Metra: A Climate Revolution Play with Songs
“[An] enrapturing original story by Emily and Ned Hartford. The inventive and endlessly intriguing storylines blend ancient myth with sci-fi acumen.”
“If Metra took the place of something like The Lion King on Broadway, we’d all be better off. But until then, you can make sure to see it at Abrons Arts Center.”
“A brash, impactful fantasia…A wild amalgam of Greek myth, glam rock, time travel, comedy, and dystopian projection to envision both despair and an inkling of hope…The snarl of the music with its clever lyrics, the audaciousness of the story, the wonderfully ragged set and over-the-top staging, and above all the marvelous performances, infuse [the] script with color and energy.”
Metra in the News
Forbes - “‘Metra’ A Play with Music About the Climate Crisis Aims to Inspire Change”
The Hollywood Soapbox - “INTERVIEW: In ‘Metra,’ audiences travel to 2045 to learn about today”
Inside Climate News - “A Dystopian Climate Musical With a Message: ‘Change Is Eminently Possible‘“
Stage Whisper Podcast - Whisper in the Wings Episode 43
WVOX Radio - In Focus - Jeremy Benton, Emily Hartford, Dr. Yadron
World premiere, produced by Flux Theatre Ensemble
at Abrons Arts Center’s Experimental Theatre
By: Emily and Ned Hartford, with songs by Ned Hartford
Directed by: Emily Hartford
Ensemble:
Cherrye J. Davis, Ned Hartford, Rebecca Ana Peña, Corinna Schulenburg, Richard B. Watson
Casting Director: Judy Bowman, CSA
Production Manager: Mackenzie Trowbridge
Technical Director: Spencer Zeitel
Wardrobe Assistant: Sophie Miller
Image Co-Designers: Corey Allen and Jason Tseng
Production Photographer: Isaiah Tanenbaum
Press Representation: Emily Owens PR
Lead Producer: Heather Cohn
Scenic Design: Will Lowry
Costume Design: Raphael Regan
Lighting Design: Kia Rogers
Sound Design: Nathanael Brown
Props Design: julian veronica
Gore Design: Stephanie Cox-Williams
Climate Action Designer: Jem Pickard
Assoc Costume Designer: Maia Soltis
Stage Manager: Jodi Witherell
ASM: Allison Cachay Narva
Book contributor: Corinna Schulenburg
”Cascade” Sound Design: Ned Hartford
THE STORY
The year is 2043. Despite lip service toward climate action, the fossil fuel industry continues to thrive. Shit’s bad. The rich choose to ignore it, insulated in air-conditioned Bubble communities and continuing to reap the benefits of disaster capitalism. But in a roadside bar on the Outside, a movement of collective power is brewing. A group of revolutionaries-a journalist, a hedge fund manager, and an ancient tree nymph-are tapping into a mythic and elemental magic that will demand that the powerful break the cycle of destruction, or face its consequences.
DEVELOPMENT
The themes for Metra were originally conceived and developed through a series of devising workshops in 2018, led by Emily Hartford, that were funded by the Puffin Foundation. That grant enabled an ensemble of artists to gather and experiment with the source dramaturgy, generate material, and engage in discussion. Following those workshops, Ned Hartford and Emily Hartford created the script for Metra (with songs by Ned Hartford). Metra had a public staged reading, presented by Flux, in December 2021. Artists who have participated in the devising and development of the play have included Toni Anderson, Arthur Aulisi, Matt W. Cody, Heather Cohn, Suzanne Darrell, Cherrye J. Davis, David DelGrosso, Rachael Hip-Flores, Rocio Mendez, Antonio Miniño, Lori Elizabeth Parquet, Rebecca Ana Peña, Anna Rahn, Dominique Rider, Corinna Schulenburg, Ereni Sevasti, Alisha Spielmann, Richard B. Watson, Stephanie Willing, and Salma Zohdi.
Photos by Isaiah Tanenbaum and Catalin Stelian-Shanks