The Green Theatre initiative covers almost the whole country now

More national theatres and major professional partners have joined the Hungarian Green Theatre Project, bringing to 21 theatres the total number of national cultural institutions committed to a sustainable future!

In the professional field, the Project has also made significant progress, as it now officially cooperates with the National Society of Conservationists (MTVSZ / FoE Hungary) and Greenpeace Hungary. The programme was launched in 2019 from the National Theatre in Miskolc, with the aim of working together in an exemplary way for the benefit of the future (and present) audience.

The eco-conscious theatre partnership has set common core goals such as raising awareness and participation in as many green programmes as possible; achieving environmental awareness and greater efficiency in energy, waste management and operations; increasing recycling in artistic production; and collaborating with green organisations and eco-conscious companies. The partnership will also aim to implement joint green theatre programmes in the future and to facilitate the creation of a permanent platform for sustainability-related applications.

According to Endre Papp, actor, founder and leader of the Green Theatre Project:

"In these times of particular vulnerability for theatres, it is not usual that cultural institutions are able to join forces in an area that is unusual for them. The pandemic has been a heavy burden on all of our lives, but now we have the opportunity to start again, to rebuild with a more conscious approach!

This is a long and intergenerational process, in which the members of the Project want to actively participate, not only on a theoretical level, but as pioneers, with real actions and targeted improvements to achieve greater eco-consciousness - our new professional partners will help us to do this, making our work even more credible.

Theatres are worth embarking on the sustainability journey not only to make them more cost-effective and therefore more environmentally friendly to run, but also because they are community spaces that can host awareness-raising performances, programmes and events, strengthening the role of culture in public education. And by being at the centre of attention, they can effectively convey important messages and raise awareness of issues that affect the future of us all, either by supporting specific causes or through their own actions and manifestations.

The number of participants in the Project is far from complete: our aim is to make environmental awareness a basic principle in all cultural institutions in Hungary."