Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts Announces Its 30th Season

The five-show season begins August 2023

FORT MYERS, FL (August 10, 2023) –Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts announces its 30th season beginning August 17th. The season includes classics to comedies, as well as award-winning new plays from both the most popular and unknown playwrights.

All performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with a Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.on the last weekend. Performances for February’s Women Who Mapped the Stars will take place inside the Planetarium at the Calusa Nature Center as part of a fundraiser. 

Sanctuary City by Martyna Majok, Directed by Miguel Cintron
Performances August 17-19, 24-26 at 7:30 pm & 27 at 2:00 pm

Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok brings us the powerful story of two young DREAMers who fight to establish a place for themselves in America, the only country they know as home. Poignant, timely, and highly theatrical, Sanctuary City illuminates the triumphs and challenges these lifelong friends face, and how much they are willing to risk for each other when they have everything to lose. 

At a particularly politically charged time in our country where people have strong opinions about both documented and undocumented immigrants, Sanctuary City movingly portrays the relationship and struggles of two immigrant teenagers, G who becomes naturalized and B whose visa has expired. 

This three-person cast provides intimate insight into the successes and challenges that come with being lifelong friends, exploring how much they are willing to risk for each other when there is so much to lose. And all while giving us a deeper understanding that we are all human beings with aspirations and the need for love.

Sanctuary City was the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and a Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Theater Development Grant. This project was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Radio Golf by August Wilson, Directed by Sonya McCarter
Performances October 19-21, 26-28 at 7:30 pm & 29 at 2:00 pm

AFTA is committed to performing the entire American Century Cycle of August Wilson plays. Radio Golf is chronologically the last of the ten plays, and the fifth of the performances at AFTA.

Radio Golf is a fast-paced, dynamic and wonderfully funny work about the world today and the dreams we have for the future. Set in Pittsburgh in the late 1990s, it’s the story of a successful entrepreneur who aspires to become the city’s first Black mayor. But when the past begins to catch up with him, secrets get revealed that could be his undoing. 

Clown Bar by Adam Szymkowicz and Directed by Bill Taylor
Performances November 9-10, 16-18, 24-25 at 7:30 pm & 19, 26 at 2:00 pm-Bar opens 45 minutes prior to show

This immersive experience transforms the Foulds Theatre into an actual functioning bar, the Clown Bar, plunging you into the dark and secret world of these hilarious, yet frightening, gangster clowns.

Happy’s brother Timmy is found dead. Now Happy must return to his former life as a clown to ask a few questions. But will Happy be able to go home again without getting sucked into the seedy clown underbelly of vice and violence? 

Which Way to the Stage by Ana Nogueira, Directed by Carmen Crussard
January 18-20, 25-27 and February 1-3 at 7:30 pm & January 28 at 2:00 pm

A playful yet profound comedy about friendship, ambition, and what happens when dreams fall just out of reach. 

Broadway superfans Jeff and Judy eagerly await their idol Idina Menzel after her performance in If/Then at the stage door every night. But when a sexy stranger enters the scene and upends their decades-long friendship, the musical theater aficionados have to go off book to rewrite their own finale. 

The Women Who Mapped the Stars by Joyce Van Dyke
February 8-10, 15-17 at 7:30 pm & 18 at 2:00 pm

THIS SHOW WILL BE PERFORMED AS A FUNDRAISER FOR AND AT THE PLANETARIUM/CALUSA NATURE CENTER

In The Women Who Mapped the Stars, five women astronomers working together at the Harvard Observatory help to shape the development of astrophysics. Cecilia Payne, the central character, makes the revolutionary discovery while still a graduate student that the stars are made of Hydrogen. In this time-bending, non-linear play, the audience experiences the rivalries and friendships of five very different women as they build on each other’s work, feed each other’s dreams, exult in the thrill of discovery, struggle for recognition, and open the doors for those who come after them. 

Talkbacks with the playwright, Joyce Van Dyke, will follow each performance.

Individual ticket prices are $32, $14 for students or $27 for Alliance members.Audio described shows are available on selected dates. Reservation of headsets is required prior to the show by calling 239-939-2787. Season subscriptions and flex passes are available. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the box office at 239-939-2787, visit 10091 McGregor Blvd. Fort Myers, FL or go online at www.ArtInLee.org/Theatre. 

Save the Dates

Fringe Fort Myers 2024 will be taking place May 30-June 2, 2024. Applications open Monday, August 14, 2023 and will be accepted through December 8. The live lottery drawing will take place on December 18. Tickets, performers and schedule of events will be announced early 2024. 

About Alliance for the Arts

The Alliance for the Arts is a nonprofit community visual and performing arts center located in the heart of Fort Myers, Florida. Since 1975, the Alliance has been committed to transforming lives and improving community through the arts. The Alliance campus and galleries are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard just south of Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers. For more information, please call 239-939-2787, visit us at www.ArtInLee.org, find us on Facebook or Instagram.