AN OPERA company is ditching unsustainable sets for recycled alternatives, as it launches a beach clean campaign this summer.
Green Opera, based in London, will comb Brighton beach for rubbish and salvage any materials suitable for set design, before the rest is sent to the recycling centre.
It is part of the group’s initiative to produce music and drama in a way that does not harm the planet.
However, director Eleanor Burke said that although her productions will be environmentally conscious, it will not be a theme that runs through her shows.
“I found an artist who makes textiles from things she found and the beach, and there were a lot of artists doing that, but not so many people doing that on a theatre set scale,” she said.
“I was interested in seeing whether we could take the skills that they have into the world of opera.
“The way I want to be making the operas isn’t that every time you see an opera, the concept is the planet. What I want ultimately is for everyone to work sustainably, where we’re not virtue signally about the planet.
“I want people just to enjoy it, and then think ‘oh, it was sustainable, that’s good’.
“Big opera companies that have enormous sets – if they’re reviving a production then they can be reused, they keep everything. But if the production is a massive flop, everything gets binned, basically.”
Eleanor has teamed up with Surfers Against Sewage, which is running a Million Mile Clean campaign – its largest beach clean project to date.
The campaign hopes to enlist the help of 100,000 people each year to clean up their environment.
Green Opera’s clean on Saturday, June 18, will be its first – though there will be further events later in the summer.
“I haven’t run one before, but I’ve been to a couple – we thought Brighton would be a good place to start,” she said.
“We run educational workshops as well. It’s quite a young company, but one with big dreams.”
Eleanor’s clean will take place for two hours from 2pm, meeting on Brighton beach opposite the Tempest Inn.
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