Dan McCleary curates and directs readings of three enduring works of laughter: Three Sisters, Tartuffe, and Blithe Spirit
We are bringing our inaugural Classical Comedies & Cocktails Reading Series to the Tabor Stage, featuring some of theatre’s most enduring comedies on Sundays, November 2, 9, and 16 at 3:00 pm.
Audiences will enjoy a breezy, cocktail-enhanced experience of readings of Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov on November 2, Tartuffe by Molière on November 9, and Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward on November 16.
Generously sponsored by Pete Pranica, and James R. Humphreys, each reading will run for approximately two and a half hours, including intermission, and is being curated and directed by TSC’s Producing Artistic Director Dan McCleary.
The Classical Comedies & Cocktails Reading Series will offer a unique blend of literary wit, theatrical craft, and conviviality, as full casts of TSC actors bring these beloved works to life in intimate readings.
Three Sisters (1900) explores Chekhov’s signature existential wit and longing for life’s meaning without repast. Tartuffe (1664) delivers Molière’s audacious satire of religious hypocrisy and social pretension via the French farce. Blithe Spirit (1941) follows the chaos that ensues when a séance unexpectedly summons a deceased wife, resulting in a martini-soaked spectral love triangle.
The casts include Dan McCleary, Sarah Hankins, Lauren Gunn, Stephanie Shine, Marquis Dijon Archuleta, Jeremy Bukauskas, Andrew Christenson, Chris Cotton, Lorraine Cotton, Stuart Heyman, and TSC’s Classical Theatre Apprentice company.
“These are three playwrights who, as William Shakespeare did, shocked theatre’s status quo – as well as their audiences, and sometimes their governments,” says McCleary. “Chekhov walked away from theatre when audiences rejected his work on stage at first. Tartuffe inspired revolt. And Coward offered pre-Code ‘risque’ carefully wrapped in wit and erudition. What is so keen about them each, and these particular plays, is that they remain both funny and scathingly modern. Sometimes our most profound learning comes when we least expect it – or laugh at it.”
The menu of dramaturgically-correct cocktails may include the deliciously potent White Russian, the sweet-with-the-sour Gibson, the shaken-yet-arid Martini, the tuxedoed Kir Royale, and the transparently delightful Death in the Afternoon.
Box Office
All tickets are $29. Seniors (62+) are $26; Students (+/-22 with I.D.) are $22. Tickets do not include cocktails.
Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office at (901) 759-0604; open Tuesday-Friday from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, and one hour prior to curtain. TSC is located at 7950 Trinity Road, Memphis, TN 38018-6297. No refunds/exchanges. The house opens 30 minutes prior to curtain. Credit Card charges require a $2.00 per-ticket fee. Free Tabor Stage parking and covered drop-off at the front door are available at TSC. The cast and schedule are subject to change with notice.
Actor Bios
Marquis Dijon Archuleta (Solyony in Three Sisters, Valere in Tartuffe) TSC: Don Pedro/Watch in Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth in Macbeth, Caesar in the Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series production of Julius Caesar, Laertes in Hamlet, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night. He is also a Master Teacher in The Romeo & Juliet Project. Acting: Sweeney in Cutler Bros. Theater’s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Matthew Alter (Tuzenbach in Three Sisters, Damis in Tartuffe, Ensemble in Blithe Spirit) TSC: Much Ado About Nothing (Don John/Verges). Othercredits include the international tour of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Ali Baba), national tour of Treasure Island (Ben Gunn/Billy Bones/Tom Morgan), Our Town (George Gibbs), The Importance of Being Earnest (Jack Worthing), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander), The Mousetrap (Trotter), Art (Marc), Boeing, Boeing (Robert), The Tempest (Ferdinand), and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Monty Navarro). Matthew is a graduate of Rice University with degrees in Theatre and Mathematics.
Marian Claire Barber (Irina in Three Sisters, King’s Officer in Tartuffe, Edith in Blithe Spirit) TSC: Much Ado About Nothing (Hero/Conrade). Lipscomb University credits: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, Crazy For You, Big Fish, Mamma Mia! Playhouse on the Square: Waitress, Punk Rock Girl; and she was a teacher for their Youth and Adult Musical Theatre Class.
Jeremy Bukauskas (Fedotik in Three Sisters) TSC: Much Ado About Nothing (Friar Francis), The Comedy of Errors (Duke Solinus), The Romeo and Juliet Project (Lord Capulet). Regional: Trumpet in the Land, The White Savage, The Music Man, All Shook Up!, Sword of Peace, Pathway to Freedom, The Wiz. Educational Theatre: Peter and the Starcatcher, Tartuffe, Peer Gynt, As You Like It, Lovers and Executioners, God of Hell. Jeremy earned his M.F.A. in Theatre from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Andrew Christenson (Rode in Three Sisters, Monsieur Loyal in Tartuffe) TSC: Romeo and Juliet (Sampson/Paris), Twelfth Night (Fabian/Valentine; Asst. Stage Manager), Macbeth (Asst. Stage Manager), The Comedy of Errors (Asst. Stage Manager/messenger). Other performance credits: Escanaba in Da Moonlight, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Little Women, The Seagull, Miracle on 34th Street, Annie Get Your Gun. Stage Management: Emerge 360, Silent Sky, Murder Ballad, Emerge Student Dance Concert. Andrew is a local Memphian and a recent University of Memphis graduate, earning a B.F.A. in Theatre with a concentration in Performance. Andrew was a member of TSC’s 2024-25 Classical Theatre Apprentice Program.
Chris Cotten (Kulygin in Three Sisters, Orgon in Tartuffe, Dr. Bradman in Blithe Spirit) is excited to be back at TSC with an opportunity to share the stage with wife, Lorraine. TSC: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Winter’s Tale (reading). Playhouse on the Square/Circuit Playhouse: A Bronx Tale; Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Once, The Bridges of Madison County, Billy Elliot, Sanders Family Christmas. Theatre Memphis: You Can’t Take It With You, The Clean House, As You Like It, A Chorus Line, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, A Christmas Carol. Majestic Theater (MA): Once. Barter Theatre (VA): Eleanor: An American Love Story. Education: M.F.A. in Theatre in Directing, University of Memphis.
Lorraine Cotten (Anfisa in Three Sisters, Madame Pernelle in Tartuffe, Mrs. Bradman in Blithe Spirit) is thrilled to be back at TSC, where she has acted in Saint Joan, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Taming of the Shrew, and It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play; and co-directed Romeo and Juliet (2015).Playhouse on the Square: The Prom, Gentleman’s Guide, Left Hand Singing, Memphis the Musical, Shakespeare in Love, and Tuck Everlasting, among others. Theatre Memphis: Addams Family. Germantown Community Theatre: Next to Normal and Smoke on the Mountain. Regional credits: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Rep, Barter Theatre, Tiffany Theatre (LA), Perry Street Theatre (NY Theatre Workshop), and New Dramatists (NY). Education: M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Memphis.
Lauren Gunn (Natasha in Three Sisters, Elmire in Tartuffe, Elvira in Blithe Spirit) TSC: Much Ado About Nothing, Saint Joan, The Grace of Grace: Shining a Light through Shakespeare’s Broken Villains, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Tempest, Cyrano de Bergerac, Macbeth, Henry VI, Romeo and Juliet, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, and Ada and the Engine. Southern Arena Theatre: Boeing Boeing, I Hate Hamlet. New Stage Theatre: Constellations, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Crimes of the Heart, A Christmas Carol, Cat in the Hat. Fish Tale Group Theatre: Voice of Freedom Summer. Lauren is delighted and honored to continue serving military Veterans at the Memphis V.A. Medical Center with TSC’s Feast of Crispian-South program. She is a member and associate instructor with Dueling Arts International. Education: University of Southern Mississippi (M.F.A.).
Sarah Hankins (Ferapont in Three Sisters) is a director, actor, teacher, and theatre administrator with a strong focus on collaboration, physical theatre, and heightened language. For TSC, Sarah directed Saint Joan in 2025 and will direct our touring productions this season of Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet for the second time. Sarah was most recently Artistic Director at Triad Stage, a professional regional theatre in North Carolina, prior to which she was a freelance theatre artist in NYC. Sarah is also the former Artistic Director of the NYC eco-theatre Green Theatre Collective, as well as a former Associate Artist at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre. Sarah has taught theatre education programs from Maine to Florida for students ranging from kindergarten to college, including teaching and directing at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Greensboro College, Guilford Technical Community College, University of North Carolina Greensboro, and Guilford College. Sarah is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s M.F.A. Directing program, and of Davidson College.
Stuart Heyman (Chebutykin in Three Sisters) TSC: Much Ado About Nothing (Leonato), The Comedy of Errors (Balthasar/Officer), The Tempest (Gonzalo), Cyrano de Bergerac (Ragueneau), As You Like It (Adam), The Comedy of Errors (Duke Solinus), All’s Well That Ends Well (Lefew), The Taming of the Shrew (Baptista), Othello (Brabantio), As You Like It (Corin). Theatre Memphis: Dracula (Van Helsing). Circuit Playhouse: Peter and the Starcatcher (Alf) and Tom Sawyer (Doc Robinson). Desoto Family Theatre: My Fair Lady (Henry Higgins) and Oliver! (Fagin). Germantown Community Theatre: Man of La Mancha (Cervantes/Quixote). New Moon Theatre: The Homecoming (Teddy). Stuart is a founding member of TSC.
Dan McCleary (Director; Vershinin in Three Sisters, title role in Tartuffe), a native of Memphis, last year directed TSC’s Shout-Out production of The Comedy of Errors as well as Grace of Grace: Shining a Light Through Shakespeare’s Broken Villains (which he also created). For TSC, he also has directed/acted in As You Like It (playing Jaques), Cyrano de Bergerac (playing Cyrano), The Trouble Begins at Eight: Mark Twain, Ada and the Engine, Blue Roses of Tennessee Williams (playing Tennessee with his son, Collins), Julius Caesar, Waiting for Godot, The Glass Menagerie (playing old Tom), The Taming of the Shrew (playing Sly), Richard III (playing Richard), To Kill a Mockingbird, Much Ado About Nothing, Ernest Hemingway in Key West, Flannery O’Connor’s Georgia Gothic, All’s Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Tempest, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the all-female Julius Caesar, Othello, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Themes from a Midsummer Night with IRIS Orchestra, Classical Creations in Quarantine, and Shakespeare’s Election of Coriolanus. Other regional theatre directing credits: The Servant of Two Masters, his adaptation of Anaïs Nin’s Henry and June, Vita & Virginia (Sackville-West and Woolf), My Own Stranger (Anne Sexton), and The Fiery Rain (Edith Wharton/Henry James/Morton Fullerton) at Shakespeare & Company, where Dan was Associate Artistic Director. He also has directed at Seattle Shakespeare, Orlando Shakespeare, and Georgia Shakespeare. He has played over 120 roles on stage, including Coriolanus (thrice), Richard III (twice), Macbeth (twice), Falstaff, Marc Antony, Caliban, Brutus, Petruchio, Hotspur, Bottom, Master Ford, Stephano, Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus, Cassio, Bertram, Demetrius, Silvius, Herman Melville, Porfiry, Charles Dickens, The Gentleman Caller, Hannah from Hamburg in La Cage, and Bertha Bumiller et. al. in the Greater Tuna series. Dan is a published poet, and the creator/director/actor of the plays Speak What We Feel: Shakespeare’s Radical Response to a Radical Time; Unto the Breach; Quintessence: Shakespeare in Performance; and Classical Creations in Quarantine. Memphis Magazine has named him among the “Who’s Who in Memphis” for seven years, including 2025. Dan presented his TEDx Talk “Shakespeare in Kindergarten, or Let Fall Rome” in Memphis in 2020, and the Germantown Arts Alliance honored him with its 2009 Distinguished Arts and Humanities Medal for Performing Arts. He holds a B.A. in Advertising and Journalism from Temple University and has served on the Boards of Herman Melville’s Arrowhead and the City of Germantown’s Telecommunications Commission.
Ethan Shaw (Andrey in Three Sisters, Cleante in Tartuffe, Charles in Blithe Spirit) TSC: Much Ado About Nothing (Claudio). Other credits include Cymbeline and Twelfth Night (Theatre at Monmouth, ME); King Lear, Company Cabaret, and A Christmas Carol (Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival); Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, and Edward III (Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, CA); and A Christmas Carol (Lyric Repertory Company, UT). Ethan has a B.F.A. with honors from Utah State University’s acting program with minors in music and chemistry.
Stephanie Shine (Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit) in 16 seasons with TSC, her directorial credits include Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Importance of Being Earnest, Emily Dickinson: I Dwell in Possibility, which she co-created with Denice Hicks, Henry VI: Wars of the Roses, Macbeth, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Southern Yuletide, Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits, Shake(s), Rattle, and Roll, Shakespeare Said It, Lend Me Thy Sword, 12 productions of Romeo and Juliet, and 15 Literary Salons. On stage at TSC, she played the Abbess in The Comedy of Errors, Countess in All’s Well That Ends Well, the female roles in Unto the Breach, and Gertrude in Hamlet. Prior to joining TSC, she was Artistic Director of Seattle Shakespeare Company, a position she enjoyed for 13 years. Other directorial credits include King Lear and As You Like It for Houston Shakespeare Festival, The Taming of the Shrew and The Comedy of Errors for Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the award-winning one-woman internationally-touring Marilyn Monroe Biopic, Marilyn: Forever Blonde, and several new works for Seattle’s Book-It Repertory Theatre. Her production of I am of Ireland (which she also conceived and adapted) opened Book-It’s 25th Anniversary Season in 2014. As an actor, she has performed with the Oregon Shakespearean Festival, NYC’s Theatre for a New Audience, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, ACT, The Empty Space, and Seattle Children’s Theatre, among others. Roles include Juliet, Rosalind, Lady Macbeth, Beatrice, Regan, Feste, Kate, Bianca, Dionyza, the Princess of France, Hero, Perdita, and the Chorus in Henry V. The Germantown Arts Alliance honored her with its 2016 Distinguished Arts and Humanities Medal for Performing Arts. Education: graduate of the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts; B.F.A in Acting from the University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program; M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Memphis.
Taylor Slonaker (Olga in Three Sisters, Mariane in Tartuffe, Ensemble in Blithe Spirit) TSC: Much Ado About Nothing (Dogberry/Balthasar). Taylor is an actor, director, and educator. She trained at Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA) and the Circle in the Square Theatre (New York, NY). Favorite roles include Midsummer Night’s Dream with The Rooted Voyageurs (Lysander/Mustardseed/Flute), Julius Caesar at Elsewhere Shakespeare (Brutus), and Circle Mirror Transformation at Ghent Playhouse (Lauren). TSC: Much Ado About Nothing. Other credits: A Christmas Carol, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest.
Natalie Tangeman (Masha in Three Sisters, Dorine in Tartuffe, Ruth in Blithe Spirit) TSC: Much Ado About Nothing (Hero). Favorite roles include Northwester: As It Is In Heaven (Hannah), Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really (Renfield), Dave Malloy’s Beowulf (Grendel’s Mother/Academic 2), John Proctor is the Villain (Beth); and Actors’ Theatre of Columbus: Romeo and Juliet (Juliet). Natalie is a performer, educator, and director having worked with Griffin’s Tale Children’s Repertory Theatre and Seesaw Theatre. Natalie is a graduate of Northwestern University with majors in Theatre and Psychology and an emphasis in Theatre for Young Audiences.
Season 18 Sponsors
TSC’s generous sponsors of the 18th season, productions, and Education and Outreach Program include FedEx, ARTSmemphis, Tennessee Arts Commission, James R. Humphreys, Nancy R. Copp, Evans Petree PC, Pat and Ernest Kelly, J. Walker Sims and the Sims Family Charitable Trust, Kathryn and Jim Gilliland, Anne and Mike Keeney, Independent Bank, Pete Pranica, First Horizon Foundation through an ArtsFirst grant, AutoZone, the Dunbar Abston Fund for Sustainable Excellence, the Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund, and the Jack Jones Children’s Literacy Fund. TSC’s season is funded under a Grant Contract with the State of Tennessee.
