We’ve had a great response from many talented people. More than we expected actually and it has become necessary to go through a short selection process (see message below). The project commences Saturday, April 17 at 2pm at Arcola Theatre. It is for performers, writers, theatre practitioners and generally interested people over 18. The aim is to use theatre to explore a variety of sustainability themes and create a high-quality short performance piece. If you are still interested in being involved here is some more information.

The group will meet over seven weeks, exploring sustainability issues through a variety of theatrical workshops, with the intention of devising a short performance piece. The location and dates of the performances are still to be confirmed. It will mostly likely be an outdoor or site specific performance. It is going to be very much a collaborative process and we welcome input from as many view points as possible. This is the first outing of The Green Theatre Project so there will be a lot of room to play.

Here is an outline of the sessions:

Session 1 – April 17, Arcola (2 -4pm)

• Intros
• Idea sharing
• Short devising session around a theme

Session 2 – April 24, Spitalfields City Farm (2 -4pm)

• Physical theatre workshop led by Irene Athanassiou
• Devise short movement sequence
• Decide on theme of final performance

Session 3 – May 1, Arcola (2 -4pm)

• Forum theatre workshop led by Rosie Leach
• Structure and form of final performance decided

Session 4 – May 8, Arcola (2 -4pm)

• LeCoq workshop led by Skip Theatre (tbc)
• Workshop potential material for final performance

Session 5 – May 15, Arcola (2 -4pm)

• Interpreting text workshop (based on an Irish play) led by Cathal Clearly
• Workshop and rehearse writer’s material for final performance piece

Session 6 – May 22, Arcola (2 -4pm)

• Workshop and rehearse performance piece

Session 7 – May 29, location to be announced (2 -4pm)

• Dress rehearsal/possible preview performance

Potential themes: energy usage, resource consumption and distribution, human/nature relationship, interconnectedness, the individual’s behaviour, fair trade, conservation, sustainable agriculture, social sustainability, etc. (These are just possibilities, the group will decide together on what issues they want to explore)

IMPORTANT: If you are interested in being involved, please send us a short paragraph describing what you hope to get out of the project and what you could bring to it. As well as what role(s) you would be interested in for the performance piece (i.e. writer, performer, stage manager, producer, etc) and a contact phone number. In order to be considered for the project we need to receive your email by the end of Tuesday, April 13. We will then let you know who has a place in the group. Please also let us know if you can not make any of the dates. We will be giving priority to people who can make six or more of the seven sessions.

Please note: That although the group is suitable for non-performers, the workshops will require some performance elements within the group.

Thank you for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you!

-Lisa and Rosie

The Green Theatre Project Arcola - greentheatreproject@googlemail.com