Metta Theatre – one of the UK’s leading production companies devoted to British musical theatre – has announced an intensification of the company’s focus on climate crisis and sustainability issues, with the launch of environmental consultancy Metta Green, at the same time as the release of the album for their brand-new climate crisis musical HouseFire, which is now available via Spotify , iTunes and other digital platforms.
Established in 2005 by Poppy Burton-Morgan (now known as P Burton-Morgan) and Motley trained Designer William Reynolds, Metta Theatre has been at the forefront of new work – with a strong focus on the development of new British musical theatre, which they have combined with climate change activism and advocacy both in a theatrical context and beyond.
Metta Green will offer environmental sustainability consultancy across the arts, creative and education sectors, providing bespoke practical strategies for organisations and institutions to create positive environmental change and to implement science-based carbon reduction plans, encouraging wider consciousness raising about the climate and ecological crisis.
Will Reynolds says ‘After decades of personal activism, expanding Metta’s sustainability practices over the last 5 years has been a real eye opener. As has developing our Creative Climate Leadership as part of the inaugural cohort of the Arts Council England & Julie’s Bicycle Accelerator Programme. There couldn’t be a more pressing time to step up and share our knowledge and passion for environmental sustainability with the world and help effect some wider positive change.‘
The cast album and brand-new music video of House Fire has also been released today. With book and lyrics by P Burton-Morgan and music from Felix Hagan, HouseFire explores the threat of the global climate and ecological crisis via a band of endangered animals who protest and spread their message through song.
A trio of endangered animals form a band to protest the climate and ecological crisis. Just because they’re animals doesn’t mean this is Disney. Leo the Snow Leopard lead singer is raging against the annihilation of their world, Ginger the Orangutan on keys has her own tale to tell about how deforestation has destroyed her family, while Alan the Elephant is keeping time on the drums. But their newly formed band ‘HouseFire’ is under threat from their corporate capitalist manager who wants them to pander to the capitalist system they are so keen to destabilize. On the face of it entering Britain’s Got Talent seems like a great way to reach more people with their message, although it puts a strain on the already fractious relationships between them, and is it all just too little too late…
P Burton-Morgan, who earlier this year won the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for musical theatre book writing for In the Willows – The Hip Hop musical (which toured the UK in 2019), said “It’s a beast of a subject matter – the climate and ecological crisis – and the potential for descending into earnest preaching is very real. But I hope we have created a rare thing; combining the painful urgency of the crisis with the political complexities, all wrapped up in epic banging tunes to rock out to. Plus it wouldn’t be a Metta show if we didn’t end with hope! So there’s also hope. Always.”
Eleanor Kane performs on the album as ‘Ginger the Orangutan’, Robin Simoes da Silva as ‘Leo the Snow Leopard’ and Lemuel Knights as ‘Alan the Elephant’.
