The Laboratory Theater of Florida

In this riveting documentary by Dena Fisher and Amy Scott, master carpenter Shelley Halstead trains three young Black women in carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing. Together, with cheers from long-time residents, they transform a block of abandoned row houses in Baltimore into a community of Black women first-time homeowners.

There will only be one showing of this Documentary on Thursday, May 21, at 7:30pm.
Tickets are only $12 and available on the website or by calling the box office at 239.291.2905.

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHTS OF THE 2026 Wigglesworth Award

Winning playwright Baylee Shlichtman writes plays about love, autonomy, and magic in the mundane. Her work has been recently featured with Full Circle Players Emerging Voices, EST/ LA Winterfest, and Afterlife Fest at the Flea Theatre. Her work has been produced or developed with AlterTheatre Ensemble, Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble, Curtis Theatre, Flamboyán Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Commons, New Relic Theatre, Playground-LA, UC Irvine, Urbanite Theatre, The Vagrancy Theatre, and The Workshop Theatre, among others. She is currently under commission with Playground-LA for her full-length play GOOD ROMANS. MFA, UC Riverside '27.

The concert reading for "Symbiotic" will be Saturday, May 9, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available on the website or by calling 239.291.2905.

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHTS of the 2026 Wigglesworth Award

Finalist John Mabey is a writer and storyteller whose plays have been published and produced in nine countries and throughout the United States. After living abroad for a decade, John’s plays often explore themes about the changing nature of home and self-reinvention. Their work as a playwright is deeply connected to a career in Psychology and mental health counseling, where holding imagined therapy sessions with characters inspires every new play. John loves to tell stories in a variety of ways and is a published author in academic books and journals about the connections between spirituality, gender and sexual identity. When not writing, they also enjoy teaching and performing improvised comedy and true storytelling around the world.

The concert reading of his stunningly beautiful play, "A Thousand Words," is onstage Friday, May 8th at 7:30 pm Tickets are available on the website or by calling 239.291.2905.

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHTS of the 2026 Wigglesworth Award
Finalist Simon Bowler: Theatrical works include "Judgement of the Eye" (Overtime Theatre, Texas, Phoenix Theatre New Play Festival, Long Beach Playhouse New Theatre Festival, Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Award, Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Award. "The Briefing" (William Inge Festival). "The Enemy of the State" - (World Series Contest Winner, Writer Speaks Winner, New Works of Merit Finalist) "Marlowe Part One" (Broad Horizons NY Winner, Innovasian Writing Initiative Winner.) Television producer of multiple series for the BBC, ABC, PBS, Fox, OWN, Bravo, VH1, and Discovery.

His play "Redshift" opens this year's New Play Contest on Thursday, May 7th at 7:30 pm. Directed by Art Kee, and featuring Gerrie Benzing, Lisa Kuchinski, Scott Thomsen. Derek Kemp, and Greg Wojciechowski.

For tickets, call 239.291.2905.

Exploring the depths of the expanding universe with Simon Bowler’s “Redshift” which is onstage Thursday, May 7th.

Get tickets today by calling 239.291.2905.

While the sky falls over Kyiv, one woman is fighting to keep the lights on. Literally.

"Symbiotic" is the story of Marichka, an aquarist at the Jellyfish Museum, clinging to the memory of a lost friend and the fragile life in her tanks. When a veteran walks in, a spark ignites that changes everything.

This is a live, raw, electric concert reading of the 2026 Wigglesworth Winner. Experience the pulse of the script that captures the heart of a city under siege and the unlikely connections that keep us human.

ONE NIGHT ONLY. Witness the pulse of survival. May 9, 2026

Tickets available at www.laboratorytheaterflorida.com or by calling the box office at 239.291-2905.

Witness New Works in the Making

Join us for a special evening featuring a concert reading of "A Thousand Words" by John Mabey, a finalist for the 2026 Louise Wigglesworth Excellence in Playwriting Award.

This is your chance to be part of the creative process—experience fresh storytelling, meet the playwright. There is a talkback with the director and cast after every reading.
May 8th - 7:30 pm. Get your tickets at www.laboratorytheaterflorida.com or by calling 239.291.2905.

The countdown to the 2026 Louise Wigglesworth Excellence in Playwriting Award is on!

We are thrilled to showcase "REDSHIFT" by Simon Bowler, about a brilliant scientist who risks his reputation, marriage, and sanity to prove the universe is expanding, confronting Einstein's doubts, his father's ghost, and his own crisis of faith.

Stay for a talkback about the play with the director and cast.
May 7th @ 7:30 pm. Get tickets at www.laboratorytheaterflorida.com or by calling 239.291.2905