Writing in his blog, theater & performing arts, yesterday, the Guardian’s Chris Wilkinson writes “there is a new colour seeping into the politics of this year’s fringe — and it’s distinctly green.” But, aside from works with clever titles like Global Warming is Gay, Wilkinson admits that the subject was hardly touched at the Edinburgh Festival — and certainly not in a way that he thought adequate, considering how prevalent the idea of sustainability is today.
“Ultimately,” Wilkinson writes of playwright Ian Heggie’s work, “the comic form for the piece sits uncomfortably with its subject matter. For much of the time Heggie’s humour relies on some highly imaginative scatological references which, while funny in themselves, do not really illuminate the play’s politics.”
For a less direct, but decidedly more meaningful approach, Wilkinson notes that The Caravan, a “verbatim play” based on testimony from those affected by last year’s floods may be the clearest piece on the subject of the environment.
Check out Wilkinson’s blog — it’s worth a look.
Stumble It!
And i thought this was going to have to do with the crowding of the city with Fringe participants and the extreme about of trash generated by not only the number of people, but the literally billions of flyers that are handed out daily and thrown away. Yes the content is extremely central to the issue of green theater, but what is terrifying on top of that is the about of debris it creates as well. And since you know no one is going to keep your flyer and you’ll be reprinting or adding stickers after reviews come out, non is springing for the recycled vegetable ink cards. They do, t least, in the generous amount of beer consumed, use plastic cups that are able to be reused.
Well, as you know Ian, those kinds of things are a problem everywhere. Keep your eye out for an upcoming post — it’s from the “lost ecoTheater file,” and as I was revising it, I engaged in an interesting email conversation with a sound designer I know…he had some interesting things to say, I think.