Welcome to our 13th Performance Season: Essential
Featuring Dynamic, Interactive Literary Salons, a Pandemic Romeo and Juliet, an Inaugural Online Academy for all Ages, and both In-Person and Online Options on the Newly-Elizabethan Tabor Stage
Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s 13th performance season celebrates the essential power of our togetherness, in any form that is safe, inspired by history’s classical creations while in isolation or quarantine.
Our season will feature the Dr. Greta McCormick Coger Literary Salon Series, which begins August 30 and will explore over 40 writers and literary works against our current backdrop of seasons, holidays, and events.
The Free Shakespeare Shout-Out Series returns to eight outdoor locations with a Romeo and Juliet production that embraces (and masks) the Elizabethan quarantine Shakespeare refers to in his text.
All Salons will take place on the newly-Elizabethan Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage with online simulcasts offered for each performance, filmed by one camera.
In strict accordance with all State and Local Health Department guidelines and mandates, TSC will enforce all health safety criteria, including social-distancing, family groupings of no more than six, reduced seating capacity to 33%, required distance from audience to performers, multiple entry/egress ways, hand-sanitizer stations, and mandatory face-coverings (while required; TSC will offer free, disposable masks).
The Tabor Stage will seat 54 patrons.
“As the world has shut down and our health has been endangered, we have learned how essential classical theatre and education is to our community,” says TSC founder and Producing Artistic Director Dan McCleary. “We thought they were very important. But in fact, they are necessary. What William Shakespeare, great artists and philosophers, daring social protesters, and quarantined inventors have endured and produced before us should serve as lessons. We need each other, our creativity, and our compassion to live together.”
TSC delivers over 30 Education and Outreach programs that create more than 35,000 points of contact with students and community members in schools, the local juvenile justice system, and the Memphis V.A. Hospital. While some of those programs may be allowed to continue with revised in-person instruction, we plan to deliver all of our programming via our new Online Academy – a catalogue of nearly 50 courses, classes, lectures, performances, and playshops offered for joyful learning and dynamic interactivity to grades K-12, and college and adult learners. Introductory rates are low for schools and teachers, and at least one free course is offered per grade. Both pre-recorded and live courses are offered, always with a live Q&A option. For more information, please contact TSC’s Carmen-maria Mandley at carmenmandley@tnshakespeare.org or (901) 759-0620.
The 13th Performance Season
FREE Shout-Out Shakespeare Series:
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
directed outdoors by Stephanie Shine
sponsored by Evans/Petree, P.C. and Campbell Clinic
October 13-24
Experience outdoors the greatest love story ever told, challenged by Shakespeare’s quarantine. His theatres were shut almost as often as they were open, prompting him to write a crucial obstacle into the romance of his star-cross’d lovers. How can we love and forgive when we are not permitted to get within six feet of each other, when hatred and discrimination are culturally fueled, when the deaths accumulate? Shakespeare finds a way.
Sunday, October 11 at 4:00 pm: Shelby Farms Park Outdoor Event Stage
Tuesday, October 13 at 7:00 pm: Beale Street Landing
Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 pm: Collierville Town Square
Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 pm: Overton Square’s Chimes Square Amphitheatre
Saturday, October 17 at 10:00 am: Germantown Library
Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 pm: Singleton Community Center in Bartlett
Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 pm: Overton Square’s Chimes Square Amphitheatre
Friday, October 23 at 7:00 pm: International Harvester’s Managerial Park in Lakeland
Saturday, October 24 at 2:00 pm: Wiseacre Brewery (Broad Avenue location)
The Dr. Greta McCormick Coger Literary Salon Series
Inspired by TSC’s annual Southern Literary Salons, the recent digital Decameron Project during the virus shut-down, and long-time friend and scholar Dr. Greta Coger, the Series features a full slate of one-hour (or less) curated readings, scenes, speeches, and discussions that explore important authors and subjects close to home. Presented by TSC’s resident artists on the Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage, the Series will engage in an informal, comfortable, safe atmosphere on either our Tabor Stage or via our digital, paid simulcast.
“Take Upon’s the Mystery of Things”: Classical Creations in Quarantine
curated by Dan McCleary
Salon Sunday, August 30 at 3:00 pm
NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE * DIGITAL OPTION ONLY
We are not the first humans to suffer death, quarantines, and loss of work and wealth due to a health pandemic. However, one occupation always faces the dangerous unknown: the Creative. What can we learn from them in our own time of social distancing and restricted gatherings? Join us on-line for an intrepid exploration of famous creations by artists while enduring multiple forms of isolation, including Cervantes, Galileo, Thoreau, Beethoven, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frida Kahlo, Boccaccio, Vaclav Havel, Frederick Douglass, Anne Frank, Allen Ginsberg, and Shakespeare. Featuring Michael Khanlarian, Carmen-maria Mandley, Dan McCleary, Stephanie Shine, and Darius Wallace.
Creative Extremists: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X
Salon curated and read by Darius Wallace
Friday, September 11 at 8:00 pm
Conflict births the potential for new opportunities through self-determination, creative expression, and self-preservation. Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X all were inspired by the power of the written and spoken word. Dr. King was inspired by the writings of Gandhi; Malcolm X by revolutionaries, including the founding fathers; and Frederick Douglass by the Bible, Aesop’s fables, Shakespeare, and Lord Byron.
In a Purple Mood: Alice Walker
Salon curated by Carmen-maria Mandley
Sunday, September 27 at 3:00 pm
NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE * DIGITAL OPTION ONLY
A Georgia native, Alice Walker showcased her rare scholarship and poetic prowess as a student. Her short stories, novels, and poems deftly examine the struggles of Black people, particularly women. In addition to teaching, Walker was the editor of Ms. Magazine and is credited with identifying the Florida grave of Zora Neale Hurston and reviving interest in her writing. The Salon will feature her poetry (Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart), interviews, and excerpts from The Color Purple.
Like to a Lonely Dragon: Shakespeare’s Election of Coriolanus
Salon curated by Dan McCleary
Friday, October 9 at 8:00 pm
You may not be familiar with Coriolanus, but now is a good time to be. Shakespeare’s superior political play was created while London’s playhouses were shut down, while the starving workers were rising in protest against the landowners, and after his mother died. He chose the age of Rome through which to examine abuses of elected leaders, the exercise of basic civil liberties, and shifting systems of government. A thinly-veiled form of Democracy and a shocking political election at the play’s center launch a story short on poetry but long on freedom – of the heart, of the people, and of their leadership.
Halloween’s Tell-Tale Heart: Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and Flannery O’Connor
Salon curated by Stephanie Shine and Dr. Diane Dombrowski
Friday, October 30 at 8:00 pm
Enter, if you will, the Southern Gothic horror of Flannery O’Connor with special northern guests Ambrose Bierce and Edgar Allan Poe. Expect thrills and surprises as these writers take unexpected twists and turns with terrors both real and imagined.
From Dublin to the Sea: John M. Synge
Salon curated by Stephanie Shine
in honor of Pat and Ernest Kelly
Sunday, November 8 at 3:00 pm
Meet the man whose plays caused riots in the streets of Dublin and New York in the early 20th century. With humor and a rare ear for Irish colloquialisms, J.M. Synge’s short career left an indelible mark on Ireland and modern playwriting. His Riders to the Sea is lauded as the perfect one-act play, and his Playboy of the Western World is a searing comic look at the complexities and dichotomies of the human experience.
A Little, Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving: Louisa May Alcott
Salon curated by Stephanie Shine
Sunday, November 22 at 3:00 pm
Louisa offers a recipe to enliven your Thanksgiving season, sharing heightened moments of the festive holiday from both her imagination and her past (Little Men and An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving). Spiced with discoveries of gratitude in everyday life and relationships that she made throughout her life, Louisa’s Thanksgiving is worth remembering for all of us this season.
A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens’ Dramatic Premier Reading in Boston
Salon curated and read by Dan McCleary
Friday, December 4 at 8:00 pm; Sunday, December 6 at 3:00 pm; Saturday December 12 at 8:00 pm; Sunday, December 13 at 3:00 pm; Saturday, December 19 at 8:00 pm; Sunday, December 20 at 3:00 pm
After a 25-year absence from America, Charles Dickens returned for a two-year reading tour in 1867 that became the precursor of rock-and-roll tours. Dickens the celebrity was popular for performing his ghostly Christmas Carol (published in 1847) not only for his portrayals of his characters, but for his almost single-handed birthing of the celebration of Christmas in New England (where children still were attending school on December 25 prior to his arrival). His premiere reading in Boston’s Parker House was to the Saturday Club, including fans R.W. Emerson, H. W. Longfellow, and Oliver W. Holmes. And now: you. Please join us for Mr. Dickens’ transformative premier reading, as edited by the author.
The Hunting Heart: Carson McCullers
Salon curated by Stephanie Shine
co-sponsored by Anne and Michael Keeney
Online Only
Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 3:00 pm
“The heart is a lonely hunter with only one desire! To find some lasting comfort in the arms of another’s fire…driven by a desperate hunger to the arms of a neon light, the heart is a lonely hunter when there’s no sign of love in sight!” In writing to quench the loneliness of her own heart, McCullers gives us insight into how we all may find our own heart’s company. Her stirring prose soars when spoken, with a melody fueled by gut-wrenching truths.
“This is Illyria, Lady”:
Twins, Clowns, and Cross-Dressed Lovers in Twelfth Night
curated by Stephanie Shine
Online Only
Friday, February 26 at 8:00 PM
Influenced by the end of Christmas celebrations, Shakespeare’s fantastical tale of unrequited love embraces a comedy and musicality that remain popular for all ages. Twins are separated in a shipwreck and wash ashore in strange Illyria. One twin, Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who swoons for Olivia, who moons over Viola, but is adored by Malvolio. Enter Sebastian, the spitting image of Viola, who…
The Shakespeare Gala
a fun, breezy party to benefit our Education Program
Online Only
sponsored by TSC’s Board of Directors
Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 6:00 pm
We have a big Elizabethan surprise in store for you! Save the date now. Contact Stephanie Shine to purchase your 8-guest Platinum, Gold, or Silver Sponsorship: (901) 759-0620, stephanieshine@tnshakespeare.org. Single tickets are also available.
Box Office
Purchase tickets online at www.tnshakespeare.org or by calling (901) 759-0604. Open Monday-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. Note: Tickets must be purchased in advance of event.
All paid performances are on the Tabor Stage and will offer both in-person and digital online experiences for you (except Classical Creations and In a Purple Mood: Alice Walker, which are digital-only). Online performances will show only once, simulcast with a one-camera live performance. In-person seating at the Tabor Stage is strictly limited to 54 socially-distanced patrons. Face coverings must be worn.
For in-person attendance at TSC, patrons will select the preferred seating section (of three), and TSC will then select socially-distanced seats based on the party’s size and the order in which tickets were purchased.
The Greta McCormick Coger Literary Salon Series tickets in Seating Section One are $25 in-person (Students $18/Seniors $22). Seating Sections Two and Three are $18 in-person (Students $15/Seniors $18). All online simulcast tickets are $15.
The Shakespeare Gala single tickets are $125, with 8-ticket Platinum/Gold/Silver Sponsorships available with tiered benefits. Please contact Stephanie Shine for details at (901) 759-0620.
There are no refunds/exchanges. Tickets must be purchased in advance of your event (not at the door), printed, and brought with patrons to the theatre. House opens 30 minutes prior to curtain. Credit Card charges require a $1 per-ticket fee. Casts and schedules subject to change with notice. Free parking.
Season 13 Sponsors and Partners
TSC’s generous sponsors and partners of its season, productions, and Education and Outreach Program include International Paper, ArtsMemphis, Tennessee Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Midwest, First Horizon Foundation through an ArtsFirst grant, Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, Independent Bank, Evans|Petree, P.C., Campbell Clinic, the family of Pat and Ernest Kelly, The Sims Family Foundation, Nancy R. Copp, the family of Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor, Dr. Greta McCormick Coger, the Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund, the Dunbar Abston Fund for Sustainable Excellence, University of Memphis’ Department of Theatre & Dance, Shelby County Schools, Collierville Municipal School District, Memphis Juvenile Justice System, the Memphis V.A. Hospital, and the Benjamin Hooks Library Friends. TSC’s season is funded under a Grant Contract with the State of Tennessee.
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 in the midst of its $6.5 million Brave New World capital campaign.
TSC has engaged its community with 47 site-specific plays and events for over 50,000 patrons. Its ground-breaking Education Program has reached 120 schools across nine states, totaling over 250,000 student interactions. The Program has achieved a high regional and national profile, partners annually with most local school systems, and for the second consecutive year is one of just seven U.S. theatres to be awarded a National Endowment for the Arts/Arts Midwest’s Shakespeare in American Communities Juvenile Justice grant for expanded residencies with local incarcerated youth.
The Education Program this year is launching its inaugural Online Academy, a digital catalogue of nearly 50 online courses, classes, playshops, residencies, and performances for students in K-12, for college students, and for adult learners. Taught entirely by TSC’s Teaching-Artists, the Academy provides a hybrid of live and pre-recorded classical educational opportunities at affordable rates that feature interactivity, dynamism, inquiry, and joy for all learners.
