Christina Wellford Scott

Tennessee Shakespeare Company will host its indoor/outdoor Jack Jones Children’s Literacy Gala on Saturday, April 22 at 6:00 pm honoring longtime Hutchison School educator Christina Wellford-Scott with its inaugural Teacher of the Year Award and featuring select performances from her favorite classical works on stage.

Playhouse on the Square, in partnership with Art and Nancy Graesser and super sponsor Dr. Thomas Ratliff, is presenting the regional premiere addressing the generational shifts and pressures of family.

Playhouse on the Square, in partnership with Grayson Smith Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning and super sponsor, Dr. Thomas Ratliff, bring the multi-award winning story, originally produced at the Royal National Theatre in London, to the Mid-South.

The votes have been counted... Check out the fill list of winners for the 2017 BWW Regional Awards!

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

KING CHARLES III closed on Broadway earlier this year. And though it won an Olivier Award, I suspect this regional premiere will be a rare opportunity to see this show -- or at least a quality production of it. Done right, as it is by Playhouse on the Square, it's an absorbing and memorable evening of theatre. Anything less could spell disaster because bringing this plausible alternate world to life is quite a feat.

The Regional Premiere of King Charles III opens September 23 at Playhouse on the Square.

The Regional Premiere of King Charles III opens September 23 at Playhouse on the Square.

HAY FEVER opens April 29 and runs until May 15, 2016, on the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis.

HAY FEVER opens April 29 and runs until May 15, 2016, on the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis.

Let's see now -- older married man with mistress, seething ex-wife, resentful and mistrustful offspring -- where was Dr. Phil? Alas, nowhere in sight in Chinon during the Christmas of 1183, as the powerful English king Henry II has released his imprisoned wife (and sparring partner) Eleanor of Aquitaine and allowed her admittance to a family gathering (along with his mistress Alais). Is it for personal or political reasons? Perhaps a bit of both? Henry, great in stature and accomplishments, has to decide which of his sons (none of whom will historically 'measure up') will become the future King of England. It's a Lear-like choice, and poor Henry has 'slim pickings.' With the oldest son dead, the three remaining are a snarling, disgruntled lot -- in one corner (Eleanor's), there's the pillage-prone Richard (later Richard the Lionhearted, who will spend most of his time abroad); in the other (Henry's), there's the pimply, unwashed, and feckless John (later, a famously unpopular king who will be forced to capitulate to baronial pressure and sign a little document known as the Magna Carta). Oh, yes, and then there's the ignored, Machiavellian Geoffrey, mistrusted by both parents and willing to play anyone on the human chessboard.

The Lion in Winter by James Goldman reigns over the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis January 22 - February 7, 2016. As historical fiction this modern classic pits Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (after a decade of imprisonment for her part in a rebellion) against her husband King Henry II of England,  Eleanor arrives at court during a Christmas furlough and proceeds to scheme to challenge the King's authority and his choice of heir to the throne. The fray engulfs their three sons and French royalty who all lay claim to rule.

The Lion in Winter by James Goldman reigns over the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis January 22 - February 7, 2016. As historical fiction this modern classic pits Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (after a decade of imprisonment for her part in a rebellion) against her husband King Henry II of England,  Eleanor arrives at court during a Christmas furlough and proceeds to scheme to challenge the King's authority and his choice of heir to the throne. The fray engulfs their three sons and French royalty who all lay claim to rule.

The set for Theatre Memphis' Next Stage production of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning DOUBT impresses with its austerity: The walls and doors are of rich,dark wood; the red leather chair behind the principal's desk and the furniture in the room are carefully arranged; everything seems compartmentalized. Moreover, St. Nicholas School is in the apparently firm hands of 'Sister Aloysius' (yes, it rhymes with 'suspicious'), and wary she is. The time is the early 1960's, shortly after the unsettling assassination of President John F. Kennedy. St. Nicholas has accepted its first black student, 'Donald Muller,' a lonely and isolated thirteen-year old altar boy of 'the new priest on the block,' 'Father Flynn,' who, with his tweaking of tradition and progressive inclination have made him a threat to Aloysius' tightly run ship. As Bob Dylan famously sang, 'The times they are a-changin' -- but, as far as the straight-backed, bespectacled principal is concerned, 'not at THIS school.' For Aloysius, art and music classes are a perfect waste of time; at first glance, she is a stereotypical 'old school' nun. However, Pulitzer Prizes are not awarded to writers who resort to stereotype, and Mr. Shanley's script is tight, subtle, and full of surprises.

An intensely dramatic parable, Theatre Memphis' production of Doubt will open November 6 and run until November 21, 2015, in the Next Stage. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best play, Doubt is set in the Bronx in 1964 where a rigidly conservative nun who is Principal at a Catholic elementary school comes to believe there has been sexual misconduct between a beloved, progressive parish priest and the school's only African American student. Even confronting the priest and the child's mother does not bring light to the mysterious circumstances and the church's resolution only brings more mistrust and suspicion to the Sister's beliefs.