Max “Tank” Tankersley played his first role in the second grade as a Groundling, so you could say he started from the bottom, now he’s here. That first performance as one of Shakespeare’s adoring fans turned Max into one himself, as he spent his childhood summers acting in Shakespeare plays in his hometown of Arlington, Virginia. He developed a passion for directing as well, eventually becoming co-director of those summer productions with Educational Theatre Company. Max continued to chase the Shakespearean dream at the Folger Shakespeare Festival in Washington D.C., playing Kate (Taming of the Shrew), Nick Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Macbeth (Macbeth). Upon arriving at UVA, Max immediately got involved with Shakespeare on the Lawn, playing Oliver and Sir Oliver Martext (As You Like It), as well as Dumain and Forester (Love’s Labour’s Lost). Max has since directed in the UVA Drama Department through the New Works Festival (FUNeral, Born Under a Single Light), in the Charlottesville community (Steps by Auntais Faulkner), and Shakespeare on the Lawn (Bardic Inspiration). He has served as Social Chair, Publicity Officer, President, and Director for Shakespeare on the Lawn, as an Artistic Director for Virginia Players, and currently serves as President of Miller Arts Scholars. Max is majoring in Drama and Psychology and insists that he is simply studying how to get into another person’s head in two different departments. Current projects include writing his thesis in Psychology and directing A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Shakespeare on the Lawn.