As part of our expanding outreach initiatives for this season, we are pleased to announce the inaugural creation and staging of Poetic Justice: Works by Incarcerated Youth in Memphis, a free event featuring poetry written by participants in our Poetry Summer Camp for incarcerated youth to be performed by TSC’s professional acting company. 

Awarded with an “Arts Pathways for Youth Success” grant by the Tennessee Arts Commission, Poetic Justice will play on our Tabor Stage on Sunday, September 11 at 4:00 pm.

The cast includes Pershon Harper, Rose James, Joshua Payne, and Mackenzie White.

We recently served youths incarcerated at two Shelby County detention centers with a four-week summer program titled “Poetic Justice” funded for the first time by the Tennessee Arts Commission.  A collaborative effort between TSC and Shelby County Corrections (SCC), “Poetic Justice” sought to help juveniles find their voices and express themselves through poetry, and to provide them with an opportunity to process their emotions and connect meaningfully with their peers.

Our hope is that the Summer Camp has offered its young participants an alternative experience with poetry: one that is encouraging and accessible, embracing freedom and self-reflection.

“We have to teach and remind our young people that they have tools to work through their emotions,” says lead TSC Teaching-Artist, Nic Picou.  “With this work, we would like for them to continue to explore how they can express themselves.  Poetry gives them a chance to do that and to explore their own feelings — both the good and the bad.”

Due to anonymity concerns for these minors, they are not permitted to perform publicly.  Participants shared their works and performed in front of their peers, TSC staff, and SCC staff at a private reading.  But our public sharing will allow their words to be heard and their efforts to be witnessed within the community, while maintaining anonymity.

For most of the participants, “Poetic Justice” is the only programming they received during the summer.  “Poetic Justice,” in part, owes its thanks to a six-year relationship that we have cultivated with staff and administrators at both Jail East and Memphis’ Juvenile Court.  Juvenile Program Manager Joyce Anderson has been instrumental in supporting and encouraging TSC-devised programming for the juveniles during their regular school year, and now supports this new summer programming.  

Those seeking to attend Poetic Justice: Works by Incarcerated Youth in Memphis are strongly encouraged to reserve seats for the event online here, or by calling our Box Office at (901) 759-0604.  The house opens 30 minutes prior to curtain.  Light refreshments will be served following the sharing.  Free parking and covered drop-off at the front entrance are available.

Season 15 Sponsors and Partners

TSC’s generous sponsors of its season, productions, and Education and Outreach Program include FedEx, International Paper, Arts Midwest, ArtsMemphis, Tennessee Arts Commission, Independent Bank, Evans|Petree, P.C., First Horizon Foundation through an ArtsFirst grant, AutoZone, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Campbell Clinic, the family of Pat and Ernest Kelly, The Sims Family Charitable Trust, Nancy R. Copp, the Jack Jones Children’s Literacy Fund, the family of Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor, the Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund, and the Dunbar Abston Fund for Sustainable Excellence. 

TSC’s season is funded under a Grant Contract with the State of Tennessee; and is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP5534, awarded to the State of Tennessee by the U.S. Department of Treasury.  TSC’s projects and productions are supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.  To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

TSC’s programming and outreach partners include University of Memphis’ Department of Theatre & Dance, Shelby County Schools, Collierville Municipal School District, Memphis Juvenile Justice System, the Memphis V.A. Hospital, Cities of Bartlett/Collierville/Lakeland/Memphis, Shelby County Election Commission, and the Benjamin Hooks Public Library Friends.

About Tennessee Shakespeare Company

Tennessee Shakespeare Company is a professional, not-for-profit theatre and education organization in Memphis dedicated to live, diverse performances of William Shakespeare’s plays, as well as works of social significance by classical, Southern, and modern writers/composers; and to providing innovative educational and training programming in-person and online.

Founded in 2008 by Producing Artistic Director Dan McCleary, Tennessee Shakespeare Company is Memphis’ first and only professional, classical theatre.  In 2017, TSC purchased its first performing arts facility, which is being renovated into the state’s only permanent home for professional, year-round Shakespeare performance, education, and training.  The company is engaged in its Brave New World capital campaign with a goal of $9.2 million, of which nearly one-third has been raised.

TSC has engaged its community with 60 site-specific plays and events for over 53,000 patrons. Its ground-breaking Education Program has reached 120 schools across nine states, totaling over 285,000 student interactions. The Program has achieved a high regional and national profile, partners annually with most local school systems, and this year is a recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts/Arts Midwest’s Shakespeare in American Communities grants: one for The Macbeth Initiative in underserved local schools, and the other for expanded residencies with local incarcerated youth.  TSC is one of just a handful of U.S. theatres to be awarded this grant for the fourth consecutive year.