Portsmouth theatre joins fight against plastic pollution with Festival of the Sea

The New Theatre Royal, in Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth, has announced its eco-conscious programme of events will return in February, 2020.

Its mission will be to encourage visitors to do their bit in combating plastic pollution in the oceans – starting with measures they can take at home.

Renowned speakers will lead the charge with an event at the theatre called The Problem with Plastic (and what to do about it) on February 13.

This will see the launch of a new plastics application geared at helping ordinary people eradicate pollutants along the coastline with their phone.

Users will be asked to take pictures of plastic waste on beaches and upload to them too the app.

These will then be used to make a heat map of plastic on the beaches, so environmentalists can proactively predict where waste will wash up.

BBC reporter Lucy Siegle, known for her coverage of the environment and ethics, and Portsmouth sailor Geoff Holt will both appear at the event.

Mr Holt was paralysed in a swimming accident in 1984, aged 18, and became the first quadriplegic yachtsman to sail solo around Britain in 2007.

New Theatre Royal director and CEO, Scott Ramsay, said: ‘We have a particular responsibility to our oceans as the UK’s only island city.

‘Our Festival of the Sea 2020 has been carefully curated to not only celebrate our relationship with the waters that surround us but to empower and equip our communities to protect them.’

The Problem with Plastic, which starts at 7.30pm, will follow fringe-style workshops and films to ‘educate and empower’ visitors from 4pm.

At least nine other events are planned for the Festival of the Sea, including the return of the popular Portsmouth Seafood Festival in June.

On February 16 Nelson – A Sailor's Story at the Square Tower, in Old Portsmouth, will take an amusing, family-friendly look at Horatio Nelson, telling a tale from the perspective of his monument in Trafalgar Square.

The English Chamber Orchestra, from London, will perform Sailing the Centuries at the New Theatre Royal six days later.

This will feature pieces from Mozart and other composers, new and rediscovered.

Both events are due to start at 7.30pm.

For a full breakdown of the events at the New Theatre Royal’s 2020 Festival of the Sea – and to book tickets – go to newtheatreroyal.com

Alternatively, call the box office on (023) 9264 9000.