To use and develop sustainable methods of making theatre - ensuring our work is carbon neutral and planet-friendly, at every stage of production.
To create work which carries an ecological message, ensuring every production also contributes through positive action and discussion.
To work with other companies to develop a permaculture of sustainable practice in the theatre and live events industries.
We are currently a company in residence at The Chapel - Ormskirk Arts House, come and say hello!
We are a #StagingChange company, committed to furthering sustainability in theatre. For more info, click the button below!
Immerse yourselves in a constantly shifting performance as we explore the planet’s fragile ecosystem through human hands. As we sculpt our home from earth and clay, join us in telling the story of Mother Earth, and the joys and disasters of humanity's impact.
Our costumes are designed and made from reclaimed, recycled, and sometimes even home-grown materials. From thrifting to upcycling, we always seek out existing second-hand materials to use in our costume design, while keeping in mind their life beyond our productions - some end up being passed on to other companies for their work, some get upcycled again and repurposed, and some end up in the casts’ wardrobes at home! Whatever the outcome, they always have a new life once they’ve served their purpose with us. We dye our costumes using natural dyeing methods - from coffee grounds to onion skins, and even grow our own ‘leather’ from kombucha tea scobies! (For info on how you can do this too, see our instagram!).
When it comes to set, many traditional production elements are made with cheap, unsustainable materials, which end their lives in landfill. We use a ‘build to dismantle’ system when designing our sets - this means we start our design process at the end, by setting a sustainable destination for our sets once dismantled, and work backwards, designing with their next life in mind. For example, our Sisterhood set is fully compostable, and will end up on top of crops at Burscough Community Farm. We only ever use sustainable, locally-sourced materials, including natural paints and dyes.
These elements can be bad for the environment in a few ways, with the energy they require to run, and the light and noise pollution that they emit. The best light, we’ve found, is the one above our heads - the sun! That’s why most of our community projects take place in the daytime, using natural light from the sun and working with the natural shadows as it moves. We also use found light - street lamps, bar signs, whatever second-hand lighting we find on our travels. When we do move inside, all our theatre lights are LED, which use significantly less electricity, and we even use a pedal-powered PA system which converts kinetic energy from the bike into power to run our sound system.
To save paper waste in the rehearsal room we work mostly on a devised basis, but when scripts are involved we use electronic scripts that are accessed online via Ecosia - the sustainable search engine planting trees across the globe. Any paper we do use goes on to become papier-mache set pieces or props in our productions.
When touring, our productions are designed to be easily portable and not rely on large trucks to move them. This means we can easily take our work around the country using public transport, saving tonnes of CO2 emissions. We are advocates of rural touring - not only because it brings theatre to communities who don’t always get it on their doorstep, but also because audiences staying local means less car travel for everyone.
If you have any ideas or suggestions to add to our list, get in touch! We are always looking for new ways to make our work even more sustainable!
Keeping our local green spaces clean is so important to us. Not only do we do lots of our work outside, but the local community and wildlife thrive on our natural spaces - it is so important we take care of them. We have pickers and sorting equipment at the ready, so if you spot a littered area, give us a call!
We are putting together some larger-scale community cleans around the Ormskirk area, so keep an eye on our socials for updates!
For community cleans and litter picks, contact Tom via the button below:
We have a range of accessible eco-creativity workshops for all ages, from craft activity hours to half-day drama workshops, on a variety of climate-based subjects that are in-line with the curriculum at each key-stage. Our team of experienced workshop leaders are available to book for the next academic year. Each workshop package comes with a resource pack for you to continue their learning in the classroom. All workshop leaders are fully DBS checked.
For schools and youth groups, contact Phoebe via the button below:
We are always on the lookout for creative people and big ideas! If you’d like to get involved, email us at info@tenderfoottheatre.co.uk
The Love2Play festival took place as Covid restrictions were lifted back in April, encouraging everyone outside to play having been indoors for so long. Working with artist and illustrator Angie Thompson, we developed Daisy Chain Tag - a playful intervention aimed at reconnecting people in nature, as we worked with the Ormskirk community to chalk giant daisy chains all over the town.
Commissioned as a photo opportunity spot for the Sustainability Fair at Edge Hill University, the Waste Wall was our take on instagram-worthy flower walls - only ours is made of a month’s worth of household recycling. The campaign ran to raise awareness of the growing trash crisis in our waters, by showing just how much our recyclable waste adds up, and where it ends up if we don’t dispose of things properly. After popping up around Ormskirk, the wall was dismantled, recycled, and is ready to go again for a new project soon (watch this space!).
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
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Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
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