• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Play inspires theater company to go green

WHITEWATER — Aquila Theatre is coloring its performance green as it tries to reduce its carbon footprint during today's performance at the University Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Aquila Theatre will present "An Enemy of the People" at the Young Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 2.

A classic by Henrik Ibsen, the play is about one man's shocking discovery of toxic water at the town's spa and the town's struggle to clean up the water.

"The play shows the complications the town faces trying to remedy and fix the town's water," said Leslie LaMuro, marketing director for the Young Auditorium. "It shows how people can get angry when doing the right thing requires a lifestyle change, which is very timely given our current environmental challenges."

"The play itself inspired us to go green," said Peter Meineck, artistic director of Aquila Theatre. "We felt the play's message was so relevant today and wanted to take it to the next level by exploring ways to make the performance itself greener."

Aquila Theatre, a New York City-based company founded in London, is dedicated to bringing the reinterpretation of classical drama to the greatest number of people. Aquila Theatre will not only be performing an ecologically themed play but its production will be environmentally friendly.

"It may not seem like it, but the theater industry is not very green," said Meineck. "We build most everything from scratch and when it's over it's then destroyed."

Aquila Theatre is reducing its carbon footprint by significantly reducing the electricity used to light the shows. It also uses a natural floor cloth to better reflect the light and brings the lighting track physically closer to the actors to reduce the amount of wattage needed to illuminate the stage.

"Many of the most obvious, common-sense solutions are green and have a big impact, like reusing items and being careful about waste," said Meineck. "Very little was bought new for the production."

Many of the costumes for the production are second hand, stock and sample sale costumes. Most of their costumes are also machine-washable, and by careful layering, spot cleaning and steaming the troupe is able to avoid dry cleaning for non-machine-washable costumes.

Not all greening is as simple as reusing, and solutions can often be complex and contradictory. For instance, Meineck came up with the idea of using tow-behind, gasless generators on the road. The wheels produced electricity, which was stored and used to power the show. However, towing the large generators required heavy vehicles and created wind drag, which negated the green value that they were achieving.

"We don't have all the answers, but we are taking a step that says we want a green life," said Meineck. "Theaters are built without the environment in mind. This creates a lot of obstacles to overcome but it also cultivates innovative ideas and fosters more creative thinking."

At the end of each show, the performers talk with the audience and ask for ideas and advice for greening.

"Our main goal is to raise consciousness, to encourage collaborative thinking on ways to make our lives greener while providing a great night of live entertainment," said Meineck.

The green performance at the Young Auditorium is part of a campus-wide movement to go green.

For more information on "An Enemy of the People," or to purchase tickets, visit the Young Auditorium's Web site at http://www.uww.edu/youngauditorium/index.html