Our 2024-2025 Company

Erin Amlicke (Viola in Twelfth Night) TSC: The Importance of Being Earnest. Recent credits: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Frankenstein (Greenbrier Valley Theatre); Vietato dare da mangiare (Paper Architects Collective), The Cherry Orchard (Burning Coal Theatre Company); The Comedy of Errors, Amphitryon, Antony & Cleopatra, Lysistrata (Theatre at Monmouth), The Revolutionists (Hangar Theatre), King Lear (The Brick), Boston Marriage (Smart Mouth Theatre). In September, Erin premiered her bilingual solo show, Kingdom Come, in Lima, Peru. She is a ’23-’24 Deceleration Lab Artist with The Assembly Theater and a graduate of the University of Houston with her MFA in Acting. @erinamlyes / erinamlicke.com

Marquis Dijon Archuleta (Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night; Senior Resident Actor/Teaching-Artist) TSC: Macbeth in The Macbeth Initiative, Caesar in the Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series production of Julius Caesar, and Laertes in Hamlet. He is also a Master Teacher in The Romeo & Juliet Project. Acting: Sweeney Todd in Cutler Bros. Theater’s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Frank Bluestein (Co-Founder) is the 1996–1997 Disney National Performing Arts Teacher of the Year and the 1994 Tennessee Teacher of the Year. USA Today named Mr. Bluestein as one of the top forty teachers in the United States in 1998. Until his retirement in 2013, he served as chair of the Germantown High School Fine Arts Department; as artistic director of the school’s theatre, the Poplar Pike Playhouse; and as executive producer for Germantown Community Television, the school’s nationally acclaimed television production center. Graduates from his program include Saturday Night Live star Chris Parnell; film, television, and stage actress Missi Pyle; Emmy-winning casting director Scott Genkinger (Desperate Housewives & NYPD Blue); NPR reporter Debbie Elliott; TSC’s Dan McCleary; and Blue Man Group actor Wes Day. Mr. Bluestein is a past winner of the American Theatre Association’s John C. Barner Award, and has served as an arts advisory panelist for numerous organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition to acting as a senior advisor for TSC, he currently serves as executive director of the Tennessee Arts Academy, a leading professional development institute for arts teachers located in Nashville on the Belmont University campus. Mr. Bluestein spent several years as director of shows at Opryland, USA, and he most recently wrote and directed the national touring production of Beale Street Saturday Night starring blues legend Joyce Cobb. In 2013, he was inducted into the Educational Theatre Association’s Hall of Fame in Minneapolis.

Allison Brice (Costume Shop Manager/Resident Costume Designer) has been the resident costume designer and costume shop manager at TSC for the last three seasons.  Her TSC design credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Cyrano de Bergerac, Ada and the Engine, Macbeth, Henry VI: The War of the Roses, The Romeo and Juliet Project (2022 and 2023); also I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Germantown Community Theatre); The Mousetrap, Blithe Spirit, You Can’t Take it With You (Theatre Memphis); Pippin, Between Riverside and Crazy, The Day is Long to End (University of Florida); Caroline, or Change (Cape Fear Regional Theatre); The Secret World of Og (Sarasota Youth Opera); Smokey Joe’s Café, All My Sons, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Theatre Raleigh). Education: M.F.A. in Costume Design from the University of Florida.

Jeremy Bukauskas (Duke Solinus in The Comedy of ErrorsTSC: The Romeo and Juliet Project (Lord Capulet). Regional outdoor theatre: 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.

Fiona Byrne (Curio/caroler/female swing for Twelfth Night; Apprentice) TSC: The Comedy of Errors (Luciana), The Macbeth Initiative. Other recent credits: How to Know the Wild Flowers:A MapSelkie:Between Land and SeaThe Beau DefeatedTheory of Relativity. Fiona is a graduate of Northwestern University with a B.A. in Theatre and English.

Andrew Christenson (Fabian/Valentine and Asst. Stage Manager for Twelfth Night; Apprentice) TSC: The Comedy of Errors (Asst. Stage Manager; messenger), The Macbeth Initiative. Other performance credits: Escanaba in Da MoonlightThe Lion the Witch and the WardrobeLittle WomenThe SeagullMiracle on 34th StreetAnnie Get Your Gun. Stage management: Emerge 360Silent SkyMurder BalladEmerge 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.

Austin Blake Conlee (Costume Designer for The Grace of Grace) TSC: Hamlet. Design credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cinderella, Gentleman’s Guide, Hamlet Replayed, Urinetown!, Twelfth Night, Cunning Little Vixen, Threepenny Opera, Joseph… Dreamcoat, and Streetcar Named Desire. Regional credits: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Kennedy Center, Cumberland Playhouse, Northern Stage, Opera Columbus, Arena Stage, and the Folger Theatre. Austin is Professor of Costume Design at Ramapo College of New Jersey. Education: M.F.A. in Costume Design from University of Maryland and B.F.A. from University of Memphis. https://www.abcdesigns.me

Jonathan Dimas (Feste in Twelfth Night; Apprentice) TSC: The Comedy of Errors (Egeon/Pinch’s assistant), The Macbeth Initiative. He has worked with the 52nd Street Project from Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. Other credits: PSJA North High School, Zoot Suit (the first permitted performance from writer Luis Valdez); University of Texas Pan American: MacbethMuch Ado About NothingEvil Dead: The Musical, and Death and the Maiden; University of Evansville: Julius Caesar and Book of Days. Jonathan graduated from the University of Texas Pan-American in 2009 after attending the University of Evansville. 

Jason Eschhofen (Composer/Sound Designer for Twelfth Night) (he/him/his) TSC: The Importance of Being Earnest (sound design), Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley (sound design), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Flute/Thisby). Other credits: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (music direction), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (music direction), Ruthless! The Musical (music direction), The Crucible (sound design), Days of Rage (sound design), and Murder for Two (Marcus Moscowicz, co-music direction, sound design). Jason has a B.A. in Studio Recording Technology from Bowling Green State University, and a M.M. in Voice Performance from the University of Memphis.

Jeremy Allen Fisher (Production/Facilties Manager; Technical Director; Lighting Designer) has been with TSC since 2013, designing 30+ productions. An 18-year veteran in the entertainment business with multiple degrees and certifications, Jeremy is a member of Local USA 829 United Scenic Artists with experience in all aspects of lighting. Founding his design firm in 2019, he has worked on projects of all sizes across the country. He is the Resident Lighting Designer for Opera Memphis and Youngblood Studio. He recently redesigned Ballet Memphis’ annual production of Nutcracker and completed several major public art installations at St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, and Oregon State University. Since moving to Memphis in 2011, Jeremy has completed 200+ lighting designs in the city, been nominated for 12 Ostrander Awards with four wins, and in 2017 was awarded the TAC Individual Artist Award for his work in Lighting Design.

Blake Galtelli-Meek (Wig/Makeup/Hair Designer for Twelfth Night) TSC: Cyrano de BergeracA Streetcar Named Desire, The Importance of Being Earnest.
Blake has over 17 years of experience in the beauty industry, including theatre, film, print, editorial, and artist-training and development. Recent credits include University of Memphis’ The Rake’s Progress, Into the Woods; Ballet Memphis’ Dracula; Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s Amadeus; Opera Memphis’s Once Upon a Hamster, La Bohème, La Calisto; Theatre Memphis’ Master Class; and Memphis Tourism’s Welcome to Memphis Spring/Summer 2024.

Tim Gouran (Malvolio in Twelfth Night) (he/him) is a Seattle-based actor and has performed with many Seattle theatres, including Seattle Repertory, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, New City Theater, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Theatre22, and Azeotrope Theatre. He got his start with The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. He has appeared in several movies and TV episodes, and has performed many voice-overs for radio and video games.

Lauren Gunn (Olivia in Twelfth Night; both Dromio twins in The Comedy of Errors; Senior Resident Actor/Fight Choreographer) TSC: The Comedy of Errors, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Tempest, Cyrano de Bergerac, Macbeth, Henry VI, Romeo and Juliet, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, 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 (Director of Education and Outreach Programs) is a director, AEA actor, teacher, and theatre administrator with a strong focus on collaboration, physical theatre, and heightened language. Sarah was most recently Artistic Director at Triad Stage, a professional regional theater in North Carolina, prior to which she was a freelance theater 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. 

Roger Hanna (Scenic Designer for Twelfth Night, The Grace of Grace, and Saint Joan) TSC: The Importance of Being Earnest, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hamlet, The Glass Menagerie, and The Tempest.  He has designed sets for theatre, opera, and dance in Japan, Israel, and across the U.S., including over 150 productions in NYC. Collaborators include Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz, MacArthur “Genius” Susan Marshall, and 10-time Tony-winner Tommy Tune. Awards include a Lortel Award, two Drama Desk nominations, and a True West Award from the DCPA. As an educator, Roger has taught and designed at major schools including Manhattan and Mannes Schools of Music, NYU, and Yale. He is currently the Head of Set Design at Colorado State University.

Stuart Heyman (Balthasar/Jailer in The Comedy of ErrorsTSC founding member: The Tempest (Gonzalo), Cyrano de Bergerac (Ragueneau), As You Like It (Old Adam), The Comedy of Errors (Duke Solinus), All’s Well That Ends Well (Lefeu), 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).

Joe Johnson (Composer/Sound Designer for Saint Joan) TSC: Cyrano de Bergerac and The Tempest, and many other shows elsewhere. Joe is a composer, sound designer, musician, and incessant doodler of circles. He enjoys making the absurd and bizarre feel like home.  Visit semiaveragejoe.com for more.

Michael Khanlarian (Sir Toby Belch/Master of the Revels in Twelfth Night; both Antipholus twins in The Comedy of Errorsis a self-described passionate actor and teaching-artist in Memphis. He holds a degree in Theatre Performance from the University of Memphis, where his love for theatre began. As a founding member of TSC, Michael has been instrumental in bringing the arts to various communities across the Mid-South. He is also an ensemble member of Playback Memphis and a teaching-artist for the Orpheum, continually sharing his skills and passion for the performing arts.

Baxter Konstans (Sebastian in Twelfth Night; Apprentice) TSC: The Comedy of Errors (Dr. Pinch/First Merchant), The Macbeth Initiative. Illinois performance credits at Wesleyan University: True West, Much Ado About Nothing, The Exception and the Rule, Brilliant Traces, and Mauritius. This is his first season with TSC. Baxter graduated with an B.F.A. in Acting in 2024 from Illinois Wesleyan University, where he was given the opportunity to study classical pieces and comedy-writing.

Janice Benning Lacek (Costume Designer for Twelfth Night) TSC: Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night (2014), Two Gentlemen of Verona, Romeo & Juliet Project (2018), and makeup design for The Tempest (2012). Regional/national/international highlights include projects with La Jolla Playhouse, A.C.T. in San Francisco, Syracuse Stage, San Diego Rep, American University of Cairo, Egypt, and over 36 productions of Shakespeare across the United States. Janice has taught costume and theatre production at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Kenyon College, and the University of Memphis. She lives in Colorado, where she an associate professor at the University of Denver.

Raven Martin (2nd Merchant/Pinch’s assistant in The Comedy of Errors) has a deep passion for theatre and extended her theatre geek fan status to performer status when she was featured in Broadway covers such as EclipsedOne Monkey Don’t Stop No Show, Carmen Jones, and many more. She has also won various acting awards, including the Ostrander Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is elated for her Tennessee Shakespeare Company debut.

Robby Matlock (Orsino in Twelfth Night) Regional credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Demetrius), Urinetown (Bobby Strong), Julius Caesar (Brutus), Love’s Labor’s Lost (King), Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt), Shakespeare in Love (Henslowe), The Diviners (CC Showers), Robin Hood: A Musical Celebration (Robin Hood). Robby received his M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Houston and B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from Belmont University. 

Logan McCarty (Administrative & Box Office/Education & Outreach Manager) is a theatre artist from Hattiesburg, MS, where they received their B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Southern Mississippi. Since moving to Memphis in the summer of 2019, his theatre credits include Peter Pan with Playhouse on the Square; A Christmas Carol and Macbeth with Theatre Memphis; and Quills with New Moon Theatre. Logan was a member of Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s inaugural Classical Theatre Apprentice Program in 2023-24, so you may recognize them from TSC’s recent productions of The Tempest, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Hamlet. He is looking forward to working with TSC in this new role and is ready for a great 17th season!

Dan McCleary (TSC Founder and Nancy R. Copp Producing Artistic Director; Director of The Comedy of Errors and the Creator/Actor of Grace of Grace), a native of Memphis, last year directed TSC’s Shout-Out production of The Tempest as well as A Streetcar Named Desire.  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 TwainAda 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 NothingErnest Hemingway in Key West, Flannery O’Connor’s Georgia GothicAll’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 JuneVita & 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 TimeUnto the Breach; Quintessence: Shakespeare in Performance; and Classical Creations in Quarantine. Memphis Magazine has named him among the “Who’s Who in Memphis” for six years. 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, has served on the Boards of Herman Melville’s Arrowhead and the City of Germantown’s Telecommunications Commission, and he is the dad of 14-year-old twin musicians/athletes/scouts/honors students, Sullivan and Collins.

Micki McCormick (Asst. Technical Director)  TSC: Technical Director for the Shout-Out Shakespeare Series production of The Tempest and sound engineer for A Streetcar Named Desire. Design Credits: Lighting Designer Assistant for Opera Memphis’s La Bohème and La Calisto. Production Electrician for Opera Memphis’s The Rising and the Falling and The University of Memphis’ Rocky Horror Picture Show. Micki is the 2022 Ostrander Award winner for Excellence in Sound Design for the University of Memphis’ A Bright Room Called Day.

Melanie Mulder (Season Properties Designer) TSC: The Comedy of Errors, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hamlet, Ada and the Engine, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Additional credits: The Color Purple, Jelly’s Last Jam, A Song for Coretta, Ruined, In the Heights, and Once on This Island at Hattiloo Theatre. Melanie has served as Props Designer on productions for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Seaside Music Theatre (FL), Vineyard Theatre, Pearl Theatre, the New School for Drama, and The Signature Theatre (all NYC), Williamstown Theatre Festival (MA), Lake George Opera (NY), and Northern Stage (VT). Melanie is a native Memphian and received her B.F.A. in Theatre from the University of Memphis.

Jacqueline Nunweiler (Maria/caroler in Twelfth Night; Apprentice) TSC: The Comedy of Errors (Emilia/Pinch Assistant) and The Macbeth Initiative. East Carolina University: The Winter’s Tale, Pride and Prejudice, Intimate Apparel, Romeo & Juliet, and The Visit. Other credits: ‘night Mother, Macbeth, and Tartuffe. Jacqueline is a graduate of East Carolina University’s School of Theatre & Dance program with a B.F.A. in Acting and a minor in Costume Design.

Charles R. Ratcliff II (Angelo in The Comedy of Errors) is a Dallas native and stage/television performer. He is incredibly excited about his premiere TSC production. Theater Memphis: The Glass Menagerie. University of Dallas: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom). Other credits include Love’s Labor’s Lost (Dull/Mercade) and a presentation of sonnets with Shakespeare Dallas. He is a Speech-Language Pathologist, Certified Brain Injury Specialist, and is working towards a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders. He is happy to discuss his current research interest in vocal behavior in performers!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) (Playwright of The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet; inspiration for The Grace of Grace)acted, posthumously, as the meeting ground around which many of the creators of U.S. Constitution gathered for intellectual, compassionate debate.  While Locke and Bacon and recent revolutions provided partial blueprints for an experimental democratic Republic here, it was Shakespeare’s Henry V, Henry VIII, Othello, Hamlet, and King Lear, and even his comedies, that offered common language, a multiplicity of perspectives, a poetic inclination that projected to a life beyond today, and a reasoned hope if only by a stark omission of narrative.  That omission in the plays, other than in the cosmic Lear, was a healthy national government.  It was perhaps this omission that John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and John Adams et al grasped as a requirement of our country’s governing framework — one of transparency, accountability, and checks and balances so that no one person or group could wield power alone.  When Alexis de Tocqueville toured the U.S. in the early 19th Century, he observed barely a pilgrim’s hut absented a copy of William Shakespeare’s plays.  Indeed, President Lincoln, whose adoration for Macbeth is well-publicized, paraphrased Portia from The Merchant of Venice in his written summation of his public 1862 proclamation that anticipated a national abolition of slavery: “The change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of heaven, not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not embrace it?”  The plays of William Shakespeare are our country’s gathering place. Lest we forget.

Kaitlyn Shamley (Development and Communications Manager) is a lifelong Memphian and has a passionate interest in music history and the ancient Mediterranean.  Her time as a Rhodes College student sparked a desire to foster an appreciation and understanding of past cultures and their artistic works.  In her spare time, she enjoys reading and visiting museums.  Education: Rhodes College (B.A. in History).

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) (Playwright of Saint Joan) was born into genteel poverty in Dublin, Ireland, left formal schooling at age 15, was taught art and music and literature by his mother, preferred to go by Bernard, and is responsible for saying: “Youth is wasted on the young;” and “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything;” and “My way of joking is to the truth…It’s the funniest joke in the world.”  Bernard moved to London at age 20 and wrote over 60 plays, including Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, Man and Superman, Major Barbara, Pygmalion, and Heartbreak House.  He was a proud Socialist and anti-WWI speaker and pamphleteer.  His belief that our current cosmic period called Humanity as a short phase of the universe’s development en route to a higher evolution was informed by what he deemed our spiritual bankruptcy during warfare of the early 20th Century.  He received the 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature for “his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty.”  At age 94, Bernard was still writing.

Stephanie Shine (Director of Twelfth Night and Saint Joan; Associate Artistic Producer), in 14 seasons with TSC, her directorial credits include Hamlet, The Importance of Being EarnestEmily 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. She is the mother of four exceptional people: Conor, Cahilan, Sullivan, and Collins. 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.

Jasmine Simmers (Production Stage Manager) TSC: Stage Manager for HamletA Streetcar Named Desire, and Macbeth Initiative; and Assistant Stage Manager for The Tempest. Other credits include La Bohème, The Rocky Horror Show, Back When Mike Was Kate, The Forever Question, and Le Nozze di Figaro. She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre, Design, and Technology from the University of Memphis.

Christine Strong (Captain/Antonia/caroler in Twelfth Night; Apprentice) TSC: The Comedy of Errors (Adriana), The Macbeth Initiative. Other credits include Marian: or The True Tale of Robin Hood, Baltimore, Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Fefu and Her Friends. Christine is a graduate of Emerson College’s Acting program with a B.F.A.

Cheleen Sugar (Actor/Teaching-Artist in The Romeo and Juliet Project; House Manager for Twelfth Night) TSC: Hamlet (Ophelia), Romeo and Juliet Project (Friar Lawrence/Peter/Sampson), The Importance of Being Earnest (ensemble), A Streetcar Named Desire (Neighbor Woman), Macbeth Initiative (Lady Macbeth), and The Tempest (Master/Ceres). Sweet Tea Shakespeare: Macbeth (Lady Macbeth). Other credits: Selene and the Dream Eater (Selene), Richard III (Lady Anne), The Container (Asha), Memphis: The Musical (ensemble). Cheleen is a graduate of Tougaloo College with a B.A. in Music, as well as a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a Masters in Music: Vocal Performance. 

Leslie Sweeney (Bookkeeper) has enjoyed a long career in finance and accounting that has included working in public accounting and the not-for-profit sector. In her free time, she enjoys playing competitive bridge and watching the Memphis Grizzlies. Education: Rhodes College (B.A.), University of Memphis. Leslie is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas.

Kierra Turner (Courtesan in The Comedy of Errors) is an actor, singer, and native Memphian making her TSC debut. Acting credits include Harrell Theatre: The Little Shop of Horrors; Theatre Memphis: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Much Ado About Nothing, A Christmas Carol; Hattiloo Theatre: The Color Purple; Christian Brothers University: Sylvia, Dearly Departed. Kierra is also a teaching artist who has collaborated with various organizations in the city, including the Orpheum, Theatre Memphis, and Playhouse on the Square.

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