local theatre

Players Circle Theater in Fort Myers opens its 6th season with playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy “Bedroom Farce.” Ahead of opening night we explore the production in a conversation with the company’s Robert Cacioppo, Carrie Lund Cacioppo, and Ted Wioncek III.

Florida Repertory Theatre in downtown Fort Myers kicks off its 27th season this week with an ambitious roster of productions including music revues featuring 1950s-era favorites, iconic women artists of the 1960s, an Agatha Christie murder mystery, a time-traveling love story and plenty of comedy, including a play based here in Florida. Florida Rep. Producing Artistic Director Greg Longenhagen joins the show for a preview of the season ahead.

Laboratory Theater of Florida is mounting a production of playwright Lynn Nottage’s comedic play “Clyde’s.” Nottage is the first and only woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. We explore the play in a conversation with the production’s director Tijuana Clemons, actor Sonya McCarter, and Lab Theater founding artistic director Annette Trossbach.

Players Circle Theater is hosting a production of a new one-man musical drama titled “A Man of the Decade: An Evening with John Lennon.” Ahead of opening night, July 12, we talk with actor, playwright and musician Randy Noojin, who wrote and stars in the show, along with Players Circle Theater co-founder and artistic director Bob Cacioppo.

Laboratory Theater of Florida in Fort Myers is mounting the world premiere production of “Alien: The Musical Parody.” The show is a hilarious new take on the 1979 sci-fi horror classic film “Alien.” We hear from Lab Theater founder and Artistic Director Annette Trossbach, who conceived of and wrote the show, along with Earl Sparrow who composed the music.

Players Circle Theater closes its fifth performance season with a production of the musical comedy “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” We will explore the show in a conversation with director Bob Cacioppo and actors Ted Wioncek and Amanda Ross.

Belle Theatre's Peyton McCarthy commands the stage in Grounded as an F16 fighter pilot who is reassigned to fly drones from a windowless trailer in the desert outside Nevada after she becomes pregnant. McCarthy rises to the challenges presented by this ambitious one-woman show.

Ghostbird Theatre Company is mounting a production of a new play titled “Artificial Genesis” about the end of the world brought about by artificial intelligence. The play itself was written by a generative AI model. We’ll take a closer look in a conversation with the show’s director Barry Cavin and his son Emory Cavin, who’s responsible for the AI interface design and programming that led to the creation of the play.

The Florida Repertory Theatre is performing Katori Hall’s play “The Mountaintop,” which serves as a fictional reimagining Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s last night before his assassination after delivering his historic “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech. We’ll hear from the production’s director, Ansley Valentine.

Players Circle Theater is collaborating with the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation to present an evening of short plays centered in the climate crisis. The Dec. 12 performances are part of a global initiative called Climate Change Theatre Action, which highlights the role arts and culture play in addressing the climate crisis.