Metta Theatre Announces Updates to 2022 Lineup

Metta Theatre - one of the UK's leading production companies devoted to British musical theatre - has announced two key projects for 2022: the release of second season of filmed musical drama CELLS on 21 March, a year after the first season was released in 2021, in partnership with Royal & Derngate Northampton, The Queen's Theatre Hornchurch and the Taunton Brewhouse, and a Christmas season of THE LITTLE PRINCE, opening at the Taunton Brewhouse this Christmas.

Metta Theatre continue to support organisations of all scales, and now also individual artists, with their environmental aims through sister organisation Metta Green. Metta Green Founder Will Reynolds has been made an expert mentor for the Theatre Green Book scheme.

CELLS once again stars Metta's Patron, the Olivier award winning Clive Rowe alongside rising star Lem Knights. They are joined by Natalie Hope, whose credits include The Commitments (West End), and Sweet Charity (Royal Exchange), and Legally Blonde (Leicester Curve). The first season of CELLS was written, developed and recorded entirely during the 2021 winter lockdown by the award-winning writer/director P Burton-Morgan and composer Ben Glasstone. The cast album is available via Spotify and other digital platforms accessible here.

CELLS is written and directed by P Burton-Morgan (Madam Butterfly UK tour, In the Willows, UK tour, Jungle Book UK & International Tour), with music by Ben Glasstone, mixed and mastered by Simon Small and the Musical Director is James Cleeve. The Director of Photography is Jon Dickinson, the films are edited by Will Reynolds. James Cleeve plays keys, Paul Moylan plays double bass and Curtis Volp is on guitar.

P Burton-Morgan, who in 2020 won the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for musical theatre book writing for In the Willows says, "We're delighted to be revisiting our digital musical Cells and releasing 'Season Two' with the introduction of a third character. With the first season having been seen by over 42,000 people across YouTube and Facebook, it's wonderful to hopefully reach even more audiences digitally with the next instalment of this intimately moving story. Taken together both 'seasons' make up a full-length piece and we're in conversation with several venues about bringing the stage version to live audiences in 2023."

Metta's brand-new circus musical extravaganza, The Little Prince, will play the Christmas season at Taunton Brewhouse. Written and directed by P Burton-Morgan, with Candida Caldicot as Composer, and featuring a community ensemble drawn from young people across Taunton, The Little Prince will play from 6 - 30 December, with a press night on Wednesday 7 December.

A WW2 pilot has crashed in the middle of the Sahara. If she doesn't find water soon she'll die. But instead of water she finds a mysterious child - the Little Prince whose imaginative adventures and tales of far off planets quench a deeper thirst.

Based on the much-loved story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and complete with spectacular circus and packed full of enchanting original songs, this uplifting tale of friendship and wonder is the perfect family treat this festive season. A 6 track EP of songs from THE LITTLE PRINCE was written and recorded during the last lockdown, and is also available through Spotify and other digital platforms.

P Burton-Morgan continues, "We're thrilled to partner with a local Somerset venue - the wonderful Taunton Brewhouse to present the world premiere of this new British musical - a show that we have been developing for 4 years. Candida's music is enchanting, and the circus is absolutely spell-binding. For both lovers of the original story and those coming to it for the first time this will be the most delicious of festive treats - brought to life with all our trademark imagination and visual spectacle."

In 2020, Metta Theatre launched Metta Green - an environmental sustainability consultancy providing bespoke, practical help for companies, venues, productions and individuals to understand and reduce their environmental impacts as well as encouraging wider consciousness raising about the climate and ecological crisis.

As an early beta-tester for the Theatre Green Book sustainable productions toolkit, Metta Green Founder Will Reynolds is now also an Expert Mentor for the project, and can help support producers and green teams using the three volumes of the Theatre Green Book.

Following Metta Green's popular offer of introductory environmental reporting support to those applying for ACE project grants Will Reynolds says, "It's great that ACE are now putting their money where their mouth is regarding environmental responsibility with the extension of environmental reporting into project grant funding, and it's brilliant that we've been able to support such a wide range of arts organisations and artists to help improve the sustainability of their work. Already we can see a real culture shift towards meaningful change and not simply the green-washing lip service that some organisations have offered in the past."

Established in 2005 by 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, and a commitment to highlighting climate justice and sustainability; as well as celebrating all forms of diversity.

Over the pandemic, they have released a range of digital content including 5 cast albums, 7 music videos/short films and the digital musical Cells (Season One) which has had over 40,000 views across YouTube and Facebook. In December 2021 they premiered their new musical THE RHYTHMICS at Southwark Playhouse, which was tragically cancelled on the morning of its rescheduled press night due to covid. The production will be revived in 2023.

Prior to the pandemic Metta were one of the UK's leading mid-scale touring companies - known for combining emotionally powerful performances with imaginative theatricality and striking visual style. Previous productions include their smash hit street-dance Jungle Book(Theatre Royal Windsor & UK tour), circus-musical Little Mermaid (Theatre By The Lake & UK tour) and In The Willows (Exeter Northcott & UK tour), Mouthful (Trafalgar Studios) and Arab Nights (Soho Theatre & UK tour).

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