“The Tempest – Sustainability Project” explores the possibilities and limitations of creating sustainable theatre within the university environment in Urbana-Champaign. Using the production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest as a laboratory for the examination of sustainable theatrical practice, the production team will consider how the purchase, use, and disposal of building materials, the operation of lighting systems, energy and water use, and the representation of human beings interacting with their environment can contribute to an ecologically-sound production. The project evaluates the material-ecological implications of theatre making . Adapting the Mo’olelo Theatre’s Green Choices Toolkit, Broadway Green Scenic Techniques, and Julie’s Bicycle Sustaining Creativity Industry Green data management system, the research team can measure and track the environmental impact of the production. By documenting the development process, the researchers will investigate the ways in which the various institutional practices (of the university, the Krannert Center, traditional theatre methods), equipment, and systems enable and limit sustainable theatrical production. Guest environmental artist and conservation design specialist, Chad Tyler, will work with an interdisciplinary production and research team of University of Illinois faculty and students from theatre, landscape architecture, and the School of Earth, Society, and Environment to create a functional, sustainable performance and to interrogate the ways that human design and consumption practices impact the environment. The artist-researchers will partner with local businesses and organizations to improve the ability to obtain and dispose of production materials. Following the presentation and strike of the production, the researchers will recommend ways to institute environmentally sound practices and present their research results broadly to local and national audiences.