Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet

This Element offers a guide by Katie Brokaw and Elizabeth Freestone on making and studying ecological theatre with Shakespeare.

This Element explores how Shakespearean theatre can address environmental crises, offering insights on adapting his plays ecologically. It discusses eco-friendly practices in theatre, from set design to outdoor performances, with examples from recent eco-productions of The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream.Given the many environmental crises facing the planet, we need to use all tools to address them, including Shakespearean theatre. This Element explains why Shakespeare is well-positioned to be an eco-playwright, how theatre-makers can adapt his plays to matter now, and how to make more ecological the many processes of Shakespearean theatre, from set design to performing outdoors. The co-authors are both directors, and conversations between them about their recent eco-productions of The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company and A Midsummer Night's Dream for Shakespeare in Yosemite (California) give clear examples of both the why and how of eco-theatrical Shakespeare.