On October 22nd, Emily and Ned Hartford will release Metra: A Climate Revolution with Songs, a climate change musical that beautifully weaves music, myth, and magic to tell a story about the power of collective action and about all we have that’s still worth saving. Broadway DNA has called Metra “an enrapturing original story by Emily and Ned Hartford.
The inventive and endlessly intriguing storylines blend ancient myth with sci-fi acumen.” Blogcritics has said it is “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.”
Set in the year 2043, Metra tells the story of a group of revolutionaries who demand a new future. In a world close to ours (only worse), where performative climate action has let the rich keep getting richer, Metra aims to rewrite the narrative by reinventing the myths that keep us from making real change. Metra features expert sound design and sonically stunning songs as well as a Broadway cast including Tony-nominee Jeannette Bayardelle, Fred Inkley, Cherrye J. Davis, Corinna Schulenburg, and many more. Written by Emily and Ned Hartford, directed by Emily, with original music, sound design, and production by Ned, the couple pulls from their expertise and experience to craft a truly immersive listener experience.
Emily Hartford, creative partner with Flux Theatre Ensemble, spent the past seven years building the Metra world, pulling from her favorite myths – Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Emily combined her expertise as a theater and media director with her desire to create art that would inspire action around climate change.
“Metra is a story about radical transformations—from shape-shifting magic, to reincarnation, to the courage to step into your true self. It’s a show about our power to change the story that’s been handed to us. We wanted to make a show that’s honest about the systems fueling the climate crisis and the danger we’re in, but that’s also bold in its vision for the world we deserve,” says Emily. Alongside Emily, Ned Hartford, an award-winning songwriter and performer, has carefully crafted thrilling music and an immersive soundscape for Metra. His work has been produced at The Gym at Judson, Theater Row, and The Barrow Group and he has honed deep skillsets as a songwriter, musician, actor, performer, writer of musicals, music producer, arranger, and recording engineer.
Ned shares: “For at least 50 years, fossil fuel industry billionaires and execs have systematically—in plain sight—engineered the world’s economy to gain unimaginable wealth and power, in exchange for decimating our global climate, our democratic systems, our livable societies, and our collective safety.
Emily and I wrote Metra because we want to tell the truth about the climate crisis. And I want to tell that truth with music and the voices of brilliant artists, because for now we’re still alive on this miracle of a planet, and we still have the chance to take the power back. See you in the streets.”
Metra will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast apps. Listen to the trailer.
About Metra
The year is 2043. The world is hot, water is scarce, the weather is unpredictable…and the fossil fuel industry continues to thrive. The wealthy are comfortable in their air-purified, cooled, humidified, superbly hydrated Bubble cities. But in a roadside bar on the Outside, an unlikely group of revolutionaries is about to demand a new story.
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