Strategic Plan

Metro Theater Company’s New Five Year Strategic Plan

From October 2019 – September 2020, Metro Theater Company brought together staff, board, emeritus board, donors, and other stakeholders for important conversations about MTC’s future. In the midst of the planning process, COVID-19 hit – teaching us valuable lessons about our priorities and inspiring creative solutions for the future that only ultimately enhanced our planning process.

Thanks to the collective vision of these dozens of remarkable, committed individuals, MTC is able to share its long-range plans for the future – a future that prepares us for not only our 50th anniversary, but for another 50 years to come. Over these next five years, you will see MTC’s programs grow to ensure resonant stories for young people of every age through growth in our volume of productions, a new commissioned cycle of plays inspired by the resilience of young people, and enhanced virtual experiences. You will see our commitment to learning expand beyond the classroom and into our community and through the field of theater for young audiences nationally. You will see our commitment to equity and respect expand beyond our stages to encompass all aspects of our business practices. And you will see a redoubled effort to ensure we steward and grow our resources with courage and with care.

These four commitments coalesce towards a single unifying goal: to ensure that between MTC’s 50th and 60th seasons, we will reach every child in the St. Louis region at least once during their childhood with at least one of our programs. (We also commit to ensuring many of our region’s young people also access our programs repeatedly during their childhood!) Recent studies from the NEA and TYA/USA show that access to theater at an early age not only cultivates a child’s understanding of empathy, it also inspires hope. That is something we owe to all of our young people.

We intend for this plan to be transparent to our community in hopes that you, our community, not only play a role in helping us achieve it, but also hold us accountable to it. We are pleased to publicly share the plan’s executive summary and details on the Every Child initiative, which begins with laying key foundations to ensure its success starting in our 50th season. If you are interested in reading the full plan in its full current approved draft, please contact Managing Director Joe Gfaller at joe@metroplays.org.