Two dreamers conjure Scenic City Shakespeare
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
This subject of dreams, from Shakespeare’s 43rd sonnet, was on the minds of Emma Wiseman Collins and Ryan Laskowski when I sat and spoke with them recently.
Specifically, their dream is called “Scenic City Shakespeare”, a theater start-up company they have been contemplating since their time at the Professional Actor Training Program at Chattanooga State. The dream took further shape last year when they and a group of eight friends met for a dinner party and turned their vision into a plan.
Any why not? There are theaters devoted to Shakespeare in Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, and Atlanta…so why not Chattanooga? Sure, there are stray local productions from time to time, like a disco “Midsummer” at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, or a “Hamlet” once at Chattanooga State, or a distant memory of the now defunct Chattanooga Shakespeare. The closest regular producer of Shakespeare is 40 minutes south of Chattanooga, where Back Alley Productions in Lafayette produces something from the Bard every season.
There’s a Shakespeare Garden on UTC campus. There’s a Shakespeare statue outside the Theatre Centre. But where are the Shakespeare’s productions?
Ryan, 31, and Emma, 32, aim to change that, and their timeline is impressive, if not downright daunting. They have completed their not-for-profit status (a 501c3) and are currently raising money for an early Fall production.
Their mission is hefty: “to serve the Scenic City by producing great theater and educational programs that engage and inspire.” Ryan and Emma want it all—three full productions a year, two outdoors and one indoors. And not every production will be from Shakespeare. Expect one non-Shakespeare or musical, as well as educational offerings, including an adult puppet theater and improv, which is their background from Chattanooga State.
Ryan and Emma imagine Scenic City productions unfolding in parks throughout Chattanooga (perhaps a different park for every production), with live music, food vendors, and a light “picnic-y” atmosphere.
How will they fund this ambitious vision? They say they have budgets planned for the first three productions, for which they’ll need about $15,000, which they expect to come from grants, sponsorships, and individuals. In fact they’ll accept your donations now at patreon.com/ScenicCityShakespeare. Their urgency is understandable as they will only begin casting their first production—“Love’s Labours Lost”—once funding for artist compensation has been secured.
Actors and designers/directors will be paid, which itself would be rare for Chattanooga which is exclusively populated by volunteer-based, community theaters.
As far as ticket sales? There probably will be none; their aim is offer their productions free of charge, though don’t be surprised if you should see gentle solicitations for donations.
On this grand ramp up to their inaugural production they are building interest by hosting monthly “meetups” which aspire to eventually touch on all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays. Their next meeting, which will be announced once things get (relatively) back to normal, they plan to discuss how to stage productions of “Julius Caesar”, “Two Gentlemen Of Verona”, and “King John”.
The word “dream” appears 203 times in Shakespeare’s canon, which seems apt when considering all that Ryan and Emma have before them. But a new classical theater in town is a special occasion, especially one which commits to honoring theater workers with compensation for their time and talents. Could this be beginning of the future of theater in Chattanooga? It is if Emma and Ryan have anything to say about it.
“This was my dream: what it doth bode, God knows.” —Henry 6, pt.2