Earlier this month, Laboratory Theater of Florida in Fort Myers announced that its founding producing artistic director Annette Trossbach is retiring from the theater company to spend more time with family, continue her education and focus on writing her own plays.
Under her direction for nearly two decades, Lab Theater has earned and maintained a reputation for bringing productions of risk-taking, edgy, innovative and new plays to Southwest Florida audiences. Aside from delivering a robust series of plays each season, which often include local and global premieres, under Trossbach’s direction, the Lab Theater developed an award-winning education department offering classes, workshops, seminars and camps for local actors as well as initiatives like the company’s 24-hour playwriting project.
In 2023, Trossbach authored a report making the case for why intimacy choreographers are needed in Southwest Florida’s theater scene.
Trossbach joins us for a look back at Laboratory Theater’s impact under her direction, and some of the challenges and opportunities that have come with tireless efforts to create and lead the company.
