The National Theatre has partnered with a string of London venues, including Young Vic, Royal Court and the Kiln to create a groundbreaking production centre.
The “large-scale” initiative in central London is being created in a bid to make the industry more sustainable by enabling the venues to share costumes, props and scenery.
This week, National Theatre director Rufus Norris revealed the plans for the epic new project as he spoke about his latest work at the South Bank site.
He said his organisation was currently in talks with the Greater London Authority about a “large-scale theatre industry initiative that pulls together all of our collective resources”.
Norris explained that the new location was being developed in a way that would allow the theatre to pool its resources and share them.
He said: “As a first step from 2024, the NT will be housing all our production assets, costumes and props and recyclable scenery under one roof in central London.
“Our aim is to have an electric fleet, which will take those assets back and forth on that small journey from the South Bank, making a significant reduction in our existing carbon impact.”
“We are working with Young Vic, Royal Court and the Kiln to consider how we combine efforts to put us on the path to net zero,” he continued.
“It is the beginning of what I hope will be a truly game-changing sector-wide initiative that will require significant private and public support. But it’s an essential step as we strive to protect the health of the theatre ecology.”
Norris also insisted that the National Theatre is always “questioning our impact on the environment” and does all productions according to standards in the Theatre Green Book, a set of guidelines for the industry to minimise environmental impact.
The plans for the centre, which were first raised in early 2022, will also allow theatres to access skills training and workshop space and could save approximately 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Additionally, the National Theatre is organising an event for stage directors with the National Theatre of Scotland and National Theatre Wales, with the aim of discussing the theatrical world’s response to the climate crisis.
Norris described this as the “largest ever meeting of directors and artistic directors from across the British Isles.”
“We hope it will facilitate a sector-wide conversation about making theatre in the context of the climate crisis,” he added.
The NT has also shared its commitment to sustainability on its site, where it states: “Like any business, our operation has an environmental cost: we create work that is inherently temporary; we make use of raw materials; we ask people to travel to a particular location at a particular time.
“We are committed to reducing our carbon impact, and have set ourselves ambitious targets to achieve carbon neutrality as an organisation by 2030.”
