Hayley Wilson
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Hayley Wilson is a PhD candidate in the English department at UTK studying Black drama and performance. Her dissertation project looks at two beloved Harlem Renaissance playwrights, Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, and their impact on Black drama in the 20s and 30s. Outside of her academic work, Hayley enjoys snuggling with her three cats. Unfortunately, she was not a theater kid in high school and is currently making up for that by getting into local theater as much as she can. Her contribution to Arts Knoxville helps her escape her academic duties and engage with the living world of theater, no textbooks required.

Review: ‘Harvey’ at TKD — Chasing the White Rabbit

Maybe some of you have that one friend that no one else seems to understand. No matter how many introductions you make to a variety of different people, your other friends just don’t seem to “get” this person. That’s the case with poor Elwood P. Dowd and his dear friend that no one seems to see. Director Jill Stapleton Bergeron introduces us to this unlucky friend in TKD’s production of Mary Chase’s 1953 play Harvey that keeps both actors and audiences on their toes and at their wit’s end.

Review: Theatre Roulette at TKD’s ‘Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind’

BY HAYLEY WILSON   If you thought the process of memorizing lines for an entire play is a testament to the mental acuity of actors, get ready to experience the ultimate test of on-stage stamina with TKD’s production of Too…

River & Rail Finds “Forever Home” along Magnolia Avenue

BY HAYLEY WILSON   For over 10 years, River & Rail Theatre has been a fixture in the Knoxville arts community, bringing together both local and national talent to tell stories about our city, its people, and its history. Their…

Review: Secrets and Suspense in TKD’s ‘How A Boy Falls’

BY HAYLEY WILSON   Audiences interested in a psychological thriller get their fill of on-stage suspense with Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s production of How A Boy Falls. Director Windie Wilson’s take on Steven Dietz’s 2023 play will have you sitting on…

Review: TKD’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’: A Technicolor Treat

Directed by Christina Scott Sayer, Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ brings a fresh, technicolor vibrance to a stuffy, verbose parody of the many absurd hoops we jump through to avoid the pressures of social life. 

Off Script with First Take Co.

BY HAYLEY WILSON   When you think of professional theatre, you might have a few images in mind. The word may conjure up scenes of audiences in luxurious fur stoles and evening gowns or well-tailored jackets and crisp button-down shirts,…

Review: TKD’s ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ – Reaping a Bitter Harvest

Sometimes, our memories, even of hard and testing times, return to us sweetly, like a fleeting song. That’s how playwright Brian Friel remembers one summer from his childhood in rural Ireland in 1936, a moment on the brink of devastating change to his family’s livelihood. Theatre Knoxville Downtown presents Friel’s play based on these memories, ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’, directed by Barry Wallace, a conflicting and bittersweet contemplation on memory, hope, and the painful inevitability of change. 

Review: TKD’s ‘My Three Angels’: Criminally Fun

BY HAYLEY WILSON   The Christmas season is upon us, which means a slew of holiday productions are slated for Knoxville’s stages. Among these is Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s run of My Three Angels, an unexpected show among the more popular…

Review: Chris McCreary’s ‘Hot Nostalgia’: Burning Questions for Past, Present, and Future

For one night only, writer and performer Chris McCreary presented his solo show Hot Nostalgia, a metatheatrical and eclectic mix of monodrama, stand-up, and sketch comedy. Collectively produced by First Take Co. and Free Women Waltzing Club and hosted at local multiuse artist venue SpaceCraft, Hot Nostalgia is a warm and engaging show that is both deeply reflective and hilariously irreverent, representing the best of Knoxville’s local arts scene and the community efforts and spaces that make it happen. 

Review: Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s ‘The Elephant Man’

Theatre Knoxville Downtown presents Bernard Pomerance’s 1977 The Elephant Man. Directed by Sarah Campbell and set during Victorian-era London and Belgium, The Elephant Man recounts the life of Joseph Merrick, a man known for his physical deformities the cause of which modern medicine still does not fully understand.

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