Young Vic

Julie’s Bicycle Releases New Sustainable Production Guide at Sold out Event

JBsustainingcreativity.102840Julie’s Bicycle on Tuesday launched its new Sustainable Production Guide at the first of their autumn events on Sustainable Design in the Arts to 50 arts professionals.

Speakers Donyale Werle, Tanja Beer and Sam Collins led the debate on the role designers and production managers can play in making arts practice more environmentally sustainable. Hosted by the Young Vic, the panel addressed an audience of London and UK based arts professionals from across theatre, opera, visual arts, dance and education.

After her success at World Stage Design 2013, Donyale Werle spoke about her experiences designing and constructing shows sustainably on Broadway, and the need to the normalise sustainable practices and work with current networks and suppliers to create change. Tanja Beer presented her research into eco-design principles and went on to explain her “Living Theatre” project as an example of how work can be designed to engage and enrich audiences, and leave a positive environmental and social legacy.

Sam Collins offered a different perspective, highlighting the potential for sustainably-designed artwork to create the context for honest and open discussions about waste and carbon emissions within the industry, particularly with regards to touring shows. He used the striking example of adding a GPS device to packing crates transporting Cape Farewell’s U-n-f-o-l-d exhibition to track their journey around the world. This was followed by a 50 minute discussion with the audience covering topics of new materials, the use of toxic treatments and contending with fire regulations, waste management, and the role of artistic vision in driving the cultural shift towards a more environmentally sustainable arts sector.

The event also included the launch of Julie’s Bicycle’s new Sustainable Production Guide. Available from today for free download the guide has been developed with a community of production professionals, and offers comprehensive guidance on how to make theatre more sustainable at every stage in the production process.

The guide is available for free download at:
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/practical-guides/production

Arts Manager Sholeh Johnston said, “The Sustainable Production Guide is the result of a collective effort within the theatre industry to understand and improve the environmental sustainability of production. It showcases best practice developed to date, links to key resources, and provides practical actions for directors, production managers, set designers and builders, costume makers, cast, marketeers and others involved with making great art happen. The guide is both a distillation of Julie’s Bicycle’s research to date, and an invitation to join an exciting community of practitioners pioneering new ways of working in line with environmental, economic, and technological drivers. We want to keep the conversation going, and continue to shout about the fantastic work being developed.”

Download the Guide here: Sustainable-Production-Guide-Final-2013

From Julie’s Bicycle: After Miss Julie “Classic for a New Climate” opens at Young Vic

Julie's Bicycle - News

EXCERPTED FROM: Julie’s Bicycle – News.

Last Month a re-imagining of Strindberg’s cruelest love story, Miss Julie, opens at the Young Vic after a week of previews. Set in England, July 1945, After Miss Julie takes place during the celebrations of the Labour Party’s landslide election victory and follows events which, over the course of a single night, turn Miss Julie’s world head over heels.

Adapted from the original by Patrick Marber and directed by Natalie Abrahami, After Miss Julie is also a “Classics for a New Climate” production, which has been investigating approaches to making more ecologically sustainable theatre in partnership with Julie’s Bicycle. Prompted by the Mayor of London’s target to reduce London’s emissions by 60% before 2050, the Young Vic set out to reduce the energy used to produce After Miss Julie by 50% compared to other shows that have been staged in the Maria Theatre previously.

Heating, cooling and ventilating are the three systems that use up the most energy within the theatre space, and the Young Vic has an efficient system in place thanks to a refurbishment to the building which reopened in 2006. Initiatives that this production has put in place to reduce energy further have involved using natural ventilation as a substitute for heating and cooling as much as possible. This explains why the temperature in the auditorium varies slightly and why they’ve asked audience members to wear layers.

To read the full article CLICK HERE: Julie’s Bicycle – News.

Chico Mendes Legacy Lecture 13.01.09

On 13 January 2009 RSA Arts & Ecology teamed up with the Young Vic and People’s Palace Projects to present a lively encounter programmed to coincide with Amazonia, the theatre’s latest extraordinary production inspired by the life and legacy of world-famous environmental activist, Chico Mendes, who was assassinated because of his political views in December 1988.
Go to RSA Arts & Ecology Projects

How Amazonia came to London this Christmas

Two years ago, RSA Arts and Ecology began supporting a multi-disciplinary collaboration with the Young Vic. Inspired by the work of the unionist and conservationist Chico Mendes, Amazônia began with a journey by the Young Vic’s artistic director to Brazil. It reaches a celebratory climax this winter with a magnificent children’s show at the Young Vic by Colin Teevan and Paul Heritage. Amazonia’s producer, Debra Hauer talks us through the extraordinary history of the project.