CITations of text i like that are relevant for my research.

ECOSCENOGRAPHY

This book reveals many different possibilities to create sustainably, with communities,  places, environments and ‘engage in acts of care’. Tanja Beer’s writing and her own practice inspire, energize and empower all readers to open up to ecological consciousness, make it core of their own collaborations and connect in building a holistic sustainable culture of creators.”

She proposes new approaches to making and viewing performance within a broader understanding of human and more-than-human relationships, and shows how materials are co-creators in performance.”

"Performance serves as a modelling exercise in which we gather to imagine society through a variety of lenses with the potential to envision other ways of seeing and being."

"We were trained to work towards Opening Night. How we got

there, or what happened to our sets and costumes after the production

ended, was neither a priority nor a consideration"

"The urgency for this reimagining has never been greater."

"While the early decades of the twenty-first century have been preoccupied with defining and redefining

of scenography, I propose that over the next two decades, we must pivot

to further interrogate the agentic capacities of our field, not only in terms

of the wondrous ‘worlds’ and ‘experiences’ that we create for our audiences,

but also in terms of the ecological, social and political consequences,

impacts and messaging behind our work."

"have a responsibility in these times to address the problems of today and to

fuel change and alternatives…to show that rich and beautiful theatre can

be made without creating mountains of waste…scenic construction that

can rarely be used again does not set a good example to spectators who diligently

recycle bottles and newspapers, and grow their own vegetables."

"As designers and theatre makers, we must make it part of our job to think

of our work in a larger context—we must think about the materials and

objects we use, where they come from, what they are made of, where they

will go after we use them, and the impact they have at each of these steps."

"For so many of us living in cultures built on fossil fuel use, it is much easier

to see losses and sacrifices than it is to see what might be gained by a transition

to a world that faced up to the crisis.

Many producers and directors encourage

designers to create a visual experience that serves the audience’s highquality

expectations: a world that is both sophisticated and entirely different

from other designs seen previously (Morris 2007). Theatre’s highly

collaborative nature also requires a team effort in reaching sustainability

goals. Sustainability entails a collective focus:

promote sustainability in its full sense, enabling individuals and organizations

to see that it is not simply about reducing carbon emissions but about

more efficient and effective allocation of resources, meaningful interactions

with communities, ideas and aspiration, social justice—it’s about the society

we want to be, it’s about leading the discussion.

The objective of these

artists has progressively become one of creating ‘relational’, ‘empathic’,

‘participatory’, ‘collective’ and ‘community-orientated’ practices rather

than exemplifying personal expression

The focus of sustainability has shifted from individual artists or collectives,

to embracing communities and giving them a central role in

creative practice (Bilodeau 2015c). With landfills, ocean plastic and food

waste becoming a growing concern of the twenty-first century, artists of

all disciplines have increasingly embraced the potential of the discarded

to counteract the unfettered capitalist ‘myth of endless seamless progress’

and ‘continual creation of the new’

Ecologicalorientated

artists ‘often make new types of work, in surprising and unconventional

spaces. They are not just making the art, they are making the

very spaces in which the art happens’ (Ibid.). Here, ecologically engaged

practice is less ‘a vision of self-expression and more about creating the

conditions for change to occur’ (Ariana Jordao in Allen et al. 2014, 22).

creative challenge and an effort

to take ‘work outside of traditional venues and into communities’.

These

characteristics are also synergistic with the ‘social turn’ (Bishop 2012)

where ‘artists work in forms of context-responsive and collaborative practice

with communities, using a range of aesthetic, political and educational

strategies to identify and affect local issues’ (Badham 2013; Badham

et al. 2020). Artists are now asking: ‘How can we transform ecological

concerns into compelling and environmentally-conscious theatrical

experiences?’

The Agency and Potential of Scenography

Here, ‘the scenographer emerges not

as the spatial organizer of scripted narratives but rather as the author of

constructed situations and as an agent of interaction and communication’

Contemporary performance

designers are increasingly finding themselves straddling multiple disciplines

and navigating diverse communities to seek possibilities for political,

social, cultural and ecological revitalisation well beyond the confines

of the theatre building

Scenographer and scholar Kathleen Irwin (2017, 121) explains how

designers in the realm of expanded scenography operate ‘inside a burgeoning

network of possibilities, interconnectivities and co-constituted

intra-actions, working to make the most of the situation in relation to

what is afforded by the circumstances’.

Could an ecological approach to performance

practice entail what dramaturge Dillon Slagle (2013) refers to as

‘an advancement in the craft of theatre creation akin to electric lighting,

microphones, or the shift to realism’?

We should view place as the spatial manifestation

of a broader system with which we wish to engage.

The key will be to see our

current ecological crisis as a social, cultural, political and environmental

opportunity. It is only by embracing the creative potential of sustainability

that the performing arts will find its own path on the eco-agenda.

relating the historic incidents of the play to the local fishing community and the economic, social and historical connection of the Acadian population to the sea that prompted her to seek out opportunities to use site-specific materials. This included making use of the overabundance

This means viewing design from the perspective of relationships, rather than separate entities, as a way of making sense of the extensive impacts of interactive material-spatial processes. Embracing these 'relational materialities' is an essential part of starting to disrupt the linear ethos that has prevailed in our industry for so long.

Ecoscenography is best achieved when designers are in tune with the serendipitous opportunities and resources around them,

with the impetus to collaborate, share ideas and resources that can contribute back to the system.

locally available in the places in which we find ourselves. Allowing space for this porosity not only has the capacity to minimise environmental impacts through the accessing and sharing of resources, but also can stimulate new partnerships, audiences and networks.

edge their presence in my creative process is a pure joy...It is about taking into account the history, the integrity and ability of each of these elements so they play a role in the theatrical piece. (Ibid.)

Stringer's practice (Fig. 4.3) demonstrates how designing for site-spe-cific performance can foreground ecological processes. In site-specific theatre, it is the existing conditions and opportunities that take cen-

tre stage:

Importantly, Ecoscenography not only accentuates opportunities for designers to engage with local materials but also encourages theatre makers to consider how communities might become part of the co-creation processes. This approach can foster new networks, audiences, skills and possibilities that strengthen the meaning and outreach of the project as well as providing a platform to foster equity and togetherness on global-to-local issues. Such community-engaged processes were a focus of

To summarise, co-creation in Ecoscenography is a form of engagement where theatre makers align themselves with place-to open up to the

'worlding' of collaboration that takes into account co-extensive histories and futures across venues, communities and materials. In this process of

'making with', the scenographer is no longer seen as a 'space manipulator' but instead becomes a mediator, facilitator and co-creator. Here, the opportunities lie in the scenographer's ability to activate socio-ecological potential by seeking out opportunities for sharing, collaborating and engaging with others in the pursuit of a more integrated and rewarding creative practice.

The etymological roots of the English word 'celebrate' are derived from the Latin celebrare, meaning 'to assemble to honour' or to 'observe, respect, perform, commemorate' together. The notion of 'celebration' in Ecoscenography is one of 'gathering' to observe, respect and perform ecological practices in real time and place-one that links our longstanding cultural practices (rituals, ceremonies, rites and traditions) with sustainability.

McKinney and Palmer (2017, 5-6, 8) highlight the capacity for sce-nography to create 'empathetic encounters' or tactics in which 'partici-pants are enabled to see familiar environments in fresh ways. Creating

'empathetic encounters' is essential to 'celebration' in Ecoscenography, where the stage becomes a platform for empowering and catalysing ecological potential across audiences. The very act of making and performing together provides opportunities for collective memories which can act as powerful agents of change (Mang and Reed 2012, 29-30), permeating psycho-social spheres and influencing the lives of those connected to them (Bal and van Boheemen 2009). Theatre provides a rich platform for

or subject matter. As Sandra Goldmark explains, theatre designs tell us not only where we are, but who we are' (2017, 22, my emphasis). Our work showcases what we stand for—our material as well as our dramatur-gical choices. FanSHEN's production of Cheese (London, 2013)

To talk about matter is to talk about consequences, transformations and relations over time.... what is the balance between the agency of matter— as waste— and the intentions, force and design of the artist?

As Ecoscenographers we must engage with the unsettling reality that our arts practices have consequences. Nothing is 'finished' in a world of materials and there is no such thing as 'away'. Instead, skips overflow into leaching landfills and, inextricably, into our fragile ecosystems. No matter what forms they originally cast, materials are always on their way towards becoming something else (Barad 2003, 821). Where materials go after a

PERFORMANCE DIANA TAYLOR