We are bringing the next installment of our Southern Literary Salon Series to the Tabor Stage, Truth and Beauty of Ann Patchett on Sunday, March 26 at 3:00 pm.  Patchett is the author of eight novels, four nonfiction books, and two children’s books; and she is the co-founder of Parnassus Books in Nashville.

Generously sponsored by Dorothy O. Kirsch, Truth and Beauty of Ann Patchett, which will run for approximately one hour without intermission, is curated and directed by TSC’s Stephanie Shine. Our Southern Literacy Salons are unique, fun social hours of curated readings, scenes, and discussions that explore Southern authors and subjects of significance, with a signature cocktail or two.

Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling (901) 759-0604.

The cast of TSC veteran actors includes Shine, Dan McCleary, Cara McHugh Geissler, Lauren Gunn, Nicolas Dureaux Picou, and Mackenzie White.  The actors will read and play Patchett’s work, bringing to life essays found in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, as well as moments from Bel Canto, The Dutch House, State of Wonder, and Run.

“It is her singular vision, great imagination, and expansive curiosity that gives Ann’s writing its depth and breadth,” says Shine.  “I am always taken with her work, be it fiction or nonfiction.  Her sense of truth and beauty is what will take focus in our Salon.  We will glory in the beauty found in some of her novels, and find comfort in the universal truths of her nonfiction.”

Ann Patchett, who lives in Nashville, TN, is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.  Her novel Bel Canto won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Orange Prize, and the BookSense Book of the Year, and she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the American Booksellers Association’s Most Engaging Author Award, and the Women’s National Book Association’s Award, among others.  The Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.  She founded Parnassus Books in Nashville in 2011 with her business partner Karen Hayes and has become a prominent champion for independent booksellers.

Patchett said of her work in The Getaway Car: “Over the years I’ve come to realize that I write the book I want to read, the one I can’t find anywhere.  I also realized – and learned this more with every novel I’ve written – that the plot had to be complicated enough and interesting enough to keep me sitting in a straight-backed chair seven days a week.”

Box Office

Purchase tickets online here 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.

Tickets for Truth and Beauty of Ann Patchett in Seating Section One are $27 (Students $20/Seniors $24).  Seating Sections Two and Three are $20 (Students $15/Seniors $20).

No refunds/exchanges.  The house opens 30 minutes prior to curtain.  Credit Card charges require a $1 per-ticket fee.  Cast and schedule are subject to change with notice.  Free parking and covered drop-off at the front door are available at TSC.

All TSC personnel are fully-vaccinated, and ventilation systems in TSC’s facility have been newly upgraded.  Hand-sanitizer and free, disposable masks will be made available to all patrons.

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  PC, 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, the Dunbar Abston Fund for Sustainable Excellence, and Dorothy O. Kirsch.

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, Memphis Juvenile Justice System, the Memphis V.A. Hospital, Cities of Bartlett/Collierville/Lakeland/Memphis, Shelby County Election Commission, the Benjamin Hooks Public Library Friends, and WKNO Radio (91.1 FM Memphis).