National Theatre commits to Theatre Green Book standard for shows

At its annual press conference the National Theatre has confirmed it will continue to make its work as sustainable as possible by committing to adopting the baseline principles of the Theatre Green Book for all productions over the next 12 months.

Theatres Trust Director Jon Morgan responds:

Theatres Trust is delighted to see the National Theatre committing to the Theatre Green Book Sustainable Productions baseline standard for all its upcoming shows. Since we launched the Theatre Green Book initiative in partnership with ABTT, Buro Happold and others across the sector, there has been an increasing number of theatres trialling the Theatre Green Book in their productions. We would encourage as many theatres as possible to sign up. The Theatre Green Book gives us an industry-wide standard for all aspects of production, buildings and operations as the sector rises to the urgent challenges posed by the climate crisis.

Theatre Green Book initiative pulls together existing guidance and creates a shared standard for environmentally responsible theatre across three volumes:

• Sustainable Productions
• Sustainable Buildings
• Sustainable Operations

The project, spearheaded by ABTT, Buro Happold and Theatres Trust and co-ordinated by Paddy Dillon, builds upon the work of Julie’s Bicycle, Creative Carbon Scotland, SiPA, Ecostage and others. 

Theatre Green Book Co-ordinator and Theatres Trust Trustee Paddy Dillon has also written a blog about the project. 

Theatres and creatives can sign up to trial the Sustainable Productions strand on the Theatre Green Book website.

Photo credit: Ian Grundy