We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kenley Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kenley below.

Kenley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

Failure is a matter of perspective. I helped found a new-works theatre in Virginia some 14 years ago. We put up about 30 first or second productions over three seasons, which, looking back, seems remarkable. It couldn’t survive past those three seasons, however, and I’m left feeling that while the mission was on-point, the execution was wrong.

I tend to answer questions that no one has asked. That might be an interesting quality as a writer, but when it comes to business, it’s been a liability. Back in Virginia, I committed personal funds to build a brick-and-mortar theatre to house that new-works project. Remember “Field of Dreams”? In this case, they didn’t come. I assumed a community would rise and clamor to use that new artistic palace. In a small city brought up on tepid regional-theatre musicals, our seasons of obscure playwrights and unknown titles failed to hold audiences for long. As a 501c3, it failed to hold donor interest, as well. I became the principal funder, and when I decided to move to Nashville, the new board found itself with no financial foundation. The theatre shut down within weeks.

In Nashville, I’ve been determined to avoid these mistakes. In starting Tennessee Playwrights Studio with my partner, Molly Breen, we began slowly. We eschewed non-profit status to avoid the board hassles and donor issues. Our first season consisted of play-development workshops in a rented space, followed by public readings of the initial drafts. We repeated the formula the next year and added a full production at a local venue. We reacted to the pandemic by making the workshops virtual, which eliminated rental expenses and broadened our reach across the state. This past season, we produced two world premieres and co-produced two others. We could do this because we established a foundation of writers and actors first, and by avoiding the expense of maintaining a permanent location, we were able to compensate every artist in each production.

Failure is a matter of perspective. Without that failure and the lessons it taught, however, Tennessee Playwrights Studio probably wouldn’t exist.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Molly Breen and I established Tennessee Playwrights Studio as a development lab for in-state dramatists. Since our first season in 2018, we’ve branched out into production, putting up three world premieres on our own and co-producing two others.

I came to Nashville in 2011 as an Ingram playwright at the Tennessee (now Nashville) Repertory Theatre. That process was a revelation and what I wished my MFA program had been. Working in monthly lab sessions with fellow playwrights and local actors, I experienced writing not as a solitary effort, but as a communal process.

With Molly, I took the lessons from the experience and applied them to a program dedicated to writers who live or work in Tennessee. We typically bring in four to six TPS Fellows each season, who spend that time developing a new script. Molly casts actors each month who read and interpret the latest drafts, and both writers and actors then offer feedback. It’s an intensive process that gives our Fellows the tools they need to finish a working script. The season ends with public readings (now conducted virtually) that offers an opportunity for audience feedback.

It’s always rewarding to see these new works take shape. And this year, we produced plays from the workshop for the first time — Preston Crowder’s “Don’t Look Black” and Shawn Whitsell’s “Sins of the City.” Watching those pieces travel from page to stage was a special thrill.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Molly Breen and I first crossed paths (unknowingly) when she attended a production of my play, “Devil Sedan,” in Nashville. I directed her some time later in a ten-minute play, but things really developed when she played a role in the first reading of another play of mine, “Maidens.” She was brilliant, of course! We were both single at the point, and we began a relationship soon after. In late 2017, she urged me to start the lab for new plays that would become Tennessee Playwrights Studio. It’s been a shared effort ever since.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Quality counts. In our productions, we strive to put up the best work possible, regardless of budget. It starts with the scripts — as it should, since we’re a playwriting lab at heart! We look for ideas that help raise expectations of what’s possible in local theatre. We look for plays that do more than entertain; we strive for scripts that take on our complex, often troubled world.

Nothing is possible in theatre without people, and we do our utmost to treat our artists well. Every position in our productions is compensated. We value diversity and inclusion, and we strive to elevate underrepresented voices. Molly maintains a list of some 300 actors to use in our monthly lab readings, and even newcomers can expect an opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: tnplaywrights.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tennessee.playwrights.studio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TNplaywrights
• Twitter: @tnplaywrights
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCsda9vBjx9gLcsdWTtYlP7A