What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.
— JULIET CAPULET, ROMEO AND JULIET (2.2.46-47)
The Tennessee Stage Company has been operating as a 501(c) 3 non-profit professional theatre company since 1989. Our mission is to enhance the cultural life of the community through performance and education while providing professional opportunities for regional artists. Our purpose is to educate and entertain the people of our region, to provide professional opportunities for regional artists and to promote interaction between new artists and established professionals. The Tennessee Stage Company is dedicated to providing quality entertainment that is affordable and accessible to all. We work with local artists, community leaders and local government to promote the arts in downtown Knoxville. The Tennessee Stage Company has three major programs: The New Play Festival, Knoxville Shakespeare and various Education & Outreach programs for artists of all ages.
Our Official Motto: Elvis is our co-pilot
Our Official Slogan: It ain’t art but you get to go home early
Our Official Credo: It’s okay to have a good time
Our Official Core Values: Faster! Louder! Funnier!
You may reach us at:
P.O. Box 1186
Knoxville, TN 37901
T: (865) 546-4280
How Tennessee Stage Company Got Its Start
It’s 1989, and 4 performers just bombed.
Where it all started…
Sitting around a sandwich shop, in High Point, North Carolina, four East Tennessee actors are bemoaning their auditions. As it sometimes happens, they each walked out of their shot a season’s worth of work, saying the same thing: “Well, that went badly.” So someone came up with a brilliant idea– let’s start our own thing.
And that is how the Tennessee Stage Company was born.
East Tennessee Shakespeare in the Park’s inaugural season in 1990 began with Taming of the Shrew in the World’s Fair Park Amphitheater. The next step, was 2003’s production of As You Like It, at the then unfinished Market Square. When we started “Shakespeare on the Square”, we set out to continue to bring Shakespeare to the city of Knoxville in an a way we hadn’t seen before. For Seventeen years, thousands of patrons flocked to our home on Market Square. We experimented with other outdoor theatre spaces when the pandemic hit by using Ijams Nature Center. As we grow, we want to expand the possibilities beyond the Square. We hope you share our excitement for the future and fondly remember our past. Thank you for being here.