TN Shakespeare Company Presents IN A PURPLE MOOD: ALICE WALKER in Next Salon

Tennessee Shakespeare Company continues its "Essential" 13th performance season on Sunday, September 27 with a celebration of the author of The Color Purple in its Dr. Greta McCormick Coger Literary Salon.

In a Purple Mood: Alice Walker will be presented both in-person on TSC's Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage and simulcast online beginning at 3:00 pm (CDT), will be followed by a brief talkback with the actors. The Salon will run approximately 45 minutes.

Curated and directed by TSC's Carmen-maria Mandley and featuring TSC's core company actors, including Darius Wallace, In a Purple Mood will include Ms. Walker's poetry (Taking the Arrow out of the Heart), material from her interviews, and excerpts read from The Color Purple.

At a very young age, Ms. Walker began writing poetry. She remains prolific. She said: "Write your own stories, out of your own lives, hopes, disasters. and dreams. They will resonate with others around the world."

"Ms. Walker writes with daring and tenacity," says Mandley. "She has a deep belief that anything we do is in service of our ancestors and our elders; that we are all storytellers. And in order to continue as a species, we must, with diligence, continue to tell the truths we have, be they celebratory, dangerous, romantic, or grief- stricken."

Ms. Walker said, "I always feel like if you can see it, maybe you can change it. You can't make people change if they're not moved to do it, but that's why we have writers, poets, fighters, and dancers."

One of the main focuses of the Salon is The Color Purple, published in 1982.

"It is one of the most important books in the world to me," says Mandley, "since I read it in middle school so many years ago. The book was banned in schools, but we circulated a copy around our group of friends and we were all amazed by the voice of Celie. My group of friends was diverse, and it started many conversations for us that we could not have in front of any adult. Conversations about race, gender, abuse, and sexuality. More than that, it allowed us to tell our own stories to each other, just like Celie, Shug, Sofia, and Nettie."

Alice Walker is an internationally celebrated writer, poet, and activist whose books include seven novels, four collections of short stories, four children's books, and volumes of essays and poetry. She won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1983 and the National Book Award. She has written many bestsellers, among them The Temple of My Familiar, By the Light of My Father's Smile, and Possessing the Secret of Joy. Her other novels are: The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Color Purple, and Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart. Her short story collections include In Love & Trouble: Stories of Black Women, You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down, and The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart. She has created seven volumes of poems.

Ms. Walker has been an activist all of her adult life. She believes that learning to extend the range of our compassion is activity and work available to all. She is a staunch defender not only of human rights, but of the rights of all living beings. She is one of the world's most prolific writers, yet continues to travel the world to literally stand on the side of the poor, and the economically, spiritually, and politically oppressed. She also stands, however, on the side of the revolutionaries, teachers, and leaders who seek change and transformation of the world.

Upon returning from Gaza in 2008, Ms. Walker said, "Going to Gaza was our opportunity to remind the people of Gaza and ourselves that we belong to the same world: the world where grief is not only acknowledged, but shared; where we see injustice and call it by its name; where we see suffering and know the one who stands and sees is also harmed, but not nearly so much as the one who stands and sees and says and does nothing."

Box Office

Purchase tickets online at www.tnshakespeare.org or by calling (901) 759-0604 Monday-Friday from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. The Salon will be available to patrons as both an in-person and digital online experience.

Online option:

The online presentation will show only once via a one-camera setup on TSC's website with a time-stamped, specific password provided to patrons on the day of the Salon. The digital waiting room opens 15 minutes prior to curtain. All digital online tickets are $15.

In-person option:

In-person seating at the Tabor Stage is strictly limited to 54 socially-distanced patrons. Face coverings must be worn. Patrons must answer basic health screening positively and provide contact information prior to theatre entry. Patrons may select the preferred seating section, and TSC will then select socially-distanced seats based on the party's size and the order in which tickets were purchased.

Tickets in Seating Section One are $25 in-person (Students $18/Seniors $22). Tickets in Seating Sections Two and Three are $18 in-person (Students $15/Seniors $18). Tickets must be purchased in advance of the Salon (not at the door), printed, and brought with patrons to the theatre. The house will open 30 minutes prior to curtain.

Credit Card charges require a $1 per-ticket fee. Schedule subject to change with notice. Free parking at TSC. There are no refunds/exchanges.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company's 13th Performance Season Continues

Like to a Lonely Dragon: Shakespeare's Election of Coriolanus

Salon curated by Dan McCleary

Friday, October 9 at 8:00 pm

FREE Shout-Out Shakespeare:

Romeo and Juliet

a modern, pandemic production

by William Shakespeare

directed outdoors by Stephanie Shine

sponsored by Evans/Petree, P.C. and Campbell Clinic

October 13-24

Halloween's Tell-Tale Heart: Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and Flannery O'Connor

Salon curated by Stephanie Shine and Dr. Diane Dombrowski

Friday, October 30 at 8:00 pm

From Dublin to the Sea: John M. Synge

Salon curated by Stephanie Shine

in honor of Pat and Ernest Kelly

Sunday, November 8 at 3:00 pm

A Little, Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving: Louisa May Alcott

Salon curated by Stephanie Shine

Sunday, November 22 at 3:00 pm

A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens' Dramatic Premier Reading in Boston

Salon curated and read by Dan McCleary

December 4-20

The Hunting Heart: Carson McCullers

Salon curated by Stephanie Shine

Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 3:00 pm

Twelfth Night

comedy by William Shakespeare

directed by Stephanie Shine

on the Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage

February 25 - March 7, 2021

The Elizabethan Feast: Gala Benefit

a fun, breezy party to benefit our Education Program

on the Owen and Margaret Wellford Tabor Stage

sponsored by TSC's Board of Directors

Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 6:00 pm

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