What have Partners learned?
What have Partners learned?

How can theatre respond to the climate crisis?

This question listed at the heart of the EU-funded STAGES - Sustainable Theatre Alliance for a Green Environmental Shift project, a pioneering initiative reimagining the relationship between culture and sustainability. After four years of artistic experimentation, research and collaboration, the European Theatre Convention is proud to release this publication.

Developed by a consortium of leading European theatres, researchers, and sustainability experts, the Casebook published by the European Theatre Convention, documents innovative practices that push the boundaries of how theatre can respond to the climate crisis - artistically, organisationally, and technologically.

Through in-depth case studies, creative methodologies, and practical tools, the publication offers a comprehensive look at how the performing arts sector can integrate ecological thinking into all aspects of production and touring.

Whether you are a theatre-maker, cultural policymaker, researcher, or sustainability professional, the Casebook provides actionable insights and inspiring models for transforming theatre in response to environmental challenges.

What’s inside:

  • Artistic experiments and sustainable creation processes
  • New approaches to touring, scenography, and energy use
  • Reflections from artists and researchers involved in the STAGES project
  • Tools, methodologies, and recommendations for greener theatre-making
  • Real-world case studies from partner theatres across Europe


Access the STAGES Sustainable Theatre — A Casebook for free!

Exp: Asperiores qui et dignissimos.

With the growing impact of the ecological crisis and the strengthening of regulatory frameworks, the green transition is entering the world of performing arts as a natural step of change. At the same time, the world of arts is questioning not only about the creation of socially inclusive art, but also about

The report is based on the auto-analysis carried out independently by STAGES theatres and is method-
ologically rooted in inductive descriptive qualitative analysis.

Read the STAGES Practical Paper

  • Theatre de Liège, 2-14 May 2022
    "Tomber du Monde", with CAMILLE PANZA / ERSATZ

    During this 12-day residency, the artistic team of Tomber du Monde has developed their play writing, worked on the choral dimension of their project and tested their choreographic, textual and sound intentions on stage. They also thought about how to build a set and costumes that were as environmentally friendly as possible, reusing as many materials as possible.

  • Theatre de Liège, 18 - 21 April 2023

    "The invisible is not not existent", with VENEDIG MEER

    "The Venedig Meer company is collaborating with engineers from SAFRAN to develop an innovative prototype that illuminates the performance using only the force of gravity. This initiative aims to make visible not only the massive amount of energy required to light a theater but also to explore new environmentally friendly methods of production."
  • Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, 13-19 November 2023

    "Natural evacuation", With ALEKSANDRA STOJAKOVIĆ
    OLENJUK (1987) and Nataša Antulov

    "When an actress is told to act 'naturally' or 'movie-like', that instruction has
    no connection to her bacteria that are equally
    original and authentic as the actor's character...We experimented with different forms such as video art and live performance to have a better understanding of how we can produce natural behavior in an unnatural context such as theatre representation."

  • Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, 7 - 20 November 2023

    "Meantime, Between Failures", with The Arbajt Kolektiv

    An exploration of the sustainability of the independent scene in Croatia, in the context of the National Theate, through preparations for a 11.5 hour duarational performance.

  • Piccolo Teatro Di Milano, 04 - 15 September 2023

    "VajontS 23", with MICHELE DELL’UTRI

    "On the day of the sixtieth anniversary of the tragedy of Vajont (9 October 1963), Piccolo has come together with the Committee to
    promote La Fabbrica del Mondo and other cultural and civil institutions from all over Italy for a large-scale collective memorial in the form of an account, to evoke the past by looking to the future, to the water crisis, and to the policies and individual behaviour that need to be adopted now in order to prevent the disastrous reduction in the availability of drinking water."

  • Dramaten, 6th August - 14th September 2023

    "The First Bum", with AMANDA APETREA and LISEN ROSELL

    "Our aim during the process was to find out more about the evolution of the bum – specifically the anus."

  • Lithunian National Drama Theatre, 1st August - 31st December 2023

    "Ataka Fungus", with PAULIUS MARKEVIČIUS

    The main character of the installation Attack Fungus is a mushroom that has grown and is growing in the LNDT, in a suspended dialogue with inorganic substances created by recycling waste materials specially selected for this research. It is a living, growing, changing, and
    disappearing spatial work.

  • NTCH, 2023-2024

    "Navigating Hidden Currents and Unseen Connections," with PING YAO LEE

    "Irreversible harm" and "untraceable perpetrators" are akin to tracing the paths of rivers and subterranean flows. Lee Ping Yao hopes to merge these narratives, discovering new points of convergence or enabling voices on both ends to retell their stories.
  • NTCH, 2023 - 2024

    "Puppet and Its Double Residency"

    Artist-in-residence, CHENG Chia-yin’s Puppet and Its Double Theatre, has been dedicated to integrating eco-friendly principles into the realms of life, work, and creation for many years. The troupe’s commitment to "resource sustainability" forms the core of their practice, continuously pushing the boundaries of artistic excellence.

  • MC93 - 6-19 September 2024

    Les chats ou ceux qui frappent et ceux
    qui sont frappés

  • Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, 10 - 20 September 2024

    Sound Archeology

  • Piccolo Teatro, 12 - 18 September 2024

    Residence in preparation of
    Benvenuti al Piccolo!
    (Green Tour of the Island of Trees)
  • NTCH, 2024

    "NTCH ✕ Puppet and Its Double Line Puppetry ParentChild Workshop"
  • NTCH, 2024

    "NTCH Open School - Sound Exploration Beyond Hearing"
  • NTCH, 2023

    "Adventure of the Materials on the Puppet Table ” - Exhibition