"We (women) can effect change by paying attention, thoughtfully reflecting, and making our voices heard." - Annette Trossbach
Annette is originally from Düsseldorf, Germany and lives in Southwest Florida. She is a mother, black-cat lover, writer, amateur historian, actor, lover of autumn, activist, pandemic stress-eater, educator and hiker.
She is the founder and artistic director of The Laboratory Theater of Florida, now entering its 11th season. Born and raised in Germany, Annette was heavily involved in theater and visual arts pursuits throughout school and ultimately earned a double Bachelor of Arts degree in acting and directing from East 15 Acting School (University of Essex) in London, England. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies. There, she worked with such notable professionals as Margaret Walker, Terry Johnson, Mike Loades and Tony Scannell, to name a few.
Amanda Inscore/The News-Press - USA Today Network-Florida
Annette Trossbach is the founder and producing artistic director at The Laboratory Theater of Florida.
Through her leadership, the theater won the coveted 2018 Chrysalis Award for excellence in education as well as numerous grants and awards for programming and cultural outreach into the community.
She was named best director of a play in Southwest Florida by BroadwayWorld for her direction of 2018’s “Anna and the Tropics.” She was also awarded Best Director for “The Crucible” in 2019. In 2017, Annette was honored with a WGCU Makers Award for women making an impact in Southwest Florida. Thanks to strong community support, the theater in 2017 also purchased its home in the Fort Myers River District. The theater has committed the 1.3-acre property to a green initiative, which aims to reduce its carbon footprint by replacing all single-use plastics, recycling and upcycling materials instead of purchasing new, responsible landscaping and electric use, and, ultimately, the installation of solar panels.
Who or what inspires you?
The work. The whole gamut. From thinking about our goals as an organization with board members and team members and getting feedback from the community; to reading 100 scripts; to securing the rights to pieces that Southwest Florida has not seen before; to planning the team; casting; to being in the room with rehearsals and making discoveries together; to seeing the set and the lighting and marketing come together; to sharing all of it with this community on opening night. Creating theater is a breathtakingly inspirational endeavor.
What is one quality that sets you apart from others in your field?
This is a tough one. I am surrounded by incredible artistic directors and theater artists in Southwest Florida. I've often said that I am not the smartest person in the room or the most creative person in the room, but I do collaborate well. I try to curate a board and team and atmosphere in which risk and open, respectful communication and collaboration are the norm. And then I trust them. I get to soak up all of that wisdom and drive us forward to produce very strong work, made stronger by the input of many.
Who mentored you or helped pave the way for you in your current position?
There have been so many over the course of my life. Liz Manning. Margaret Mace-Tessler. Terry Johnson. Margaret Walker. Mary Lee Mann. Nykkie Rizley. Randy Kashi. Cindy Banyai and the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. Arthur Zupko. My parents. Especially my parents, who almost never said, "You can't.” I was raised the same as my brothers, and we were all taught the same skills. We learned to iron a shirt, to shoot, how to repair a bike tire. I never heard in my childhood that any task was particularly gendered. They never commented on my face or my hair or my body, as they were focused on more important traits. That was pretty awkward for a number of years but, man, I sure do appreciate it now!
Was there ever a time in your career when you thought, “I can’t do this?” If so, what changed or what helped you push past that point?
Everyone has those moments. The death of Roger Tanksley, our early tech director and collaborator, whose direct approach and acerbic wit I still miss. Differences in leadership styles have been challenging, as well. But I don't usually think, "I can't do this." It’s usually, "I need to make some changes." Things don’t just go wrong, and things just don’t magically become better over time. There are actionable milestones on all paths and I believe that we can effect change by paying attention, thoughtfully reflecting, and making our voices heard. As a result, Lab Theater has become more careful in the process of developing its creative teams. I've learned that cooperation and kindness are just as important as talent on a team.
Amanda Inscore/The News-Press - USA Today Network-Florida
Annette Trossbach is the founder and producing artistic director at The Laboratory Theater of Florida.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you in both your professional and personal life?
I have started writing again! I've been working on a comedy series for TV or streaming. Six hundred pages in, and season one is nearly complete. Professionally, I've been working with my team and board to make art in this new landscape. Our versatility has been key to making it this far! We have developed our own work, released video productions of stage plays, and are venturing into socially distant in-person theater again this year.
How do you feel you can help the next generation achieve what you have achieved — or more?
Mentorship is important for anyone's legacy. Passing on what you've learned and having critical conversations about today's arts, leadership, philanthropic landscape. Giving credit where it's due: I stand on the shoulders of many strong, hard-headed, creative women who came before me. It's important to me that we acknowledge the lineage of struggle and achievement and pass on the discipline of that reflection, as a balance to our forward momentum, to our mentees in their teens and 20s.
And for me, personally, travel. By experiencing many cultures and , you will develop and internalize a tolerance and appreciation for human differences. And the world becomes less black and white.
What do you see, or hope to see, as the future for women in your field or in other positions of power?
I would like to see a redefining of success. The typical schematic is one of top-down masculine leadership, and the vocabulary of success and failure and leadership are still often focused on tangible financial growth. Many women are still judging themselves and the success we have in organizations by fairly rigid, antiquated standards. Success can also be measured by increase in community engagement, which will, over the long term, include financial growth, but is a less direct way of getting to the same point, and involves more buy-in than just the dollar. All of us are in charge of this narrative, if we choose to engage. Change the terms of your structure and process and what success means to you and you can affect enlightening, positive change by validating and welcoming new perspectives. If you abdicate control of your narrative, you have effectively disenfranchised yourself.
I would like to see more men stand by women in leadership roles, supporting them and being proudly vocal about those roles. It used to be said, “Behind every great man is a woman." The saying needs reworking: behind every leader is a supportive partner, or supporting every leader there is a network. There's a veritable treasure trove of intelligent, creative women in Southwest Florida who are making this region more livable and more attractive to myriad visitors. Women are getting the job done. I'd like to see them get the credit they deserve.
Oh, and I'd like them not to be interrupted when they're speaking. That's so annoying.