Tennessee Shakespeare Company

The Mission

Tennessee Shakespeare Company is a professional, 501(c)(3) theatre and education organization which performs the plays of William Shakespeare seasonally outdoors and indoors with partnering organizations; performs classical and Southern writers seasonally indoors and outdoors; provides innovative year-round educational and training programming; and will produce a Southern-centric new play festival: Southern Exposure.

The Vision

To create and sustain a classical theatre that both nurtures artists and encourages audiences to exaltation, curiosity, and wonderment; a center for the community dedicated to re-discovering our faith in life by increasing our awareness of reality and expanding our imagination through an emphasis on the performance, education, and training of William Shakespeare's works.

The Values

The performance of William Shakespeare's plays demands our exploration of society, government, psychology, education, philosophy, athleticism, and spirituality in pursuit of humanity's question of the heart:

In the office, on the stage, at home, in the classroom, on the streets of Memphis, the following values unify our company of artist-managers:

• We believe language and the actor are at the center of artistic creativity
• We believe that artistic creativity awakens our innate compassion
• We believe the arts speak a universal language, integral to positive change in the world and the individual
• We believe our multi-ethnicity should reflect the universality of Shakespeare's plays and our community
• We believe every member of our company should be treated with equal respect and generosity of spirit, compensated with a living wage, and made to feel safe at all times
• We believe in open, honest communication
• We believe in the pursuit of excellence in our work
• We believe in taking reasonable risks, supporting creative failure, and inspiring artistic courage
• We believe in contributing positively to our local community and our natural environment
• We believe that fiscal responsibility is essential to our artistic success