Tennessee Shakespeare Company

New Home Party Kicks Off Capital Campaign

The Tennessee Shakespeare Company (TSC) in Memphis will open the doors of its new home to the public on Saturday, May 19, with a kick-off party for its Brave New World Campaign.

Last summer TSC took over the former property of Ballet Memphis at 7950 Trinity Road to become the theater's first, permanent home. The building still requires some renovations before it can serve as a public theater, but it's already providing a headquarters for the company as it continues its community programming while launching a fundraising campaign to do more.

The Brave New World Campaign Kick-Off Party is a free but ticketed event from 5–6:30 p.m., May 19. All are welcome, including families, but the seating is limited (to reserve tickets, click here. Among the activities on tap is a presentation of the company's Romeo and Juliet Project in which guests will be able to play a role in the Capulet/Montague opening brawl. Guests also will be able to watch children gain a command of Shakespeare's text in TSC's interactive playshops, take a Shakespeare selfie, and then be among the first to see the company's plans to create the state's first and only permanent, year-round home for professional Shakespeare performance, education, and training. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres will be served and bars will be open. Dress is casual, and seating will be on a first-come/first-served basis.

The Brave New World Capital Campaign is intended to cover the costs of the company's goal to create a permanent, year-round home for all of its programs after spending the past 10 years producing and teaching in more than 200 locations throughout Memphis. Renovations to the building will create a full-service, 400-seat event space that will provide the company with an additional sustaining income stream. The $6 million campaign started with $1.9 million to purchase the facility. Another $2.6 million is earmarked for interior renovation to create a professional and flexible theater space, an education hall and event center, and updated support spaces; $500,000 for facility infrastructure renovation and support; and $1 million endowment for future facility replacement costs.

The first step of the campaign was accomplished with acquisition of the facility last August, and renovation design and financing are in progress ("We are already halfway home!" proclaims the flyer for the Kick-Off Party). Renovation on the interior support spaces will begin this summer, and TSC plans to produce two main-stage productions in the site in the fall. Renovation will continue through next spring on the public spaces with an official opening and naming ceremony in the summer or fall of 2019 "paving the way for a full season of professional productions, training, education programming, and facility rentals during the 2019–2020 season," says the campaign literature.

For more information on the Brave New World Campaign, go to bnw.tnshakespeare.org.

May 11, 2018

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