Three local students honored for their artwork in FWC competition.

Each spring, Florida Repertory Theatre hosts an intensive weekend of rehearsals, readings, talk-backs, and development that brings professional playwrights, directors, actors, and audiences to Fort Myers. It’s called the PlayLab Festival of New Works. Go here to see which works have been juried into this year's festival.

This week, seven shows open, three close, ten continue their runs and there is one limited engagement at Southwest Florida equity and community theaters.

The 2026 International Baccalaureate Visual Arts Exhibition at the Davis Art Center headlines 29 visual art exhibitions on view in April at Southwest Florida art centers.

The 28th Annual Sarasota Film Festival takes place April 10-19. This year's festival includes over 200 features, documentaries and short films exploring both local and global issues. The festival also features red carpet premieres, community-wide street festivals, filmmaker Q&A sessions and exclusive industry panels.

Last April, the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra closed its doors after 64 years in operation. To fill the void, an organization spearheaded by community leader Carol Robinson has formed the Fort Myers Philharmonic. Southwest Florida Symphony’s Music Director and Conductor of 16 years, Paul Nadler, will lead the newly created Fort Myers Phil. Christopher Confessore will serve as Principal Pops Conductor.

For many, the works of William Shakespeare conjure memories of boring English assignments and awkward readings in high school. It’s an entirely different experience seeing his plays performed onstage, says actor Ryan Adair, who plays Brutus in Lab Theater’s streamlined modern production of “Julius Caesar.”

Late February, actor Timothee Chalamet suggested that no one cares about ballet and opera anymore. That’s definitely not the case in Southwest Florida, where opera enjoyed a huge month.

We discuss the new novel Ensoulment, the winner of the 2025 Thomas E. Kennedy Novel Award.

Southwest Florida’s museums regularly curate traveling art exhibitions as well as artworks from their permanent collections. During April, five exhibitions open, four close and 26 others continue their runs. Headlining the list is "Something Borrowed, Something New" at the Sarasota Art Museum.