Interview with my Colleagues: Skylar Thornton

I worked for Metta Theatre in summer of 2022. The theatre has two employees, P Burton-Morgan and William Reynolds. It was created seventeen years ago when both were attending university. Reynolds and Burton-Morgan are joint artistic directors and chief executives. Each person holds different roles for the company. Reynolds deals with more technician and stage work. He creates set designs, lighting, and videos for their YouTube and productions. Burton-Morgan writes and directs shows for the theatre. They also manage financials, bookings, and touring information. The daily tasks change for each person due the fact that they run their own company. Reynolds works on spreadsheets daily and can change tasks quickly. He can change tasks from spreadsheets to beginning the set designs for upcoming shows. Burton-Morgan balances the social media on the daily, along with directing rehearsals. They have a wide range of tasks throughout each day. According to Burton-Morgan, it takes a lot of emotional resilience to be an entrepreneur. They offered advice for future artists in the field and said that our line of work is “relentless and unforgiving” but to “keep going, and also don’t be afraid to walk away from it,” (Burton-Morgan). It sounds counterintuitive. Yet, the rigorousness of the industry sharpens our skills and should not scare away any future artists. Even Burton-Morgan admitted “throwing in the towel” every now and again. Having a strong support system, like their husband, keeps them going. Another key element is passion. The of the biggest reasons why Reynolds and Burton-Morgan chose theatre was because they wanted to impact people’s lives for the better. Reynolds wants to offer assistance to making theatre more green and Burton-Morgan wants stories to inspire future generations. Based on the interview I had with my colleagues, I would like to continue my work in the field of theatre. This opportunity has allowed me to shift my focus from being broad within my field of study to more specific qualifications for my future career.

Skylar: “What are your names?”

P Burton-Morgan: “P Burton-Morgan”

William Reynolds: “William Reynolds” 

Skylar: “What is your current role/job title?”

PBM & WR: “ We are joint Artistic Directors and Chief Executives of Metta Theatre (a midscale touring theatre company based in Somerset, UK)”

Skylar: “What do each of your roles involve?”

PBM: “Between the two of us we conceive, programme and produce all Metta productions, which tends to mean one UK tour a year and maybe 2 or 3 commissions / workshops developing new projects.”

WR: "Plus I’m the resident designer so I design the set, lighting and (where we use it) video for the productions. I’m also an environmental sustainability consultant for Metta Green (a branch of Metta Theatre) so I also work with other arts organisations to help them reduce their carbon footprints and become more sustainable.”

PBM: “And I’m a writer/director so I write and direct all the Metta productions. Plus I do the tour booking and venue relationships and fundraising.”

WR: “And I do all the budgeting and financial management.”

PBM: “We’re also married with two kids, so we also have two full-time roles as parents but that’s not strictly Metta-Theatre-related (though the kids do love coming to rehearsals!) …”

Skylar: “What are the daily responsibilities for the theatre?”

WR: “Every day is different. I could be building a model box for the set design of our next musical, or drawing up a lighting plan. And then editing a budget, producing management accounts for our board of trustees or negotiating with a venue over a co-producing deal.”

PBM: “Yes and I could be in rehearsals, or I could be deep in rewrites, with the odd email or WhatsApp to a venue seeing if they want to co-produce one of our future shows (before I hand that over to Will to deal with the financial details.)”

WR: “Sometimes the team is just us and maybe a lucky intern (like Skylar) so we’re doing everything ourselves, but with no management responsibilities and at other times (during productions) we’re managing teams and departments of up to 50 freelancers and simply holding all of that together is the work.”

PBM: “There really is no typical day for us, is there?”

Skylar: “How long have you been with Metta Theatre?”

PBM & WR: “We founded the company together in 2005, back when we were both still students at University so that’s… 17 years.”

Skylar: “What led you to pursue this role, and the professional field more generally?”

PBM: “I knew I wanted to go into theatre professionally from before I went to Uni so I dragged Will along with me. And then after Uni he studied design at the world renowned (and now sadly no longer running) design school Motley.”

WR: “Yes I probably would have gone into sustainability and climate justice sooner if I hadn’t fallen into theatre.”

PBM: “Ah, so I actually pulled you away from your true purpose. Oops. Still at least you’ve come back to it now, with Metta Green. And now we can use all the skills and experience we’ve gained in theatre to support that work.”

WR: “But we do both believe in the transformative power of the performing arts and live theatre to effect social and political change. That was what inspired us to found the company.”

PBM: “Yes and to provide a platform for unheard voices and stories.”

WR: “Amazing really that we had such clear sense of our company vision and purpose back when we were 20 years old.”

PBM: “Although has taken almost two decades to realise a lot of that vision.”

Skylar: “What sort of skills are required for your job?”

PBM: “Running a company takes a huge amount of emotional resilience. There’s no support network like you get when you work for an existing organisation. You have to be your own support network.”

WR: “Luckily we have each-other.”

PBM: “We do. Also you need to be exceptionally organised, comfortable leading large numbers of people, self-sufficient and resourceful, have brilliant time management skills and a limitless source of both new ideas and confidence in your own abilities.”

WR: “Not everyone has to be you though… I’d say you could run your own company without having all of that, and then recognise where your skills gaps are to find others to come on board with you.”

Skylar: “What advice would you give someone looking to pursue a similar role?”

PBM: “Our industry is relentless and unforgiving, and even more so if you’re running your own company so be kind to yourself. Keep going, and also don’t be afraid to walk away from it. I know those are two conflicting statements. But our industry is really tough so sometimes the right decision is to walk away. Equally, because our industry is really tough, you also have to just keep the faith and keep chugging away.” 

WR: “It’s certainly not a fast track route to success. Running your own company is definitely a slow burn, so if you’re impatient and want overnight success you may be disappointed.”

PBM: “I’m impatient and want overnight success but even after 17 years of glowing 5 star reviews and standing ovations there are still venues and organisations who won’t even give us the time of day.”

WR: “So don’t be disheartened in the face of failure. Or even just in the face of silence.”

PBM: “Also be kind to everyone else you meet - our sector is small. Today’s administrators or assistants (or interns) will be tomorrow’s CEOs and Artistic Directors. What goes around comes around. Eventually.” 

WR: “And on a boring note - if you know you have those skills gaps then try and surround yourself with others, maybe as a board of trustees, to support you.”

Skylar: “Best moment in your job?”

PBM: “When audiences come up to us and say it was the best thing they’ve ever seen and/or it’s changed their life. We have at least one of those experiences on every show and it really buoys you up when you’re in the depths of writing a funding application or in some mid-project-crisis.”

WR: “When the show has finally reached the point where it’s fully realised - you’ve ironed out all the problems in previews and it’s the best version of itself.”

PBM: “Except we never reach that stage because we’re perfectionists so there’s always more we could do with longer creation time / more resources.”

WR: “Yes but you’re very good at making peace with how far it's possible to take something and accepting that.”

PBM: “I think we’re both are.”

Skylar: “Where is your company/work headed in the next five years?”

PBM: “The West End. Then Broadway. Then maybe turning some of our musicals into films, so I guess Netflix. Hollywood? World domination.”

WR: “And for Metta Green - I guess to have better established the consultancy work, not just across the arts sector, but more broadly in other sectors.”

PBM: “So also environmental sustainability consultancy world domination.”

WR: “I think that’s a contradiction in terms.”

Skylar: “What is something from your work you didn't expect to see, find out, or have to do?”

WR: “I never signed up for all these budgets.”

PBM: “Yes, but you do love a spreadsheet.”

WR: “That’s true.”

PBM: “Sometimes I’ll go downstairs at 11pm wondering where Will is, and he’s just there poring over another spreadsheet.”

WR: “Also true.”

Skylar: “What are you doing when you're not at work?”

PBM: “Will is still looking at spreadsheets! The thing about running a company with your partner and working from home most of the time is that it’s easy for work and life to merge together. In a totally unhealthy and un-boundaried way.”

WR: “Yes, but I have my gardening.”

PBM: “That’s really your vocation, even more than theatre. And I knit… though often I’m knitting something for a show like a puppet, so that’s still work.”

WR: “Oh and there’s our other full time job as parents.”

PBM: “Yes though we rope the kids in too - they’re old enough to mop the stage. And during the first lockdown we roped them in to making parody videos of our previous shows.”

Skylar: “Who is your hero? A fellow artist you admire and inspire you?”

WR: “Paule Constable - a visionary lighting designer and a powerful advocate for environmentally sustainable theatre practices from way before it became a ‘trendy’ thing to be.”

PBM: “Jeremy Sams - a wonderful writer and director who is the only other artist I know (besides myself) who works at a high level across opera, theatre and musical theatre and as both a writer and a director. Proof that it’s possible! Also a kind and generous soul, and great mentor to me.”

Skylar: “Why do you continually choose your job everyday? (What wakes you up in the morning?)”

WR: “Well some mornings we don’t and we think it’s finally time to throw the towel in.”

PBM: “But then we just keep going.”

WR: “It also helps that we both have thriving freelance careers so in spite of the myriad different roles and responsibilities we have running our own company we can also go off and ‘just’ be the designer or the director on something.”

PBM: “And then we can claw back some headspace to do all the Metta work.”

WR: “Or we come back with a new appreciation and gratitude for the creative (and relatively speaking financial) freedom we get when we produce our own work.”

PBM: “As to what wakes me up in the morning - besides my alarm - is the promise of creativity. The opportunity to tell new stories and create and produce them with the principles of kindness, inclusion and social justice that we care about, that’s actually very special and rare.”

WR: “Don’t forget climate justice.”

PBM: “Yes that too.”

WR: “But you’re right. We’re really lucky to have forged this vehicle for our artistic and political endeavours where we can live our purpose and bring joy to other people’s lives.”

PBM: “And to our own.”

WR: “And that it’s still going almost 20 years later.”

PBM: “Well done us!”