Theatre Metropole began in 2002 as an international English-language theater company in Paris, founded by Lance Tait. The company's activities diversified into video/film late in 2007 and a few months later, in June 2007, Theatre Metropole signed a two-year royalty agreement with Crackle, an internet entertainment company owned by Sony Pictures. As a consequence, twenty-five digital short films were produced.

In May 2020, Theatre Metropole will be presenting a set of new comedy sketches written by Lance Tait, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. Please watch this website for details.

T.M Theatre Lab in Paris is comprised of theatre practitioners and artists from various different continents. Theatre Metropole does not shy away from the ambitious or the esoteric. Onstage it focuses on post-absurdist drama and has a special interest in one-act plays, epic theater and musical theatre. It believes that what is classic remains avant garde and that the best of the avant garde is truly classic. In 2003 the company presented "Synesthesia" at the New York International Fringe Festival. In 2002-03 the company also co-presented a reading series in Paris of ten plays written by Lance Tait based on short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. By 2005 Theatre Metropole started its ongoing series of original comedy sketches. Plays and sketches from these shows are now for sale in print and ebook formats.

Theatre Metropole agrees with Italo Calvino who says in "Six Memos for the Next Millennium", "Overambitious projects may be objectionable in many fields, but not in literature. Literature remains alive only if we set ourselves immeasurable goals, far beyond all hope of achievement. Only if poets and writers set themselves tasks that no one else dares imagine will literature continue to have a function. Since science has begun to distrust general explanations and solutions that are not sectorial and specialized, the grand challenge for literature is to be capable of weaving together the various branches of knowledge, the various 'codes,' into a manifold and multifaceted vision of the world."

Ambitious works which Theatre Metropole has presented, sometimes partnering with Moving Parts, Paris, are the musical, "Helen", and Three Essential Plays (Car Door Shave; Gambling Fever; Neither God Nor Master), available in print and ebook formats. At present, though Theatre Metropole has presented works by other playwrights including the poet John Ashbery, its main objective is to present works by Lance Tait, contemporary U.S. writer and director. From 2005 to 2014 work continued on seven more plays adapted from seven short stories by Edgar Allan Poe which resulted in the publication of second volume of "Poe plays": The Black Cat and Other Plays Adapted from Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. New volumes of Comedy Sketches continue to be published. However it should be noted that at present, Theatre Metropole has been on a break from full production since December 2012 except for invitation-only staged readings of new works in Paris and elsewhere. Most recent thanks to the six actors and Haejoon Moon of Theatre M in Seoul, Korea for co-production help with a staged reading in June 2014 in Seoul of new comedy sketches by Lance Tait.

Praise for Lance Tait and Théâtre Métropole: “Tait is a playwright with ideas and intellect and challenges and excites an audience” – Yvonne Shafer, author of “Performing O’Neill.” “Masterful acting… superb direction by Tait – CurtainUp New York. “Fascinating, exciting ideas” – NYTheatre.com. “Fine acting”– Back Stage New York. “Tait's fine body of work will ultimately find a larger and appreciative audience” – Stephanie Campion, artistic director, Moving Parts, Paris.

II. Theatre Metropole’s internet (mostly comedy) videos

Beginning in June 2007 Theatre Metropole’s videos became available at Crackle after Theatre Metropole signed a royalty agreement with that internet entertainment company owned by Sony Pictures. Web-wide, Theatre Metropole videos have received 2 million views. Now, most of the videos can still be seen on YouTube. These digital films were by and large an outgrowth of the live comedy sketches that Lance Tait wrote for Theatre Metropole The style of the sketches is indebted to the work of one of the great masters of the genre in Paris: the Frenchman, Roland Dubillard – a poet, playwright and actor admired by Beckett and Ionesco. And like Dubillard’s inventions, these comedy skits (and the short films) are usually written for two actors each.

III. The Musical, "Helen"

A musical comedy in 2 acts, with 22 songs by Lance Tait, loosely based on a comedy of the same name written by Euripides (5th century B.C.).

To hear selected songs from "Helen" please go to Helen The Musical, at YouTube

The Play and Its Film Adaptation

"Helen" is not only musical comedy for the stage, you can find information here on its adaptation for the screen.
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Time, Setting and Costumes: Egypt, during the time of the Trojan War; large interior rooms of the King of Egypt’s palace; the Hollywood film, ‘Solomon and Sheba’ (1959) directed by King Vidor, has costumes that would fit ‘Helen’- no kidding!

IV. The Edgar Allan Poe Project 2002-2015

"...consider anew what are the capabilities of the drama--not merely what hither to have been its conventional purposes." Edgar Allan Poe, "The American Drama," August 1845.

We have passed the year 2009 which was the Bi-centennial of Edgar Allan Poe's birth. Long Live Poe! Not only is Theatre Metropole presenting these plays from the Edgar allan Poe Project, small theater groups around the world are also. They usually present 1 to 4 of Lance Tait's stage adaptations of Poe in one evening. show.