Molly Breen

Post-pandemic Nashville theater audiences have witnessed a groundswell of creativity as local companies have made the production of original works part of their programming initiatives. While the result might best be described as hit-or-miss depending on perspective, one company’s efforts have been constant, abiding and transformative. Tennessee Playwrights Studio, co-founded by Molly Breen and Kenley Smith, has led this creative renaissance since its very beginnings and over the past several years has been responsible for nurturing the talents of a wide array of artists. We could not be more grateful to TPS and its founders for everything they’ve accomplished; it is truly noteworthy.

Tennessee Playwrights Studio has announced the production of the world premiere of Fan Me with a Brick - written by Kenley Smith and directed by Shawn Whitsell. Original Research by V. Yalewa Sparrowhawk Ferguson.

The inaugural Alabama International Fringe Festival takes place May 12th-14th, 2023 in the River Region of Alabama. With live theatrical performances, pop-up performances, a film festival, live stories and even a digital fringe, the AIFF strives to provide a space to showcase unique theatrical experiences from anywhere in the world in the vibrant arts scene of the Alabama River Region.

Tennessee Playwrights Studio has announced the TPS 2023 Virtual Reading Festival, January 21-23 and February 2-4, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. CST.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Nashville Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Destiny Theatre Experience and Tennessee Playwrights Studio have announced the co-production of the world premiere of The Sins of the City - written and directed by Shawn Whitsell.

Don't Look Black was developed during Crowder's Fellowship with TPS in 2020.

First conceived prior to the global Covid 19 pandemic and nurtured through those dark and challenging times by Gimlin and Breen, the two halves of THAT WOMAN have finally debuted at Nashville’s Darkhorse Theatre this week and will continue there and at The East Room in East Nashville through June 29, affording audiences throughout the city an opportunity to see this unique collection of original works of art close to home.

That Woman - The Dance Show is produced by Tennessee Playwrights Studio and directed by Molly Breen. This production has been co-created with the following Nashville choreographers: Molly Breen, Caitlin Del Casino, Brandon Johnson, Thea Jones, Cornell Kennedy, Jodie Mowrey (Director of Choreography), Schuyler Phoenix, Rachel Simons, Brittany Stewart, and Emma Williams. 

Opening tonight at Darkhorse Theater in Nashville is That Woman – The Monologue Show, which explores the stories of women who involved or rumored-to-be involved with President John F. Kennedy. Co-written by Nashville-area women playwrights and actors, it is performed by a diverse ensemble of actors who bring the women to life “in a fascinating look at a lesser-known aspect of history and a thought-provoking and entertaining evening of theatre.”

The Darkhorse Theatre is set to stage tandem productions of That Woman- The Monologue Show and That Woman- The Dance Show. Ticket for all shows are now on sale at tnplaywrights.org. The Monologue Show will take place for one night only, while the Dance Show will perform on multiple days. Find more information about the shows and performance schedules below. 

Tennessee Playwrights Studio has announced directors for their upcoming June and August Productions.

Tennessee Playwrights Studio has announced the TPS 2022 Season of theatre with four world premieres of new works by Tennessee playwrights/creators, along with a new cohort of TPS Fellows to be selected for the playwright development lab in 2022.

TPS Talks are a new initiative of TPS, DTE and SistaStyle Productions that provide real-world stories and insights from working theatre professionals to college/university classrooms, corporate events, group organizations, and more.

Tennessee Playwrights Studio and Angela Gimlin (Founder and COO of Nashville's own Inebriated Shakespeare Company) present a virtual workshop reading of the to-be-produced-after-the-pandemic play, THAT WOMAN, comprised of a series of monologues from the perspectives of women who were involved (or rumored-to-be involved) with President John F. Kennedy. 

The pandemic has not stopped Tennessee Playwrights Studio's 2020 Fellows from creating six interesting and thought-provoking new works, which have been developed throughout the year at monthly TPS workshops and will be performed by favorite local Nashville actors on January 27-29 and February 3-5, 2021.

Although an over-arching consideration of evil is perhaps difficult to comprehend even three-quarters of a century after the end of World War II and beyond the scope of a stage-bound drama, playwright Kenley Smith nonetheless focuses his attention on the intertwined stories of two such villains as those captured in those wartime photos to great effect and maximum impact in Maidens, an original work given its world premiere production by Tennessee Playwrights Studio at Nashville's Darkhorse Theatre. Onstage through July 13, Maidens is as disturbing and provocative as its subject matter would indicate, brought to life with bravery and commitment by a seven-person cast under the direction of the playwright himself.

ACT 1 brings its 2018-19 'F the Classics' Season to a close with director/designer Jim Manning's unique reinterpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with Violent Delights, a dance-based retelling set to a score of music from emerging Nashville artists. Violent Delights runs May 24-June 8 at Nashville's Darkhorse Theater.

It's another busy weekend in Nashville - but when is Music City not packed with events, festivals, affairs? - and we're back with our Critic's Choice recommendations to have you cut through the theatrical flotsam and jetsam and find a cultural opening that's a good fit for your harried lifestyle. Nashville Opera opens its staging of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock at Noah Liff Opera Center, Way Off Broadway Productions unveils its version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Music Valley Event Center, Street Theatre Company invites you to the see their staging of Lynn Nottage's Sweat at their new venue on Elm Hill Pike and Nashville Rep continues its celebration of 10 years of The Ingram New Works Festival at Nashville Children's Theatre.

As the magical floating stage descends from the upper recesses of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, anticipation grows and attention is directed to the half dozen actors seated upon the stage, their chairs as unique as the performers themselves. Gathered together by director Joy Tilley Perryman, the dozen actors who will be seen and heard in the company's performance of Listen to Your Mother, a collection of monologues on the subject of parenthood and the myriad relationships to be found among parents and children, were each cast for his or her particular strengths, whether it's their ability to tell a story or to engage an audience.