A local acting troupe has become the first ever local theatre company to completely offset their carbon emissions. The troupe, Cart Before The Horse, is putting on their adaptation of Duncan Macmillan’s play Lungs, that met critical acclaim at the Ottawa Fringe Festival last summer.
Matt Hertendy, one of the two actors in the piece, describes it as being about “a couple weighing whether or not they are good enough people” to bring a child into the world.
“It’s a great show with less,” says Hertendy.
Cart Before The Horse has teamed up with NatureLab.World, an organization that allows users to calculate their carbon footprint, and then work to offset it.
In the case of this show, the carbon footprint was estimated to include factors such as lights in the venue and audience members driving to see the show.
Using an estimation based on selling out every show, and every single audience member driving to the theatre, it was determined that Cart Before The Horse would need to plant 38 trees to go carbon neutral.
“Only 38—it takes so few to make a difference. Doing this sort of thing more often is a very real possibility,” director Paul Griffin said.
Hertendy adds that “the characters [in Lungs] talk about it, but we’re actually doing it.”
Lungs deals with complicated themes.
The couple asks each other and themselves existential questions, ranging from their parenting skills to looming ecological disaster.
The environment is a focus between the two characters, questioning if there is an ethical way to bring a child into an already overpopulated world.
“If simply choosing to have a child can be such a major decision,” Griffin said. “How are we ever supposed to clean up the world?”
While premiering at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, the show was described by audiences and critics as an emotional rollercoaster.
Megan Carty is the other actor in Lungs and founder of Cart Before The Horse.
“The rollercoaster image is spot-on,” Carty said. “We had built this rollercoaster as actors, but when you feel the audience riding with you, it becomes even more thrilling.”
The emotional intensity in Lungs is helped greatly by the way the team has chosen to perform it. The set is sparse, save for two blocks, the venue is small and intimate, and all of the audience’s attention is on the two performers.
“With a sparse set, you really connect with your scene partner,” Hertendy said.
“To the point where it’s freaky,” added Carty.
“The intimate space strengthens how in tune you are with the audience,” Hertendy said.
“It forces you into a completely different acting style,” said Carty. “When you all get close together, it becomes so much more naturalistic.”
The set style complements the script well—watching a realistic couple interacting behind closed doors like this, Carty points out that audience members are essentially flies on the wall of the characters’ relationship.
Both Hertendy and Griffin said their work on Lungs was influenced by their time at Carleton’s own Sock ’n’ Buskin. One of the shows that Hertendy worked on, The Tempest, was the first to use a room in Dunton Tower as a venue, with the same intimate and minimalist style.
Griffin was also head of the company at a time where there was a push towards contemporary works, allowing a lot more freedom to do shows like Lungs.
Lungs showtimes run Jan. 10-20 at the Arts Court Library.
Image provided
