Theatre Conspiracy

On June 15, Fort Myers City Council awarded $150,000 in arts and culture grants. Of the 47 applicants this year, grants were awarded to over a dozen arts organizations, one group and one individual artist. The total awarded, $150,000, was the same amount the city awarded last year.

This week, one show opens, four close, five continue their runs and there are seven limited engagements at Southwest Florida equity and community theaters.

This week, one show opens, two close, eight continue their runs and limited engagements include 'Monsters Inc. JR' and "The Laramie Project," at Southwest Florida equity and community theaters.

The fourth annual Fort Myers Fringe culminates, May 31, 2026, with a special closing performance of “Josephine: A burlesque cabaret dream play,” honoring the life of dancer, singer, actress, spy, and civil rights activist Josephine Baker. We will delve into the performance in a conversation with the show’s co-creator and star Tymisha Harris.

The 4th Annual Fort Myers Fringe Festival takes place May 28-31. In the past, the shows included in the festival were chosen by lottery. This year, Fringe founder Bill Taylor picked the shows himself. “All these shows I have seen,” said Taylor. “I can personally guarantee these are fabulous shows.”

Bill Taylor is the founder and producing artistic director of Theatre Conspiracy. He recently announced the casts of the three shows Theatre Conspiracy is producing this summer. Comedy is the through-line for the theater's summer stock shows.

The fourth annual Fort Myers Fringe will bring a roster of top nationally and internationally touring independent, experimental, and alternative artists to Southwest Florida for a wide variety of performances including deeply personal storytelling, boundary-pushing comedy, live music, and shows specifically for kids and teens. We will get a preview of the festival with founder and organizer Bill Taylor, who is also the founding Producing Artistic Director for Theatre Conspiracy. We will also highlight Theatre Conspiracy’s upcoming summer offerings, which include a blend of intimate theater and live music events.

Bill Taylor and Theatre Conspiracy are bringing Fringe Fort Myers back May 28th through the 31st. Rather than select performers through an open lottery, this year Theatre Conspiracy is curating a small selection of national and international touring artists. But the festival is holding one slot open for a local artist or performance group.

In collaboration with Theatre Conspiracy, the Laboratory Theater of Florida’s 17th season continues with performances beginning next week of August Wilson’s realist drama “Two Trains Running.” We’ll explore the production and the play’s broader themes of racial and economic injustice, memory, history and reckoning in a conversation with director Sonya McCarter and assistant director Shontae White.

Between 1982 and 2005, August Wilson wrote ten plays that are now known as his Century Cycle series. Before leaving the Alliance for the Arts, Bill Taylor and Theatre Conspiracy produced six of these plays. Now, they’re collaborating with the Laboratory Theater of Florida for a seventh.