The Norris Center at Cambier Park to Host AFTERNOON TEA WITH HISTORICAL WOMEN FESTIVAL

The Norris Center at Cambier Park will welcome four historical figures to tell their life stories over afternoon tea. The Afternoon Tea with Historical Women Festival will feature four different actresses performing solo plays by local playwright Janina Birtolo. A retired actress and writer, Birtolo toured steadily for twenty years performing her biographical scripts while continuing a writing career with bylines in many Florida newspapers and magazines.

"It's like a Ted Talk, but with famous notable women-and you get tea!" says director Frank Blocker. "These are informative and entertaining plays. Live documentaries." Blocker is best known to Florida audiences for his own solo comedies, also at the Norris Center. He directed Crocodile Fever for Laboratory Theatre and will direct the upcoming 4000 Miles at Players Circle Theatre in Fort Myers.

The Festival plays feature Abigail Adams, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Ida Tarbell, and Sister Maria Celeste, the illegitimate daughter of Galileo, a scientist herself.

Southwest Florida favorite Melissa Hennig takes on the role of Marjory Stoneman Douglas: A Voice for the Everglades. Hennig is a conservationist and has worked with and for the environment throughout her entire career. Thanks to Hennig's expertise, fascinating after-show talkbacks have been the norm. She has appeared with Naples Players, Marco Island Arts Center, and the former Center for Performing Arts in Bonita Springs.

Abigail Adams: Remember the Ladies stars Shaun Summers Cott, an Estero resident who has worked with several local theatres. Having worked with Blocker and Hennig before in the edgy The Divine Sister. Cott was also seen in the acclaimed production of Men On Boats at The Laboratory Theatre of Florida.

Marilyn Hilbert, veteran of almost every theatre in the county, takes on Ida Tarbell, Muckraker: The Mind Must Be Convinced. Tarbell was known for taking on the Standard Oil Company and breaking their monopoly through her tireless and aggressive journalism.

Purposefully or not, the tea connection is apparent: Abigail Adams is a Boston Tea Party contemporary; Marjory Stoneman was known to infuse her pekoe with whiskey; Ida Tarbell was best known for spilling the tea as a reporter; while Sister Maria Celeste made her own brews.

A Naples Players'regular rounds out the cast with Alanna Dachille taking on Galileo's Most Affectionate Daughter: Suor Maria Celeste. The oldest, illegitimate child of Galileo, Sister Maria paints a beautiful bridge between science and faith as she relays the tales of her father.

The Afternoon Tea with Historical Women Festival runs February 18-21, 2026, Wednesday through Saturday. Two matinees each day, 1:00pm and 3:00pm, rotating on a daily basis. Tea is served beginning one half hour prior to showtime and after. 

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Wednesday, Feb 18

1:00pm - Marjory Stoneman Douglas: A Voice for the Everglades

3:00pm - Ida Tarbell, Muckraker: The Mind Must Be Convinced

Thurssday, Feb 19

1:00pm - Abigail Adams: Remember the Ladies

3:00pm - Galileo's Most Affectionate Daughter: Suor Maria Celeste

Friday, Feb 20

1:00pm - Ida Tarbell, Muckraker: The Mind Must Be Convinced

3:00pm - Abigail Adams: Remember the Ladies

Saturday, Feb 21

1:00pm - Galileo's Most Affectionate Daughter: Suor Maria Celeste