New Beginning: An Environmental Case Study
New Beginning is a 60-minute design-led performance by Variable Matter that explores ecological futures through sound, projection, poetic text, and natural materials. This case study documents its environmental impact across two stagings — its premiere at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in 2023 and its revival in Luxembourg in 2025.
It draws on carbon data from the build, transport, travel, and materials, and reflects on the decisions made throughout the process — what worked, what didn’t, and what we’d do differently.
The production was designed from the outset to tour with a light footprint: a modular set that fits in a single shipping container, locally sourced natural materials returned to their environment after each run, and local young people taking on key performance and stagecraft roles rather than a touring company travelling with the show.
The report covers scenography, costumes, props, lighting and AV, audience travel, company accommodation, marketing, and wrap-around activities. It also sits with some of the harder tensions — between environmental optimisation and human sustainability, between short-term budgeting and long-term ecological cost, between designing more sustainable systems and ensuring venues feel equipped to adopt them.
It closes with six industry recommendations and four provocations for the sector.