Green utopias: a possible green ground for performing arts training

Newman, R.; Taylor, A.; Cowling, L.; Garbenis, J.; Heath, T.; Kingsland, F.; McKenzie, V.; Neideck, J.; Reddrop, R.; Stewart, G. (2024). Green utopias: a possible green ground for performing arts training. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 15 (3): Green Trainings, 397-414.

We are a collective of teachers of costume, arts management, set construction, stage manage- ment, performance making, actor training, and Indigenous theatre making. This paper is part manifesto and part conversation, a deliberative discus- sion through co-authorship with a vision for progressing a radical sustain- ability agenda that includes in a leading conservatoire, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). The world finds itself at a critical juncture, grappling with an unprecedented global challenge – the climate crisis. In this dire context, we suggest that the University environment, and in this context the pedagogy of performing arts training, including the staging of produc- tion, emerges as a powerful tool for not only shedding light on the eco- logical crisis, but also inspiring meaningful change. This paper was written with three key questions in mind: what do we currently do, what could we do better, and what future do we want to be a part of and help create?