"WORKING" ...Green!

The Transcendence Theatre Company’s first musical production “Working” has come to a close and we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the simple choices that were made in our production to help out the environment.

Before rehearsals even began, we were off to a “green” start because the Gertrude Pearlman Theatre actually has a recycled light system that was given to them from a university that was upgrading their own. We also were lucky enough to have our very own theatre sustainability consultant Michael Crowley teach us a few easy steps to green the Theatre even more. For example, we installed compact fluorescent lightbulbs (which use ¼ the energy of traditional bulbs) in backstage areas which will reduce the theatre’s energy bill and allow the theatre to put that money into programming and educational initiatives. Additionally, swapping the theatre’s traditional (toxic) cleaning products with organic materials will create a safer environment for future inhabitants in the space.

As for the production itself, we decided against buying new lumber and building new sets and decided to turn old pieces from previous shows into our recycled earth-conscious set. We pulled old flats and reinvented them and we simplified our original design ideas and went with a more "black box" feel for the show.

We also chose to go a similar route with the costumes. “Working” is an ensemble based show with the actors playing numerous roles so we decided that we would wear uniformed jeans and tee-shirts and then we added signature costume pieces that we found laying around the theatre storage room to represent specific characters. The uniformity of the grey shirts represented how all of these workers are indeed one...from fireman to businessman...we are all in this together! Also, when a signature costume piece was added, it helped to put the focus on the character whose story was being told.

These were not only earth sustaining choices but they also sparked the company to be creative with the materials they already possessed which sparked many simple and effective artistic choices. It also truly allowed the story to speak for itself through our talented actors without any distraction…not to mention the fact that it was indeed easier on our new company’s pocket book! Although our show leant itself to this style of production beautifully, we would highly recommend other theatre’s try this approach with some of their shows. Luckily, helping out the pocket book is also helping out the environment. We would not have created the show in the same way if we had not thought first about the environment and let its beauty be an inspiration for our first musical production.