Memphis Children’s Theatre Festival forced to downsize for 25th celebration.

By Jamie Markham

10/23/2025​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Memphis - Celebrating its 25th year, the Memphis Children’s Theatre Festival (MCTF) has focused on introducing fine arts to the youth of Memphis, but despite the momentous celebration, the festival is being forced to downsize.

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For the last quarter-century, the festival has been presented by the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, but despite internal pushes for a larger celebration, the festival’s host, Theatre Memphis, has chosen to cut down the size of the venue. 

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“We have more groups than last year, but we are using a smaller space for the festival this year,” said Becky Caspersen, Director of Volunteer Outreach and Communication at Theatre Memphis.

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Caspersen stated that there were multiple reasons behind their choice to downsize this year. “Last year’s performance was spectacular, but we wanted to plan things out smarter.” 

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In the 2024 incarnation of MCTF, the festival operated in seven different locations across Theatre Memphis’ facility on Southern Avenue. “We had people almost ending up backstage or people scared of entering the library because a giant duck blocked the end of the hallway,” said Caspersen. 

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In 2025, the festival will be operating across only four locations at Theatre Memphis. “We are keeping everything front and center this year,” said Caspersen. “We want people to walk out of one thing and find themselves in the middle of the next thing.”

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The venue’s shrinking was a twofold decision. “It really helps us prevent people from getting confused or scared of going to an event here, but it also saves us a lot of money,” said Caspersen.

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In May 2025, the Trump Administration cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a committee which provides grants towards several fine arts groups in Memphis. Theatre Memphis was one of many establishments impacted by grants being cut.

“When we lost those grants, people couldn’t work the same hours they used to,” said Julia Truelove, Assistant Production Stage Manager at Theatre Memphis. “I’m able to finish my work, but other departments here aren’t able to legally work the hours they need.”

Truelove estimated that at any given time, the Volunteer and Outreach department were two to three weeks behind workwise. Additionally, Truelove stated that the budget cuts are impacting certain groups at the festival.

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“We have a group hosting a booth that wants us to print 500 colored papers for their booth,” said Truelove. “We can’t even give them 250 non-color copies with this budget.”

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A similar story unfolded for another group. “The coloring booth in the main lobby wanted several packs of expo markers,” said Truelove. “We scrounged up every marker in Theatre Memphis for them to use because we could not afford new ones.”

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While the festival is designed to introduce children to the arts, the program also focuses on a problem in Memphis: lack of artistic representation from underrepresented groups.

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“Memphis is such a diverse city and we just struggle to show that diversity in the arts,” said Abi Wiggins, head of Programs and Festivals at Theatre Memphis. “We sit on a dozen different shows every year that we can’t do because there’s a lack of representation.”

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Every year, Theatre Memphis’ Outreach & Education office hosts an event called “Read to Relate” that is designed to tackle this issue. The event brings a dozen playscripts for community members to read through and decide which show should be nominated for a potential production in the upcoming season. 

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“We had this wonderful script that was about Korean immigrants, but we couldn’t make it work,” said Wiggins. “The script explicitly requires Asian actors and we just don’t see that kind of representation in our city.”

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Several fine art establishments in Memphis find themselves looking for answers to the issue of diversity and representation in their medium. Groups like Cazateatro or Emerald Theatre Company exist to bring representation respectively for Hispanic and LGBTQ+ communities in Memphis.

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Even in a majority black city like Memphis, many African-American based art groups like “Nubian Sirens” or “Epke Abioto” wrestle with obscurity.

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“Last year, we received this tear-filled call from Nubian Sirens when we invited them to join us,” said Wiggins. “No one wanted to pick up her act and we wanted to give her a platform.”

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Memphis Children’s Theatre Festival will be held at Theatre Memphis on October 11th from 10 A.M to 4 P.M.

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Contact Information: 

Jam.Markham@Outlook.com