Lessons from Metta

After an awesome couple of years it's time for me to step down as Executive Producer for Metta. Since I started working with Metta, we've staged 111 performances of 8 shows in 17 different venues. It's impossible to do that much theatre without learning a thing or two, so I thought I'd use my last blog for the company to note down a few of the key lessons here.

Revivals

Abrahm & Isaac | Photograph William Reynolds

So this time last week we were busily reviving our Southbank show - Waiting (the verbatim piece about British Muslim women whose husbands were held without trial in Guantanamo and Belmarsh), which went fantastically well and sold out again (hurrah!), but has got me thinking about revivals. Because as well as Waiting we have also revived this year Abraham & Isaac (one of our puppet operas, well technically one of Benjamin Britten's Canticles, that we premièred last year at the Grimeborn Festival, Arcola) and Journey of The Magi (another Britten canticle we scratched and hatched back in Feb/March at the Little Angel Theatre & Shunt vaults - before they closed alas!!!) both of which we combined in the show Canticles at The Little Angel in April. And in terms of future revivals of course we're desperate to bring back Otieno next year.

Theatre/Baby Metaphors

So I often think that creating a show is in some ways like creating a baby - with the writer being the father who after the initial effort has to some extent sit back and let the director-mother get on with it (which is perhaps pretty telling of how I like to work with writers).

Food and Theatre

Heather (Metta's Exec Producer and also Producer of Otieno) is always mocking me because I insist every Metta board meeting revolves around food, whether it be eggs benedict or sausage sandwiches at our breakfast meetings, soup with home-made bread at our lunch meetings and casseroles & stews at our dinner meetings. Anyone who knows me even a little knows a) I'm a big eater and b) I get a bit bored talking business for too long. So is the food simply a ploy to keep me in the room? Until Monday I would have rather sheepishly conceded that was probably the case but I'm beginning to realise food and Metta Theatre are actually far more inextricably linked.

Otieno Rehearsals

It's day three and so far only one tantrum from the writer (which bearing in mind he's also the lead actor, sound designer and as of this morning fight director!!! is pretty good going.) But as a director who works predominantly with dead writers I'm more used to fighting with actors! Luckily he is one of those too, and the tantrum consisted of a few minutes of silent mutterings and then a big hug and copious apologies. Though he was only trying to preserve the integrity of the play - which is always something worth fighting for.