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    • HOME
    • PRESS
    • TPS FELLOWS
      • 2018-2022 Playwrights
      • APPLY
    • PRODUCTIONS
      • DON'T LOOK BLACK
      • THE SINS OF THE CITY
      • FAN ME WITH A BRICK
      • THAT WOMAN - DANCE
      • THAT WOMAN - MONOLOGUE
      • MAIDENS
    • TPS PARTNERS
      • DTE & SistaStyle
      • Actors / Directors
    • ABOUT US/CONTACT
    • TPS TALKS
    • TPS Scripts
    • TPS PRODUCTIONS
      • BOOK FULL PRODUCTIONS
    • FESTIVALS
      • 2023 Festival
      • 2020 Festival
      • 2019 Festival
      • 2018 Festival
    • DONATE
    • 2022 Season Programs
  • HOME
  • PRESS
  • TPS FELLOWS
    • 2018-2022 Playwrights
    • APPLY
  • PRODUCTIONS
    • DON'T LOOK BLACK
    • THE SINS OF THE CITY
    • FAN ME WITH A BRICK
    • THAT WOMAN - DANCE
    • THAT WOMAN - MONOLOGUE
    • MAIDENS
  • TPS PARTNERS
    • DTE & SistaStyle
    • Actors / Directors
  • ABOUT US/CONTACT
  • TPS TALKS
  • TPS Scripts
  • TPS PRODUCTIONS
    • BOOK FULL PRODUCTIONS
  • FESTIVALS
    • 2023 Festival
    • 2020 Festival
    • 2019 Festival
    • 2018 Festival
  • DONATE
  • 2022 Season Programs
Tennessee Playwrights Studio

Developing Fresh Voices and PRODUCING THEATRE for the 21st Century

Developing Fresh Voices and PRODUCING THEATRE for the 21st CenturyDeveloping Fresh Voices and PRODUCING THEATRE for the 21st Century

Special Topic Talks-The Vital Role of Black Theatre in 2021

About the Talk

Mary McCallum and/or  Shawn Whitsell with discuss the experience of owning a Black theatre company in 2021 and hopes and challenges for Black  theatre artists when live theatre resumes.  Q &A session will follow. Suggested audiences:  College/University Departments (Theatre, Creative Writing/English, Film Studies, Black Studies, Arts Administration, Non-Profit Administration and more); Non-Profit Organizations, Writing Groups, Social Justice Groups, General Theatre Audience

About the Theatre Artists

Mary McCallum (Founder/Artistic Director/Executive Producer - SistaStyle Productions)  received her B.S. and M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University.  Her theatre acting credits include The Mountaintop, Fly, Girl!, The Face of Emmett Till, Never Been Home, Waitin’ 2 End Hell, A Raisin in the Sun, The Story, Lysistrata, The Desire, Pretty Fire, Long Time Since Yesterday, Louie and Ophelia, Hunger in Paradise and The Dance on Widow’s Row. She has also appeared in several films & T.V. One’s Fatal Attraction.  Writing highlights: Her play SingleVille was a winner of the D.C. Black Theatre Festival One Act Battle and was a mainstage selection for the National Black Theatre Festival.  Her play Six Triple Eight took top prize at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival and Tampa Bay Theatre Festival.   The movie version of SingleVille (writer, co-director, actress) won several awards in 2018 including Best Feature at the Twin Cities Black Film festival and the International Black Film Festival. Chasing Jeremy was a screenplay winner at the British Urban Film Festival and a finalist at the Urban World Film Festival.  In 2019, she was a winner of the “Women Who Rock Nashville” award for the arts.  In 2020, she was selected as librettist for Nashville Opera’s first mainstage commission One Vote Won. 


Shawn Whitsell  is a father, activist, poet and teaching artist. He is also an actor, playwright, director, producer and founder of the Destiny Theatre Experience. His one-man show 23/1 was named "Best Blend of Theater and Activism" by the Nashville Scene, for its message about solitary confinement and mass incarceration. When he isn't onstage, he visits schools and community spaces, teaching spoken word for Southern Word and drama for a number of arts institutions. He also serves as a volunteer for the School for Alternative Learning & Transformation (SALT) at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Shawn was a 2020 Nashville New Leaders Council fellow and is currently a member of the NLC board. He also serves on the boards of Street Theatre Company and Rooftop Nashville. He is a member of the Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board and the Co-Chair of the Criminal Justice Task Force for Nashville Organized For Action and Hope (NOAH).

Book a Virtual Special Topics Talk - The Vital Role of Black Theatre in 2021

Email us with your date preferences and budget, and we  will contact you  to  discuss/confirm.   Suggested fee is $250.  We can work with budgets for HCBUs or programs with limited resources/special circumstances.

Email Us

Book a Live Special Topics Talk - The Vital Role of Black Theatre in 2021

Email us  with your date preferences and budget, and we will contact you to discuss/confirm.  Suggested free is $400/day plus travel expenses.

Email Us

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  • HOME
  • PRESS
  • DON'T LOOK BLACK
  • THE SINS OF THE CITY
  • FAN ME WITH A BRICK
  • THAT WOMAN - DANCE
  • THAT WOMAN - MONOLOGUE
  • DTE & SistaStyle
  • TPS TALKS
  • TPS Scripts
  • DONATE

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