The Eco-theatre Group
The group meet regularly on Saturday afternoons and work together to create stories, characters and events. We love working with our Earth Sprite characters (see above) and there is always room for more Earth Sprites to emerge, but we also work on other ideas, including climate comedy. We also have our own puppet theatre created from re-used waste materials. We perform on the streets of Godalming, at local events / festivals and at the What Next Centre on our Eco-tainment evenings. We’re also keen to bring our productions to other groups and venues where possible.
All material is designed to inform, educate, influence, encourage and entertain audiences about the climate and ecological emergency.
During the Autumn and Winter the group meets periodcally on Saturday Afternoons, 4:00pm to 6:00pm, to work on scripts, costumes, puppets and other creative elements for forthcoming shows.
Earth Sprites Emerging: The story so far:
“During COP26 the Earth Sprites: Treebeard, Elsa and Faraday – accompanied by the Drumming Wizard – met in Godalming to awaken Nolene. They understood that, although troublesome, Nolene was the best at communicating with the Earth Sprites, with the humans and, most importantly, Everybird. Nolene awoke to find that the Earth Sprites were concerned: the humans had been damaging the Earth, they needed Nolene to call on Everybird to rise from the the ‘Womb of the Earth’ to help stop the humans destroying the planet. With the help of the people of Godalming, Everybird arose, and speaking in ‘flute’, she asked for messages from the people of Godalming to take to the leaders meeting in Glasgow.”
“In July 2022, the Earth Sprites returned to the streets of Godalming. Treebeard, in his new role as CEO of the World Wide Wood, had been working hard to create the Green Leaf Stamp award, to be given to wood-worthy businesses, those helping support and nurture the earth and all its creatures. Sadly, none of the businesses applying for the award: ‘Take the Biscuit’, ‘Snake Oil Inc.’ and ‘Natty Nuts’, were successful.”
“In summer 2023, the Earth Sprites had a new idea. Inspired by Treebeard’s dream about humans sharing (a concept that Nolene finds hard to believe), Faraday’s ‘facts’ about how humans are affecting the planet and the need for a hammer, Everybird introduces the Earth Sprites to her ‘Library of Things’. Could this be a solution to the mountains of waste generated by humans? Could this mean that the humans would stop making things?”
This Summer (2024), Nolene has rescued some ‘hennikins’ from the humans and she is keen for them to ‘try something different’; she goes to speak with Treebeard and decides that the ‘hennikins’ must go on ‘holiday’, but where and how will they get there? Faraday will help, concludes Nolene, and he does, conducting a series of challenging ‘egg-speriment’ to see if Nolene’s hennikins can fly. The outcomes are poor, so Nolene decides that the ‘hennikins’ must travel by human means, but Faraday (‘factful’ as always) keeps asking ‘What about the Carbon?’. Can Nolene and the ‘hennikins’ find a carbon-free solution?
See the story unfold in the What Next Eco-theatre Group’s ‘Rubbish’ Puppet Theatre production of:
The Rotary Spring Fair, 4th May, 12pm and 2pm.
The Godalming Museum, 30th and 31st May, 12pm and 2pm.
Previous productions:
If I Had A Hammer
The Eco-theatre Group’s second production in the Rubbish Puppet Theatre, If I Had A Hammer, at the Rotary Spring Fair, May 2023.
The Green Leaf Awards
The first outing of Rubbish Puppet Theatre with the Eco-theatre Group’s production of The Green Leaf Awards, Crown Court, Saturday 9th July, 2022.
The Earth Sprites: Treebeard, Elsa, Faraday and a puppet Mayor were at the Godalming Green Gala, Saturday 13th August, 2022.
Everybird Goes To COP
The Eco-Theatre Group’s first production, Everybird Goes to COP (26), Crown Court, Saturday 6th November, 2021.
