The Scotsman

Environmen­tal issues to take centre stage in first zero-waste Fringe venue

- By BRIAN FERGUSON Arts Correspond­ent bferguson@scotsman.com

0 Basil Brush is to stage Fringe adults-only and family fun shows every day at Underbelly’s Cow Barn in George Square A pop-up venue made entirely of recycled materials is to be created for this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The first ever venture of its type, the 30-capacity venue will be part of programme staged by the Pleasance, one of the event’s biggest promoters and producers of shows.

The “Greenhouse” will be operated in the grounds of Dynamic Earth, the visitor attraction near the Scottish Parliament building.

The “immersive” venue is being specially designed, developed and programmed for the Pleasance by a St Andrews-based theatre company, Boxedin, in response to the amount of waste generated at the Fringe each year.

It will feature a line-up of nine shows each day addressing some of the biggest issues facing the planet, as well as an education programme of talks and workshops “centred around our relationsh­ip with the environmen­t”.

All sets, props and the structure of the venue will be built in the grounds of Dynamic Earth from found and recycled materials. The pop-up venue has banned the use of posters and flyers to publicise its shows, with digital marketing campaigner­s being relied on to attract audiences.

All the materials used to create it expected to be recycled or donated to artists after the Fringe comes to a close.

Highlights of the Greenhouse line-up include From the Wind Show, which will tackling Scotland’s relationsh­ip with renewable energy, and Daphne or Hellfire, and an “eco-feminist drama” exploring trees, family and female liberation.

Shallows promises to tackle theriseofe­co-terrorism, Symbiosis will feature five storytelle­rs opening a treasure chest of tales that the audience will choose from and The Voices We Hear will be set in the aftermath of an environmen­tal apocalypse.

Boxedin artistic director Oli Savage said: “I’ve been coming to the Fringe for many years and absolutely love it.

“But it was only when the company put on a couple of shows last year that I really OLI SAVAGE Boxedin artistic director noticed how much waste was generated by it. I’m sure there was paper recycling around the Royal Mile, but as a participan­t I just didn’t notice it.

“A lot of way we interact with our audience is through digital and social media. It is a bit strange how the world of theatre does marketing through posters and flyers. That doesn’t just apply to the Fringe.

“We thought it would be really cool to demonstrat­e that you could make really great theatre in a way that doesn’t harm the environmen­t, and also possibly has a positive impact on the environmen­t.

“We went away and decided to create the Greenhouse for this year’s Fringe, but would hope to take it to other festivals and events.”

Anthony Alderson, artistic director at the Pleasance, said: “We are delighted to be presenting The Greenhouse as part of our Fringe programme. It represents a microcosm of the festival and sets a challenge and an example for us all to strive towards – an environmen­tally neutral venue with minimal impact.

“The Pleasance takes reducing its environmen­tal footprint extremely seriously and, along with our bar and catering partners at the Edinburgh University Students Associatio­n, constantly making changes to our operation to reduce our environmen­tal impact.”

“We thought it would be really cool to make really great theatre in a way that doesn’t harm the environmen­t”

 ?? PICTURE: REX/SHUTTERSTO­CK ??
PICTURE: REX/SHUTTERSTO­CK

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