Green Week 2025: Sustainability at The Lir Academy
At The Lir Academy, we are committed to embeding sustainability in everything we do.
Lat September we launched our Sustainability Plan and Action Plan, committing to fostering a sense of care for the planet and people around us in all students and staff at The Lir Academy.
The Theatre Green Book was developed in the UK in 2020 and it’s a guidebook to how we can make theatre with less waste, taking more responsibility for our impact on the environment. Recently, the Irish edition was published with input from our own Acting Sustainability Manager, Sinead Wallace.
We recently staged our second Green Book production, Peribáñez. A story of a young peasant couple, Peribáñez and Casilda, whose rural life drastically changes when a powerful nobleman becomes obsessed with Casilda’s beauty. This production was a massive undertaking as it is set in the 17th century and is a Golden-Age Spanish classic comedy drama. You can see production photos here. This play was directed by Gemma Bodinetz with Set Design by Ciara Murnane, Costume Design by Clodagh Deegan, Light Design by Bill Woodland and Sound Design by Denis Clohessy. The cast and crews were made up of our undergraduate students.
Developing a show to Theatre Green Book Baseline standard is different from our normal process of developing a show. At the beginning of every developing play is the White Card, which is everyone’s first look at the design. With our Green Book shows, the card is renamed as the Green Card and the design is reviewed in terms of sustainability. We are considering where the materials needed are coming from and where these materials are going afterward. Our goal for every Green Book production is to ensure that 50% of materials are coming from repurposed or recycled sources and 65% of materials are going to be recycled or used as recycled materials.
The production of Peribáñez would not have been possible without our amazing, talented, and passionate students and staff. The following Stage Management and Technical Theatre students won the Sustainability Leadership Award for Trinity College's Green Week 2025!
Em Kelleher (2025), who has worked on a previous sustainable production, was Head of Construction and responsible for delivering a 4.5 metre high set entirely out of repurposed material. All while running and educating a crew of 6 first-years on sustainable construction practices.
Ais Flattery (2025), was Head of Props and was in charge of researching and adapting sustainable methodologies in creating two different statues using model making techniques.
Jen Kelly (2025), who has also worked on a previous sustainable production, was Company Stage Manager and looked at how the rehearsal rooms could become more sustainable. This included using keep cups and zero carbon paper for those who have learning agreements for accessibility and require printed scripts.
David Farrelly (2025) was in charge of Lighting Design and worked with the designer to deliver a majority LED lighting while still creating natural colours on set to fit the 17th century.
Amelia Hauer (2025) was in charge of Costume Design and dressed a 16-person cast with multiple casting changes, using repurposed sources.
From our assessment on our sustainable mode of our last production, we committed to ensure that 50% of everything going into the show was reused or recycled or upcycled and that 65% of everything would have a life afterward.
The result:
- Sets and Scenery - 98% came from repurposed sources and 79% were sent on to be recycled or reused.
- Costumes - 98% came from repurposed sources and 79% were sent on to be recycled or reused.
- Props and furniture - 84% came from repurposed sources and 82% were sent on to be recycled or reused
- Overall 93% came from repurposed sources and 80% were sent on to be recycled or reused.
All of these students did an excellent job and aided in hitting beyond the targets for a baseline Theatre Greenbook sustainable production. With a Theatre Green Book production, the goal is to shift from an unsustainable work model to one that is more in line with the Circular Economy. The show’s performance and visuals were outstanding, but it also served as a testament of how we can keep and maintain aesthetics without costing the earth. This was made possible by the backstage departments who went above and beyond!