Where do I purchase tickets?                                                                                                        

We recommend that you buy your tickets well in advance on this website via our secure purchasing system: tnshakespeare.tix.com.  We provide a ticketless system, much like the airlines (but without the extra baggage fee).  You will print your ticket at home, bring it with you, and that's your ticket through the door.  If you would like to purchase tickets in person, please come to our office at the historic Germantown Train Depot on Germantown Road across the street from the Commissary and sited right on the Norfolk Southern rail line.  We're open Monday through Friday during regular business hours.

From what are you modeling this idea?

There is no American model. This would be unique to the United States and a singular, progressive element of Germantown’s master planning process. Other cities would come to us to learn how to re-create it.

When and what will you be performing?
Our Season Three: Boundless as the Sea has just been announced: We will present Othello October 5-17, 2010 in St. George's Church in Germantown. Our Valentine's Masque Gala will be held February 2011, just before our inaugural Mid-South tour of Romeo and Juliet. Click here to read the press announcement for our full 2010-11 Season, or click here for a full schedule of upcoming events.

Why do you want to perform outdoors?
We will perform as the Elizabethans did, on the stage that Shakespeare played upon, using the inspirations Shakespeare used: the sun and moon, the stars, the wind, the sounds of the village, the calls of birds. The outdoor theatre is the only stage wide enough to encompass Shakespeare’s universal truths, ranging emotions, racing lovers, sword-fighting warriors, and juggling clowns. And it is freeing for the audience. It opens up possibilities instead of restricting behavior; children feel more welcomed; and it proves a larger event than merely a play. We experience each other with more comfort; and because we cannot always control what happens outside, this lends an air of excitement, encouragement, and compassion to the evening.

What other programs will you offer?
Extensive training for area actors and a new play festival that is Southern-centric. Performance programming will include indoor productions of other classical playwrights, from the Greeks to 20th century masters.

Who is on stage?
Professional, classically-trained actors from Boston, New York, the Berkshires, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Memphis. Most of the actors are members of the actor’s union (AEA) and will be specialists in multiple fields as artist-managers: choreographers, administrators, educators, builders, designers, fundraisers… just like Shakespeare’s men were. We would also audition and employ many local designers, actors, and children who are both union and non-union.

I’ve never quite understood Shakespeare productions; will I understand yours?
Yes, and like never before. Our actors play as the Elizabethans did, fully embodying the text and speaking directly to you in the audience for a shared, unrepeatable experience. With skilled Shakespeare actors, each word carries multiple definitions, and you get to decide what you hear. Theatre is a form of entertainment, but it does not limit itself to this. It is a call to action. It rouses with rhetoric, poetry, love, war, death, and rebirth.

What does the community think of the idea?
There is only enthusiasm for a Shakespeare Company. TSC was named "Best Newcomer in 2008" by The Commercial Appeal, has served more than 10,000 audience members in our first two seasons.

What do I get out of it?
Multiple awarenesses and new possibilities, increased property values and business patronage, growing homeownership, a more communicative government, a more cooperative community, heightened public care, compassion, and generosity of spirit.

What do you do for children?
More than 9,000 children have seen our productions, participated with teaching-artists, or played in camps in just our first two years. Ultimately, a significant percentage of staffing and budget is invested into arts-in-education programming. Shakespeare was a playwright who wrote plays for players playing in playhouses. We like playing, and if children come to Shakespeare’s words on their own terms through playing, inspired things begin to happen. They begin to ask questions, work closely together, support one another, read more, get better grades, see multiple perspectives, and join together in collaboration instead of competition. Through camps for all ages and through a Festival of Shakespeare where teaching artists go into area schools to direct a 90-minute version of a Shakespeare play, we will invest in the future of theatre and the future of our community. The Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund will guarantee these opportunities are open to children all over the greater Memphis area.

Do students relate to this message?
The performance of William Shakespeare’s plays demands our exploration of society, government, psychology, education, philosophy, athleticism, and  spirituality in pursuit of humanity’s sublime, classical question: How shall I respond to the world with my life? It is not enough to employ children as fairies in a play; they must be allowed ownership, engage with professionals, given an opportunity to play with the text. The Tennessee Shakespeare Company does just that.

And it is already reaching area students. We received letters from many of the students who attended the sold-out Student Matinees. Read their thoughts in their own words by clicking here, or read their reactions to TSC's first Summer Camps by clicking here.