is a playwright development lab and theatre production company that was founded in 2018 by co-directors Kenley Smith and Molly Breen to offer in-state playwrights the opportunity to develop fresh, incisive scripts that reflect a changing world. In 2019, we broadened our scope to include theatre production of projects developed in Tennessee, and our first World Premiere production was MAIDENS by Kenley Smith. In January of 2021, we formed a partnership between TPS and two of the most productive and dynamic Black-owned theatre companies in Nashville: Destiny Theatre Experience and SistaStyle Productions for collaboration on the production of new works and educational programs, such as our TPS Talks and TPS Scripts. Our 2022 Season includes four world-premiere productions. We are a resident company of the Darkhorse Theater in Nashville, TN. TPS is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Tennessee Playwrights Studio can be made online below or by checks payable to “Fractured Atlas” only. These donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
co-founded and co-directs TPS. He came to Nashville in 2011 as an Ingram New Works playwright, and he facilitated the Writing Room at Nashville Rep from 2015 to 2017. Earlier, Kenley founded Studio Roanoke, a new-works venue in Virginia that put up some 30 first or second productions from 2009 to 2012. His plays, including DEVIL SEDAN, EMPIRES OF ETERNAL VOID and MAIDENS, have been produced in Chicago, Nashville, Memphis and Omaha; AKUMA-SHIN received its world premiere in 2018 at Sacred Fools Theatre in Los Angeles. All three plays were MainStage selections at the Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha. Learn more about Kenley and his work here.
co-founded and co-directs TPS. She is an actor who loves working with new plays and playwrights. She performs with many Nashville theatre companies, has appeared on stage in Atlanta, Kentucky, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. and has also originated roles in more than 15 world premiere productions. As a writer, she has received fellowships with the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts.
TPS and our partners, Destiny Theatre Experience & SistaStyle Productions, are proud to be resident companies of the Darkhorse Theatre.
Actors interested in joining our actor list for workshops/readings/audition info for productions can email molly@tnplaywrights.org with photo, resume/experience and age range.
A Resident Company of the Darkhorse Theater
4610 Charlotte Ave, Nashville, Tennessee 37209, United States