What is Metro Theater Company?
We are a professional, nonprofit theater for young people. Inspired by the intelligence and emotional wisdom of young people, we create professional theater, foster inclusive community, and nurture meaningful learning through the arts.
To learn more about how we got started, click here to read our story.
To learn more about the values that guide our work, click here.
Does being a theater for young people mean that young people perform in your plays?
Performance opportunities are generally limited to adult professional actors, since so much of our work happens during the day in school settings.
Occasions for youth actors to be cast in mainstage productions come up from time to time. When it seems appropriate and necessary for the production, we’re delighted to extend these special opportunities to young actors.
Where is Metro Theater Company?
In and around the community! While most theater companies are associated with a specific venue, we choose not to own – or operate our programs in – any one space. Core to our mission and values is a commitment to serve the community in the community. We conduct many of our programs in a grassroots way, in all different kinds of community spaces (e.g. schools, libraries, and other nonprofit agencies). In short, our programs happen wherever there are people who can be well served by our mission!
When we mount mainstage performances for the general public, we partner with other organizations that have access to professional theater venues. We have collaborated with the Edison Theatre at Washington University on several successful productions, including the U.S. premiere of Hana’s Suitcase. We’re in a cultural partnership with the Clayton School District and have performed recently in the district’s theater facilities as well.
When not out in the community, our staff can be found working in a modest office and production studio in University City, Missouri.
What kinds of plays do you do?
We work with playwrights who create brand new stories for contemporary audiences. Occasionally we produce a well-known title, such as To Kill a Mockingbird. And we also devise original theater pieces that blend drama, music, storytelling, and dance. Two such pieces, Stuff and More Stuff, didn’t even use words! All of our plays appeal to young people as well as adults.
Where do the ideas for your plays come from?
Ideas come from so many places! Sometimes a playwright suggests an idea. Sometimes a story comes our way that simply must be told. Sometimes the actors come up with an idea for something that sounds challenging. Sometimes national or world events lead us to a theme or problem to explore.
Does Metro Theater Company accept submissions from playwrights?
We do not accept unsolicited submissions, nor do we want to receive any full manuscripts that we haven’t specifically requested. Interested playwrights are welcome to introduce themselves to us, though, using the specific protocol outlined here.
Where do you tour?
We perform in hundreds of schools, community centers, and theaters every year. A great many of these are located around the St. Louis metropolitan area and in its surrounding communities. We also tour to rural and urban sites in other outlying communities throughout Missouri and Illinois. From time to time we tour farther afield. Click here to see a list of the regional school districts and communities we served last season.
Since our inception in 1973, we have also toured to 41 states throughout the U.S. and have performed in international festivals in Canada, Italy, Japan and Taiwan.
How do schools pay for your programs?
Schools find all kinds of different ways to afford our programs.
Some schools and districts believe so firmly in the value in our programming that they write us into their budgets every year. Other schools have active PTOs that step up to make sure we’re a part of the students’ experience on an annual or semi-annual basis.
Other schools need help to afford our programs. In those cases, schools might request funding from the Missouri Arts Council or from Target Stores, both of whom provides grants to schools that want to provide arts experiences for students. Or, we might be able to offer a discount on our standard fees because we have raised a pool of funds from underwriters to offset the cost for schools that need help. In some special cases, a third party will cover the entire cost of delivering our programs to a certain school that they want to see served.
Can my child taking acting classes with you?
While we do offer programs every summer in which young people can enroll, it may be a misnomer to call them “acting classes.” We believe that every child is an artist, regardless of perceived talent or skill, and that every child deserves the opportunity of creative discovery.
As such, we welcome all kinds of people into our programs, and that does not necessarily make the programs serious training grounds for those young people who have an explicit interest in preparing to be young actors.
So, what classes do you have for kids?
We offer two wonderful summer programs:
For young people ages 4 to 10:
ArtsINTERsection at New City School
Every child is an artist in ArtsINTERsection! During a busy day of drama, music, creative movement and visual art, every child has lots of opportunity for creative expression and discovery. It’s a full day of learning with a staff of caring and creative professional teaching artists – and loads of fun for kids of all experience levels!
Click here for more information about ArtsINTERsection.
For young people entering 5th through 8th grade:
Young Artists’ Theater Lab at Wydown Middle School
You create it, and you perform it! Young actors, budding directors, and emerging playwrights explore acting, improvisation, physical theater and design with professional, working theater artists. Students build the skills that create imaginative and innovative theater while working with young people who share their passion.
Click here for more information about Young Artists’ Theater Lab.
How can my child develop his or her interest in theater?
No matter your child’s age, it’s good advice to audition, audition, audition! The more experience actors have, the more likely they will have another opportunity.
If your child is school age, encourage your child to:
- Try out for the school play. If there aren’t any plays at your school, suggest the idea, or make up your own.
- Sing in choirs.
- Learn lots of ways to develop the body as an expressive instrument. Dance is especially helpful; enroll in a dance class.
- Take part in speech and debate.
- Run for office in your school government.
- Volunteer to help out with a theater in your community.
If your child is college bound, also encourage your child to:
- Choose a school that offers theater classes. Some colleges and universities have undergraduate degree programs in theater; some have MFA programs also. Conservatory theater programs are likely to have auditions to identify gifted students prior to admission.
- Take classes in lots of areas, because great actors are great thinkers who are curious about the world around them.
- Contact theaters to inquire about their internship opportunities.
How can I make sure I don’t miss out on your public performances?
If you don’t want to miss seeing our work, do any – or all – of the following:
- Buy your tickets for our productions
- Join our mailing list so that you’ll receive production announcements!
- Connect with us on Facebook!
- Follow us on Twitter!
- Bookmark this site and visit it periodically to check for the latest production announcements!
What volunteer opportunities do you have at present or upcoming?
Click here for the latest information about our volunteer opportunities.
How can I get more involved?
In all kinds of different ways! Here are some:
- Get in the loop. Join our mailing list, connect with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter!
- Be a loyal member of our mainstage audience.
- Enroll a child you know in one of our summer programs. Click here to learn more.
- Advocate to have our programs in a school in your neighborhood. Click here to learn more about the touring productions and education programs we offer in schools.
- Volunteer! Click here to learn more about current and future volunteer opportunities.
- Support our mission by becoming a donor. Click here to donate.
- Consider serving on our board of directors. To learn more about our board selection process, contact Matt Neufeld (managing director) at matt@metrotheatercompany.org or 314-997-6777 x 102.
Loading ..
