Coconut Grove theater festival expands to third season
William Hector’s organization returns to the Women's Club in April, following a recent event that drew 700 attendees.
By Anthony Foster ·
The Coconut Grove Theatre Festival returns for its third season in 2026, aiming to anchor the neighborhood's artistic identity against rising housing costs.
Organizer William Hector founded the festival in 2025 to fill the void left by the closure of the local Playhouse in 2006. The inaugural event in May 2025 drew over 700 people to the historic Women's Club on South Bayshore Drive. That first edition featured eight staged plays, providing a venue for South Florida playwrights and directors to perform original work.
Hector spent several months raising nearly $40,000 to launch the project. He visited local businesses to secure sponsorships, framing the festival as an economic asset rather than a standalone event. "It encourages the audiences to come to the festival but also to eat, to shop, to stay in the Grove," Hector said. He described the effort as building a web of connections that supports local commerce and public space.
The project originated from a conversation between Hector and Irene Munroe, a board member at the Women's Club of Coconut Grove. Although they initially planned to stage a single play, the committee expanded the scope to eight productions. Munroe noted that the concept "just took off" because the community recognized an urgent need for new performance spaces. "It just took off," Munroe said.
Hector, who graduated from the University of Miami in 2015 with an independent major in politics, philosophy, economics, and playwriting, approaches the festival as a structural solution to gentrification. He believes that providing tools for community formation allows people to naturally create social bonds. Victoria Collado, a director for the festival, described Hector's creative process as precise, noting that he revises scripts with timing that fits "almost to the minute."
The festival's upcoming run is scheduled from April 19 to May 2, 2026. The program will include short plays, immersive theater, dinner theater, and children's matinees. Hector intends to use the event to introduce young residents to theater, continuing a model that blends civic engagement with artistic production.
Hector lives in the neighborhood where he grew up and maintains a daily presence in local cultural events. His work focuses on making the atmosphere welcoming to a diverse audience. The festival serves as a platform for local artists to create work that reflects the specific history and current social dynamics of the Coconut Grove.
