Tennessee Shakespeare Company Presents FROM DUBLIN TO THE SEA: JOHN M. SYNGE

Tennessee Shakespeare Company is continuing its Dr. Greta McCormick Coger Literary Salon Series on Sunday, November 8 with an exploration of the Literary Renaissance of the Emerald Isle and its mystical Aran Islands.

The sixth Salon of nine during TSC's 13th season, From Dublin to the Sea: John M. Synge is curated and directed by TSC's Stephanie Shine. It will be presented both in-person on TSC's Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage and simulcast online beginning at 3:00 pm (CST), to be followed by a brief talkback with the actors.

The Salon will run approximately one hour and is presented in honor of stalwart TSC Board members and ardent fans of Ireland: Pat and Ernest Kelly.

In addition to Shine (an Irish citizen, and playwright of I Am of Ireland), The Acting Company includes Dan McCleary, Lauren Gunn, Carmen-maria Mandley, Jasmine Robertson, Simmery Branch, John Ross Graham, and Blake Currie. (All artist bios may be found in TSC's digital playbill at www.tnshakespeare.org)

Interspersed with conversation about Mr. Synge and the creation of his works, the Salon will feature his "perfect" one-act play Riders to the Sea (1904), his playwrighting masterwork that shocked his native land The Playboy of the Western World (1907), his first inspiration The Aran Islands (1907), his friend William B. Yeats' Synge and the Ireland of His Time (1911), and personal correspondence between the two literary titans.

"Young John M. Synge, with the heart of a respectful naturalist," says Shine, "used his uncanny skill of observation to, as Yeats said, 'give expression to the expressionless.' His plays brought the Irish peasantry to the stage for the first time, showcasing their humor and dignity as they forged an existence in deep relationship to both the natural and mystical world. In his short life, Synge's collaboration with W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory ignited the Irish Literary Renaissance. His deep humanity resonates in all of his writings, making them especially welcome today."

J.M. Synge (1871-1909) was born in Rathfarnham, outside Dublin, Ireland, and he died just short of his 38th birthday. His literary output was modest, but he is regarded as the leader of Ireland's Renaissance with a continuing impact on audiences, readers, writers, and the island's culture. The youngest of five children, he studied music and languages in Germany, Paris, and Italy. When he was 25 in Paris, he met Yeats, who persuaded Synge to move to Ireland's Aran Islands and write. Though his first book written in 1901, The Aran Islands, would not be published for six years, it was the experience of living on the western islands that inspired what was to come. Sensitive to the people of the land and now awakened to the world's universal myths, though controversial to put on stage at the time, he penned his first plays with female characters at the fore: When the Moon Has Set, Riders to the Sea, In the Shadow of the Glen, and The Tinker's Wedding. His first three-act play followed with The Well of the Saints in 1903, and then, having fallen in love with an actress much younger than him, he created his masterwork: The Playboy of the Western World. The play, with its breaks from social mores, created violent opposition and controversy among patrons in the theatre. However, the play had passionate defenders in theatre critics, Yeats, and benefactor Lady Gregory. As Synge's suffering from Hodgkin's Disease worsened, he constructed the first draft of what Yeats believed would have been his finest play: Deirdre of the Sorrows. He died before he could hear it, and before he could be married.

Box Office

Purchase tickets online at www.tnshakespeare.org or by calling (901) 759-0604 Monday-Friday from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. The Salon will be available to patrons as both an in-person and digital online experience.

Online option:

The online presentation will show only once via a one-camera setup on TSC's website with a time-stamped, specific password provided to patrons on the day of the Salon. The digital waiting room opens 15 minutes prior to curtain. All digital online tickets are $15.

In-person option:

In-person seating at the Tabor Stage is strictly limited to 54 socially-distanced patrons. Face coverings must be worn. Patrons must answer basic health screening positively and provide contact information prior to theatre entry. Patrons may select the preferred seating section, and TSC will then select socially-distanced seats based on the party's size and the order in which tickets were purchased.

Tickets in Seating Section One are $25 in-person (Students $18/Seniors $22). Tickets in Seating Sections Two and Three are $18 in-person (Students $15/Seniors $18). Tickets must be purchased in advance of the Salon (not at the door), printed, and brought with patrons to the theatre. The house will open 30 minutes prior to curtain.

Credit Card charges require a $1 per-ticket fee. Schedule subject to change with notice. Free parking at TSC. There are no refunds/exchanges.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company's 13th Performance Season Continues

A Little, Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving: Louisa May Alcott

Salon curated by Stephanie Shine

Sunday, November 22 at 3:00 pm

A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens' Dramatic Premier Reading in Boston

Salon curated and read by Dan McCleary

December 4-20

The Hunting Heart: Carson McCullers

Salon curated by Stephanie Shine

Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 3:00 pm

The Elizabethan Feast: Gala Benefit

a fun, breezy party to benefit our Education Program

on the Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage

sponsored by TSC's Board of Directors

Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 6:00 pm