Program Directors
Rex Knowles (Executive Director)Sherry Landrum (Artistic Director)
Sherry Landrum and Rex Knowles met in 1965 at Home Is the Hunter, an outdoor drama in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. It was their first professional acting job. They have continued and nurtured their relationship together as actors, directors, writers, producers, teachers, partners, and parents.
As a director, Sherry has won two "Best Director" awards from the Los Angeles Drama Critics and a "Best Director" award from the Tennessee Theatre Association. Regionally, she has directed for the Oxford Shakespeare Festival in Mississippi, the American Heartland Theatre in Kansas City, the Pioneer Square Theatre in Seattle, Garage Theater in New Jersey, Stephens College in Missouri, the Cumberland County Playhouse in Tennessee, and the Chattanooga Theatre Centre in Chattanooga.
Sherry has written (with her collaborator George S. Clinton) two musicals, That Other Woman's Child and Smoky Mountain Suite. That Other Woman's Child premiered at the Chattanooga State Repertory Theatre to rave reviews. Smoky Mountain Suite was produced for PBS and later adapted for the Gene Autry Radio Theatre.
Sherry had a recurring role on General Hospital, has done numerous commercials and movies, and hosted the talk show Faithways for CBS. Sherry holds a Masters Degree in Theatre Arts from Antioch University.
Rex's productions have won numerous Los Angeles Drama Critics' awards, including best production, best ensemble cast, and best director. He has written for the game shows Jackpot, The New $25,000 Pyramid, and Double Talk and was Associate Producer for Bob Stewart Productions (ABC). Rex is the author of The Night Reginald Filbert Called It Quits which was awarded Grand Prize in the Festival of New Works at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre and Rosemary Leaves which had its world premiere at the Chattanooga State Repertory Theatre. Rex is proud to have appeared in the TV classics, M*A*S*H, Starsky and Hutch, and The Dukes of Hazzard. He holds a Masters Degree in Theology and the Arts from Union Theological Seminary.
Rex and Sherry have led workshops for the American Film Institute, Screen Actors Guild Conservatory, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, Southeastern Theatre Conference, Union Theological Seminary, and the Lorian Society.
For ten years, they served on the faculty of the New Actors Workshop in New York City, a professional actor training program founded by George Morrison, Mike Nichols, and Paul Sills.
Both are proud members of SAG, AFTRA, AEA, and the Dramatists Guild.
Rex and Sherry are the parents of two daughters, Canedy and Jessie, who are pursuing careers as actors, writers, directors, and teachers. And, of course, very proud grandparents of Lexi!