Celebrating America250

Scenic City Shakespeare is a recipient of a $10,000 grant for Tennessee America 250 initiatives from the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial. The grant award will be used for the development and performance of 'AMERICA THROUGH THE TEMPEST', a free afternoon production at Greenway Farm Park in Hixson, TN at 2:30pm on Sunday, October 25th, 2026.

'AMERICA THROUGH THE TEMPEST' pairs the wit and wisdom of Shakespeare's words with the trials and triumphs of American history, featuring the state of Tennessee and Hamilton County at the heart of the production. The cast of actors and creatives led by Director Emma Collins and Assistant Director Hunter Rodgers features Kyree Brown, Maria Chattin, Jonathan Harris, Jamie McIntosh, and Sarah Roberts. Enhancing the spectacle will be fight choreography by Will Snyder, and choreography by Monica Ellison. This family-friendly, outdoor production is offered free of charge!

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Chattanooga, Tennessee · Est. 2019

Company Members Kashun Parks (Prospero) and Jeni Benavides (Ariel) rehearse a scene from the upcoming production of "THE TEMPEST".

Rehearsals for The Tempest!

Shakespeare in the Park · Admission free

The Tempest

Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm and torment the survivors of a shipwreck, including her own treacherous brother, Antonio, and the King of Naples, Alonso. Caliban, a creature born of the island plots to reclaim his birthright, but is thwarted by Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel. The King’s young son Ferdinand, thought to be dead, falls in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda.

TL;DR : A crew of men are shipwrecked on a magical island and tormented by a Witch and her mischievous henchmen.

Scenic City Shakespeare Presents: The Tempest

Free Shakespeare in the Park returns to Greenway Farms this fall for The Tempest!

Performances: October 2, 3, 4, 16, 17, and 23
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Greenway Farms Park, 4960 Gann Store Rd., Chattanooga, TN 37343
Admission: Free! Bring your lawn chairs and picnic blankets; seating is not provided. Reservations are not required but help us know how many people to expect and help to keep you informed in the event of a weather delay or cancellation.

Wrongly exiled Duchess Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm and torment a group of shipwrecked nobles, including her own usurpring brother Antonio and King Alonso of Naples. Caliban, a creature born of the island plots with a pair of drunken Lords to reclaim his birthright, but is thwarted by Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel. The King’s young son Ferdinand, thought to be dead, falls in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda.

With support from the Artists Work Grant through ArtsBuild, Scenic City Shakespeare's The Tempest blows in to Greenway Farms October 2nd, 3rd, 16th, 17th, & 24th! Stay tuned to Social Media or ScenicCityShakespeare.org for updates on additional programming throughout the month of October!

The Tempest features a cast of new and familiar company members including Kashun Parks as Prospero. Featuring Jeni Benavides (Ariel), Rose Johnson (Miranda), Jamie Lopez (Caliban), Maverick Murray (Antonio), Alex King (Sebastian), Ripken Russell (Trinculo), Marcus Price (Alonso), Dandy Reynoso (Ferdinand), Jim Eernisse (Stephano), & Morgan Robbins (Gonzalo). With Liam Kramer, Kayla Manning, Stephen Patrick & Jenn Webster.

This production is Directed by 2024's Lady Macbeth - Amanda Medlin with Stage Management by Ryan Laskowski, Dramaturgy by Emma Collins, Choreography by Monica Ellison, & Costumes by Brenda Schwab.

Special thanks to JW Kelly, Tennessee Academy of Gymnastics, HOPE for the Inner City, Chattanooga State Repertory Theatre, LiveWire, & The Tennessee Arts Commission!

DatesOpening Friday October 2nd

LocationGreenway Farms

RSVPAlways free

Click Here to RSVP

Why Shakespeare? Why Chattanooga?

BRING BACK THE BARD

Scenic City Shakespeare grew out of a long creative partnership between Ryan Laskowski and Emma Collins, who met in Chattanooga State’s Professional Actor Training Program and began collaborating in 2009. In the fall of 2019, they began building a company around a simple idea: Chattanooga deserved a Shakespeare company of its own. Scenic City Shakespeare was formally organized as a Tennessee nonprofit in January 2020 with a mission “to serve the Scenic City by producing great theatre and education programs that engage and inspire.”

Almost immediately, COVID-19 closed stages around the world. Scenic City Shakespeare responded by developing #RemoteTheatre, a live green-screen performance style that brought actors performing from their homes across the country together on a shared virtual stage. During 2020, SCS produced three full-length Shakespeare adaptations remotely. The company also hosted monthly Shakespeare 2020 Project meetups and the Halloween@Home stream-a-thon, which featured the online world-premiere reading of Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Frankenstein. The work earned attention well beyond Chattanooga and allowed the young company to grow during a period when conventional live theatre was impossible.

After more than a year online, Scenic City Shakespeare returned to in-person performance with All Together Now! in November 2021. In May 2022, the company finally realized a project first planned before the pandemic: free Shakespeare in Chattanooga’s parks. An original musical adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost launched Scenic City Shakespeare in the Park at Greenway Farms, with an additional performance at East Lake Park. Strong attendance led directly to Hamlet that fall and established the spring-and-fall Shakespeare in the Park tradition that continues today.

Since then, Scenic City Shakespeare has developed a growing repertory at Greenway Farms while expanding its educational work and increasing artist compensation. In 2026, Othello opened the company’s fifth season of free Shakespeare in the Park alongside a new paid student apprenticeship program. Across every stage of that history, the founding commitment has remained consistent: make ambitious theatre accessible to the community while valuing the artists who create it.

Every Show Free. Every Artist Paid.

2× yearlyFree Shakespeare in the Park

Since 2019Chattanooga-made theatre

All agesPerformance + education

Cofounders Emma Collins and Ryan Laskowski standing together outdoors — Cofounders Emma Collins, Education Director, and Ryan Laskowski, Artistic Director

2026 matching campaign

Double your impact today!

Thanks to a generous supporter, every contribution made in 2026 will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000! That means your gift of $10 becomes $20 towards keeping FREE Shakespeare in the Park alive! Your contribution goes directly towards artist stipends, necessary tech upgrades, original works, & educational programs.

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