Barclay Roberts

Everything these days seems to be ephemeral. With the attention span of a gnat, Americans lose interest faster than it took to write this sentence. Squirrel! Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Tinder (swiping for love based on appearances alone) is ever-shortening society's ability to focus and appreciate longevity. With an insatiable appetite for newer and better, the world has embraced change for change's sake. Longevity is, ironically, a thing of the past. That's why it's beyond remarkable that Theatre Memphis is now celebrating its 100th Anniversary Season with the opening of HELLO, DOLLY! (Now through September 19th). 100 years of the Memphis community coming together to put on a show-that's quite a feat! Like a fine wine, Theatre Memphis seems to be just getting better and better with age. Not only have the production values increased immensely over the past few years, but the overall space itself has been infused with millions of dollars in gorgeous renovations. Everything seems to be peaking for TM at just the right time.

Hello, Dolly! will be the opening musical at Theatre Memphis on August 27, 2021, to inaugurate the celebration of the 100th consecutive season that the community theatre has produced. 

Hello, Dolly! will be the opening musical at Theatre Memphis on August 27, 2021, to inaugurate the celebration of the 100th consecutive season that the community theatre has produced. 

Using a unique and newly conceived way to audition for stage productions due to the COVID-19 limitations on assembling, Theatre Memphis received audio and video submissions via the internet to select its cast for its opening musical, Hello, Dolly!, for its 100th anniversary season. The production is scheduled to open August 21, 2020, in a renovated and expanded facility at 630 Perkins Extended at Southern Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.

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.

In THE COUNTRY HOUSE, what The New York Times calls 'a valentine to the artists of the stage,' a group of famous and would-be-famous creative artists have come to their summer home during the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The weekend takes an unexpected turn, and everyone is forced to come to terms with the roles they play in each other's lives. Scroll down for a first look at The Circuit Playhouse's production below!

?In what The New York Times calls "a valentine to the artists of the stage," a group of famous and would-be-famous creative artists have come to their summer home during the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The weekend takes an unexpected turn, and everyone is forced to come to terms with the roles they play in each other's lives.

David Morgan's detailed set design for Circuit Playhouse's production of Nina Raine's TRIBES 'speaks volumes' (no pun intended) for the noisy, ego-driven family the audience is about to meet: Piano, stage left; 'intellectual' clutter scattered about; books everywhere; and - oh, yes - a liquor bottle on the table. The members almost immediately begin to descend on stage, chattering away with the kind of overlapping, hyper-intense dialogue that would make the late Robert Altman smile and put fingers in both of his ears. Nothing seems in harmony hear -- everything is a cacophonous, confused kind of roar. At the center, as a kind of eye to this verbal hurricane, is 'Billy,' sweetly casting his gaze from one pair of lips to another, as that is the only way he can absorb the conversations that are colliding about him.

Billy is a young man born deaf and raised in a loud, opinionated family where his parents and siblings never bothered to learn sign language, requiring him to adapt to the hearing world. When he meets Sylvia, a young woman from a deaf family who introduces him to deaf culture, Billy suddenly feels confidence and a sense of belonging to a 'tribe' he's never known before. Winner of the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, Tribes is a poignant new drama about love, family, and finding one's voice.

Billy is a young man born deaf and raised in a loud, opinionated family where his parents and siblings never bothered to learn sign language, requiring him to adapt to the hearing world. When he meets Sylvia, a young woman from a deaf family who introduces him to deaf culture, Billy suddenly feels confidence and a sense of belonging to a "tribe" he's never known before. Winner of the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, Tribes is a poignant new drama about love, family, and finding one's voice.

Billy is a young man born deaf and raised in a loud, opinionated family where his parents and siblings never bothered to learn sign language, requiring him to adapt to the hearing world. When he meets Sylvia, a young woman from a deaf family who introduces him to deaf culture, Billy suddenly feels confidence and a sense of belonging to a 'tribe' he's never known before. Winner of the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, Tribes is a poignant new drama about love, family, and finding one's voice.

THE HEIRESS, Ruth and Augustus Goetz's 1947 adaptation of Henry James' WASHINGTON SQUARE and currently occupying the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis, has had a long and steady run on stages throughout the world - and why not? Tightly corseted, polite to a fault, and observing proprieties, this intelligently written script captures the essence of the James source material without the convoluted, complex sentences that, alas, repel many readers. As tautly drawn as the material on one of the samplers for which its heroine is noted, when one of the characters punctuates the prevailing politeness with a barbed or telling line of dialogue, it's as if a sharp and jagged blade suddenly ripped through the fabric of the needlework itself. All this play needs for a successful run is a handsome set, period costumes - and four or five gifted players.

The Heiress opens October 17, 2014 and runs through November 2, 2014 on the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis. A timeless story of New York society and status by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, the cost of love in this story focuses on Catherine Sloper, a shy, withdrawn young woman living under the tyranny of her father. Conflict comes as she is suddenly exposed to a world of hope by a handsome young suitor, Morris Townsend. Is it true love? Can the suitor triumph for love nor money? It comes to light that heartache has a long memory.

The collaboration of Jules Stein and Stephen Sondheim on GYPSY provided the late Ethel Merman with a career boost into immortality. What isn't familiar about this material? Everyone knows the general outline of the play itself - 'Mama' Rose is 'Mommie Dearest' without the wire hangers; at the beginning of the play, she practically declares war on a quiet home life and, taking with her daughters June (the precocious and 'pretty' one) and Louise (the shy and recessive one), she practically declares war on domesticity and seeks to channel her dreams through their success.

The Royal Family, a classic comedy set in the home of Broadway's most legendary acting family of the century, takes center stage at Theatre Memphis on the Lohrey Stage as the Cavendish clan struggles with fame, egos and career-altering decisions. Playing August 16 - September 1, 2013, three generations of actors act out with outrageous road bumps and hilarious mix-ups that are the daily fare for this eccentric, lovable group of stars and the supporting players in their lives.

Sarah and James, a photographer and a writer, put it all on the line for their jobs, telling the toughest stories in the midst of war. Sarah is sidelined by injuries she sustained in a car bombing, but longs to get back to the action. James is relieved to have her home and sees it as their chance to choose a more conventional life together. As they grapple with this, their friend Richard drops by with his much younger girlfriend, a bubbly event planner who can't understand why journalists simply record what they see instead of trying to stop the violence. Nominated for 2 Tony Awards in 2010 including Best Play.

Six Degrees of Separation, a New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play Winner by John Guare, will open at Theatre Memphis January 25, 2013, and run through February 10, 2013, on the Lohrey Stage. The plot surrounds a wounded young man who cons his way into the home of an upscale art dealer and his wife by claiming he is a friend of their son. The lie is exposed when he abuses their generosity and he then plots another scam that includes his claim of being a part of their family. There are tumultuous and deadly results as the mother seeks resolution and as she aches to protect her family and to find her connection to the world.

A playground scuffle between two boys brings their parents together for a friendly meeting to deal with the incident. The evening begins with all on their best behavior but tensions mount, the liquor flows, and fuses blow as the couples pick apart each other's marriages, and their own, with enough name-calling and chaos to suggest they have more in common with their children than they might suspect. 2009 Tony Award Winner for Best Play.

A playground scuffle between two boys brings their parents together for a friendly meeting to deal with the incident. The evening begins with all on their best behavior but tensions mount, the liquor flows, and fuses blow as the couples pick apart each other's marriages, and their own, with enough name-calling and chaos to suggest they have more in common with their children than they might suspect. 2009 Tony Award Winner for Best Play.