Eco theatre

>> The Segal Centre leads the way
towards greener stages

DOCTOR KNOWS BEST: An Enemy of the People

by AMY BARRATT

The notion of decreasing one’s “footprint” on the earth is catching on, not just with individuals but with companies, and companies in the arts are no different. The music industry has been at the forefront, with major labels scrambling to out-eco each other, and high-profile artists like Jack Johnson putting together “green” tours. The film company behind An Inconvenient Truth, Syriana and the soon-to-be released Charlie Wilson’s War, pays to offset its carbon emissions. And Greencodeproject is a recent initiative by people in the industry to encourage more ecological practices on television and film sets.

But what about theatre? The Eco Show, by Toronto’s Necessary Angel Theatre Company, was one of the most raved-about productions on the Montreal stage last season. But even Daniel Brooks, co-creator of the play that put modern man and his wasteful lifestyle under the microscope, admitted in interviews that he was struggling with the environmental impact of making theatre.

Compared with the music and film industries, the stage may seem pretty low-tech, and it can be. On the other hand, it takes a whole lot of old-fashioned wattage to light up the Great White Way, and international festivals burn a lot of fossil fuels flying artists all over the globe. And as any eco-activist will tell you, “I’m not the worst offender” is no excuse not to do your bit.

Their bit is what the team at the Segal Centre has set out to do, starting with their production of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, which opens tonight, Nov. 23. They are not claiming to have “gone green” overnight, but are implementing more ecological practices with this production, which they hope to build on through this season and beyond.

Though it dates from 1882, the play’s theme is remarkably timely: a town, which has built a spa to attract tourist revenue, discovers that the water is polluted (shades of the recent blue-green algae scourge). For fear of financial ruin, the city fathers want to bury the report. Crusader Dr. Stockmann is branded an “enemy of the people” for telling the truth.

The play looks at what happens when, in order to do the right thing, you have to jeopardize your financial security.

Interestingly, similar issues come up when a company is trying to go green. In principle, you may want to switch to recycled paper, but in practice, you don’t have the money in the budget.

If you’re a theatregoer, you can probably recall some of the more impressive sets and costumes you have seen on stage. But did you ever wonder where those gorgeous constructions go after the show’s run?

People who work in theatre know that, too often, the answer is: into the landfill. It’s not that theatre practitioners are by nature wasteful or insensitive to the environment. Most companies, without a building to call home, simply don’t have the storage space. Even a permanent company like the Segal can’t keep everything, though the recent renovations to the building are providing storage on the premises for costumes and props.

The Segal is also making a conscious effort to reuse materials whenever possible. For instance, many items from their recent production of The Diary of Anne Frank are being recycled and reused by Young Actors for Young Audiences (YAYA), the Segal’s youth training programme, for their production, No More Raisins, No More Almonds, which, like Anne Frank, takes place in Europe during the Holocaust. So there are greener practices that can actually save a company money, thus allowing them—in the long run—to pay for things like recycled paper!

Dave Surette, the Segal’s technical director, charged with making many of the concrete changes, identified three areas in which he thought the company could make immediate progress: doing away with styrofoam dishes at the opening night après-show buffet; switching to eco-friendly laundry detergent to wash costumes, and introducing greener cleaning products and recycling programmes throughout the centre.

The Segal is also introducing collection boxes for some less conventional recyclables: batteries, printer cartridges (to benefit the Mira Foundation) and used postage stamps (to benefit Développement et paix).

An Enemy of the People, To Dec. 9 at the Segal
Centre for the Performing Arts at the Saidye
(2332 Édouard-Montpetit).
Box Office: (514) 739-7944