Tom Parkhill
Founding Artistic Director
Tom Parkhill is the Founding Artistic Director of the Tennessee Stage Company and one of the longest-serving professional theatre artists and arts advocates in East Tennessee. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Parkhill has worked professionally in theatre since the mid-1970s, building a career that has encompassed virtually every aspect of the theatrical process—including acting, directing, producing, stage management, production management, design, technical theatre and administration.
In 1989, Parkhill co-founded the Tennessee Stage Company, bringing professional theatre to Knoxville with a mission of making quality live performance accessible to the community while creating opportunities for regional artists. Under his artistic leadership, the company has developed a particular reputation for Shakespeare and classical theatre, while also maintaining a strong commitment to new work. Tennessee Stage’s programs have included its long-running Knoxville Shakespeare productions, the New Play Festival, and educational and community outreach programs.
Parkhill’s career extends well beyond Tennessee Stage. He co-founded the Strand Street Theatre in Galveston, Texas, where he also served as a theatre administrator. As an actor, he has been a company member of numerous regional theatres, including Charlotte Shakespeare, Flatrock Playhouse, Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, Playhouse on the Square, South Carolina Repertory Company and Cumberland County Playhouse. His acting credits have included appearances at Manhattan Theatre Club and the Provisional Theatre in Los Angeles, as well as performances at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston and the Boomershoot Arts Festival in Seattle. He has appeared in feature films, television and radio and has been featured in more than 100 national, regional and local commercials.
His work as a producer and artistic leader has had an equally significant impact. As director of Tennessee Stage Company, Parkhill has overseen the production of dozens of new plays and has produced 29 New Play Festivals and 31 world-premiere plays. His commitment to playwrights and new work has helped make Tennessee Stage an important part of the theatrical ecosystem in Knoxville and throughout the region.
Parkhill has also played an active role in the broader arts community. He served as Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater Knoxville in 2000 and 2001 and has served on the boards of Tennesseans for the Arts, the Southeastern Theatre Conference and the Tennessee Theatre Association. He served as President of the Tennessee Theatre Association from 1999–2000 and received the Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2012.
In 2024, Parkhill was honored by the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame with its Award for Outstanding Contribution to East Tennessee Culture and Literacy, recognizing his longstanding contribution to the cultural life of the region.
For more than three decades, Parkhill has remained at the center of Knoxville’s professional theatre community—both onstage and behind the scenes. His career reflects a rare breadth of theatrical experience and a sustained commitment to Shakespeare, new plays, professional artists and the belief that live theatre can be both artistically ambitious and genuinely accessible to its community.
By The Numbers
50+ years in professional theatre | 30+ years leading Tennessee Stage | 29 New Play Festivals | 31 world premieres | 100+ commercial appearances
H. Caitlin Corbitt
Associate Artistic Director
H. Caitlin Corbitt is the Associate Artistic Director of the Tennessee Stage Company, where she works alongside Founding Artistic Director Tom Parkhill to develop and produce professional theatre in Knoxville, with a particular focus on Shakespeare, new plays and opportunities for East Tennessee artists.
A theatre artist with experience as a director, actor, producer, dramaturg and arts administrator, Corbitt has been an integral part of Tennessee Stage Company’s artistic development for more than a decade. Her work with the company reflects a commitment to both the classical theatrical tradition and the development of new voices for the American stage.
Corbitt has directed numerous productions for Tennessee Stage, including Shakespeare’s The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Much Ado About Nothing and The Winter’s Tale. Her 2025 production of The Winter’s Tale, performed at the historic Mabry-Hazen House, demonstrated her interest in using unconventional performance environments to create an intimate and imaginative relationship between Shakespeare, performers and audiences. The production received particular praise for its inventive use of the historic site.
Her Shakespeare work has also included directing productions for Tennessee Stage’s long-running outdoor Shakespeare program. In 2017, she directed The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) as part of Shakespeare on the Square, and she has collaborated with Tom Parkhill and other members of the company’s artistic team on productions presented in Knoxville’s distinctive outdoor venues.
Corbitt is also deeply involved in Tennessee Stage’s New Play Festival and its continuing commitment to developing new American plays. She has served as a facilitator and dramaturg for new works, worked directly with playwrights during the development process, and helped shape the festival’s evolution from a showcase of new plays into a more sustained development program. She is the author of Tennessee Stage’s historical archive of the company’s world, regional and other premieres, documenting the company’s development of new work from its founding in 1989 through the present.
In 2025, Tennessee Stage launched its first New Play Festival Development Series, pairing playwrights with facilitators and dramaturgs and incorporating staged readings, audience feedback and opportunities for revision. Corbitt has continued to play a central role in that process; in the 2026 festival, she served as facilitator for A Sad Vampire and Shrinking Violet, and Tennessee Stage’s current development program identifies her and David Ratliff as the two program directors responsible for reading every submitted play.
Corbitt’s philosophy of theatre is closely aligned with Tennessee Stage Company’s mission. As she explained in a 2026 interview about the New Play Festival, the company’s Shakespeare and new-play programs grew from the same fundamental goal: creating accessible art and entertainment for the local community while providing professional opportunities for regional artists.
Her work extends beyond directing and producing. Corbitt has appeared as an actor with Tennessee Stage, including in the company’s 2019 production of Harvey and its 2026 production of Henry IV, Part I, in which she played Prince Hal. A 2026 review praised her performance as a rebellious, energetic Prince Hal balancing youthful revelry with a genuine desire to earn her father’s approval.
Corbitt is a graduate of Maryville College, where she earned a degree in theatre and was active in the college’s theatre community, serving as president of Alpha Psi Omega and participating in Kappa Delta Pi. Her professional interests also encompass problem-solving, creative process and production management—skills that have become an important part of her contribution to Tennessee Stage Company’s small but ambitious professional theatre operation.
At Tennessee Stage Company, Corbitt represents an important bridge between the company’s founding generation and its future: honoring Shakespeare and the theatrical traditions that have sustained the company for decades while helping cultivate new playwrights, new artists and new approaches to presenting live theatre in Knoxville.