The University of Tennessee’s Clarence Brown Theater Company (865/974-5161, http://theater.utk.edu) presents a wide repertoire of plays featuring nationally and internationally recognized guest artists. The company performs in the 570-seat Clarence Brown Theater (1714 Andy Holt Blvd.) on the UT campus, named for UT alumnus and distinguished film director Clarence Brown. UT is also home to the 400-seat Ula Love Doughty Carousel Theater and a 100-seat black-box theater, which are used for campus productions.

Knoxville’s Carpetbag Theater (www.carpetbagtheatre.org) is a community-based nonprofit professional theater company founded in 1970. It is one of the few tenured African-American professional theater companies in the South. The company produces plays, festivals, youth theater workshops, and other events throughout the year. Their performances often bring to the fore the stories and experiences of people who are otherwise overlooked by history.

The Tennessee Stage Company (www.tennesseestage.com) produces Shakespeare in the Square, a free summertime production of Shakespeare’s work at Market Square Mall, and the New Play Festival, which brings to life unpublished theatrical works.