Theatre Conspiracy

This week, theatergoers have 17 productions from which to choose, including one new play and performances of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker by Gulfshore Ballet and Sarasota Ballet.

“Clown Bar 2” is the most immersive theater experience Southwest Florida audiences will ever experience, bar none, and while it's not a musical, the show's songs really advance the action in the clown noir whodunit.

In addition to shows that afford opportunities for actors of color and discourse on the Black experience in America, under Bill Taylor’s tutelage, Theatre Conspiracy has pioneered efforts to produce plays written by female playwrights and that provide strong female characters. Going forward, it will be embracing programming derived from fringe festivals.

Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers is performing August Wilson’s Pulitzer-prize winning drama “the Piano Lesson,” marking the company’s fifth production of plays from Wilson’s American Century Cycle, which is a series of 10 plays thatexamine the Black experience in the U.S. throughout the 20th century.

Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts is mounting a production of August Wilson’s play “The Piano Lesson.” Ahead of opening night, we explore the play in a conversation with director Sonya McCarter and actor Renee Freeman.

Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers will deliver the final performances of its production of “The Hatmaker’s Wife,” March 30 – 31. Playwright Lauren Yee whimsical and poignant comedy includes talking walls, conjuring the spirit world and includes themes of love, marriage, memory, aging, family and fairy tales. We explore the play with two actors in the production: Joanne Hailey and Jim Yarnes.

Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts is mounting the world-premiere production of “The Last Show,” written and performed by actor, playwright and screenwriter Derek Lively. Ahead of opening night we get a preview from Lively and the production’s director and Conspiracy Theatre Founding Artistic Director Bill Taylor.

Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers is mounting the Florida premiere production of the courtroom drama “Faceless.” The play, based on true events, concerns the trial of a young white American woman radicalized into Islamic extremism online and charged with conspiring to commit acts of terrorism and the Muslim attorney chosen to prosecute the case. We hear from two actors in the show: Sharon Isern and Matt Flynn.

Southwest Florida will be getting its own fringe festival with Fringe Fort Myers coming June 1-4, 2023. Performance venues for the festival include the Alliance for the Arts and Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. Artists have until Dec. 12 to apply, and participants will be chosen via a lottery on Dec. 19.

As theaters in Southwest Florida enter a new season in the wake of Hurricane Ian, the performing arts community has more attendance challenges ahead after two years of struggling through the pandemic, local theaters say.