The Year of the Hiker — Costuming a Play Without Buying Anything New

In December 2024, Quin Players Drama Group met with the Greener Quin sustainability team to discuss their upcoming production of The Year of the Hiker by John B. Keane, scheduled for February 2025. The groups discussed how the costumes could be sourced sustainably, using UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 — responsible consumption and production — as a framework.

The play is set in rural Ireland in the 1960s. A full list of required costumes was drawn up and the sourcing process began. Actors sourced their own suits and shirts. Braces, grandad shirts, coats, waistcoats, caps, dressing gowns, knitwear and dresses were sourced from charity shops in Ennis and Galway. The wedding dress and veil were upcycled from a dress purchased on Vinted combined with a reused flower girl's dress. Aprons and tea towels for the kitchen scenes were made from an old stained tablecloth. Not a single new item was purchased at any point in the process.

The production ran on 15th and 16th February 2025 at Quin Community Centre. The collaboration between Quin Players and the Greener Quin team demonstrated how sustainable costume sourcing can be built into community theatre without additional cost or complexity, while also supporting local charity shops and reducing textile waste.

Following on from this, we costumed this years production of The Workhouse Ward and the Tinkers Wedding. Costumes we reused, upcycled and handmade. Aprons and skirts were made from material cut offs and upcycled clothes. A tablecloth bought second hand to cover a table in The Year of the Hiker reappeared in the Tinkers wedding as a Priests surplus!

The project aligns with SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production - keeping items in use, reusing and buying second hand, and SDG 17 — Partnership for the Goals — in bringing two community groups together around a shared objective, strengthening existing relationships within the village.