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.

Association of British Theatre Technicians CEO Robin Townley  commented:

“The ABTT is very pleased to see the powerful commitment the National Theatre has made to meeting the Theatre Green Book Sustainable Productions baseline standard for all its upcoming shows. Since the Theatre Green Book initiative was launched, spearheaded by the ABTT, Buro Happold and Theatres Trust in partnership with many others across the sector, there have been an increasing number of theatres of all scales and formats trialing the guidance for sustainable productions. Theatres of every description are wholeheartedly encouraged to sign-up to help evaluate the first volume of guidance. The Theatre Green Book aims to provide an industry-wide standard for circular practice in all aspects of production, buildings and operations supporting the sector as it meets the urgent challenges posed by the climate crisis.”

The 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, Chair of the ABTT International Theatre Engineering and Arhcitecture Conference  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.