Shakespeare Sustainably
Shakespeare at Winedale is honored to be the recipient of a grant from the University of Texas' Green Fund to support our new Shakespeare Sustainably initiative.
Students in the Shakespeare at Winedale Summer Class circle up outside the Barn.
Performances at Shakespeare at Winedale are responsive to their outdoor environment. Audience members recall performances in which it seemed that Prospero did in fact summon a tempest in the form of a summer thunderstorm. Performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream are complemented by the sound of crickets and the pink glow of July sunsets. The environment is woven into the pedagogy of Shakespeare at Winedale as well: there is a longstanding tradition of “parapatetic” rehearsals, before audiences are invited, in which the play is performed across the entire Winedale campus: over meadows and through woods, spontaneously inspired by the actors’ impulses, weaving the environment into the fabric of their performance.
However, the bucolic outdoor setting that has made the past fifty-five years of Shakespeare at Winedale so impactful to generations of UT students now poses a threat to the program’s existence. As days surpassing 100 degrees are now the norm during the Summer Season, we are striving to adapt to the changing climate, for the safety of students and audience members.
With the support of the Green Fund, we're taking some environmentally sustainable steps during this 55th Anniversary Summer, to make Shakespeare at Winedale and its home in the Theater Barn sustainable for the next 55 years!
Here are some big infrastructure changes that will be happening:
- We'll be installing a high speed low volume fan in the Barn. These large, powerful fans are an energy efficient way to significantly cool the Barn.
- We'll be installing a new and efficient freezer backstage. This will allow for more reusable ice towels for our performers and cold, refreshing lemonade for our audiences.
Here are some smaller, audience-facing changes you can expect to see:
- Recycling and Composting initatives! There are currently no systems in place for recycling and composting out at Winedale. We're looking to change that.
- Sturdy, reusable handheld fans for our audiences to use during performances
- Aluminum water bottles for sale! Check out our merchandise cart for special Shakespeare at Winedale waterbottles, new this summer!
- Carpooling initiative! Driving in from Austin or Houston? Help us cut down on gasoline emmissions by sharing a ride. We'll be sharing news about our special carpooling software in the days ahead.
- Leave No Trace signs! Learn more about Leave No Trace principles and help us put them into action.
- We will be eliminating all single-use plastic cups and switching to more sustainable compostable single-use cups, which we will be selling for $1. We hope to use this as an opportunity to incentivize audiences to bring their own reusable cups or bottles to Winedale.
- Free "Shakespeare Sustainably" stickers! For every audience member who brings their own cup or water bottle to Winedale.