push the edges of works is the best pace to do it. From the sound of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in this article, it would appear that they did find a balance in using materials and supplies that were environmentally friendly to tell the stories theater important. I also really liked the quote from Alanna Mitchell’s Seas Sick where she says “Science gives us knowledge… art gives us meaning” because I think that the beauty of art is that it can give us some motivation to understand, conceptualize, and really take in the facts (that in this case are presented by science). It is important to use theatre to highlight issues, and it is even more important to take steps and take action after making those connections.
It is interesting to hear about climate change and theater in the same sentence. It is also interesting to hear how so many of the topics of the plays and theatrical pieces in the festival revolve around climate change or climate disasters. I love the 'Are we not drawn onward to new erA' concept of combining film with performance and the use of time. Showing the end result first and then how the result came to be, is much more devastating than if the artists used linear, chronological time to tell the story of climate change. This performance makes the audience think and notice more about the impacts of climate change. I also liked the idea of reducing our carbon footprint, even if the execution of it was clunky and not as poignant. I have never been to the Edinburgh Fringe festival but now I want to, if only to have a thought-provoking talk about climate change.
Theatre has and will always be a medium in which we talk about the hard-to-discuss topics in everyday life. It is a form of art in which we can talk about the stress of daily life, to even the larger international topics (climate change). From what I know of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, they are no different in wanting to push the boundaries of theatre. The performances discussed in the article are great examples of what is of concern to us now as an overall community.
I agree with what others in the comments have said, however, about how we as an industry are a large contributor in the waste that is produced. I do believe that we are getting better and will move to an eco-friendlier realm of operating. I think that this can be seen in some instances that I have been in where talk of scenic elements is geared towards what is in stock already. This is especially something I have seen costume studios do; what do we have in stock? Do we have something similar?
Although, most of these examples may be because of labor hours, and not out of concern for the environment, I remain optimistic that a generation who has been raised to worry about our carbon-footprint, we will gear the conversation in theatre to be more environmentally friendly.
I support the reduction of our carbon footprint and living sustainably and stopping the destruction of the environment as much as anyone else. And while I am glad that climate change and a cry to save the planet are at the fore-front of the messages conveyed by art pieces in this festival, just yelling or crying or talking about the topic does not actively create any change. I have seen more than one article on the Green Page over the past few years about theatre pieces or festival that advocate for changing the way we treat the planet, but what most of these pieces of art lack is an action item that the audience member can do right then and there. In a quick google search I can see that the festival itself advocates for being less impactful on the environment – reducing the number of printed pamphlets and collecting props and scenery that would otherwise be thrown away. I wish that festivals like this would make a bigger effort in being green: perhaps having some of the profit from tickets going towards a productive non-profit that works with conservation or clean-up, eliminating the sales of anything with disposable plastic, or having clearly labeled/explainable waste stations.
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