Thirty years ago, I was peeking through the theatre curtain, watching FST’s production of Sam Shepard’s play True West. We had mounted a truly fine production of this remarkable new play, and audiences were thrilled with it. However, as I peered through the curtain I saw a young couple in their thirties sitting in the second row, who were clearly disengaged. I could not, for … Continue reading The Art or The Audience

We have a fantastic Mainstage line-up this Winter! It is the kind of season that comes together every five or ten years. It’s a “marquee” season: three of the plays received highly successful, high-profile Broadway productions and the fourth is a World Premiere. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder won the Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction, and … Continue reading A Marquee Season with Challenges and Entertainment

Summer has arrived and FST is shifting gears. It seems like only yesterday when Sarasota Summers slowed to a lazy tropical pace, and the neighborhood dog would sleep in the street. All of the theatres would close, as the snowbirds flew north and the locals went fishing. Well, the locals may still go fishing, but the dog is definitely out of the street, and FST’s … Continue reading A Florida Studio Theatre Summer

New plays matter because they speak to the contemporary consciousness. FST has been developing and producing new plays since the mid-’70s when Jon Spelman founded the theatre. Our New Play Development Program was ‘formalized’ in the mid-’80s. FST has produced over 100 new plays that have gone on to productions throughout the United States. We do it because new plays matter. • New plays matter … Continue reading New Plays Matter

I am often asked, “what in the world prompted you to build five theatres!?!” My answer is simple: I did not set out to build five theatres. It just happened. And here is how it happened, and why. We started the ‘resident operation’ in 1980. Before that, FST was a touring theatre for six years. When we produced that first resident season our goal was … Continue reading Five Theatres: A Case for Diversity

“Welcome O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.” -James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Florida Studio Theatre is committed to creating the uncreated conscience of the race. We are a theatre that is brave enough to be guileless, and … Continue reading Common Ground and the Search for the Truth