At Bard on the Beach to September 19, 2026
I love Bard on the Beach. I do. I really do. And I appreciate how hard it must be to come up with a fresh take on Shakespeare’s four-hundred-year-old plays. But this Merry Wives, adapted by Bruce Horak with Rebecca Northan and directed by Northan, is beyond the pale.
The cast: Set design: Amir Ofek. Lighting design: Jeff Harrison. Costume design: Barbara Clayden. Credit: Emily Cooper
Stanley BFL CANADA stage to August 15, 2026
With Trump trumpeting – again – about Canada as the 51st state, the time is right for the Arts Club production of Come From Away. A homegrown musical with book, music and lyrics by Canadians Irene Sankoff and David Hein, it’s a feel-good musical that celebrates what we think of as Canadian values.
The cast of Come From Away. Credit: Moonrider Productions
Jericho Arts Centre to June 21, 2026
George Bernard Shaw is considered by some to be the greatest English-language dramatist second only to Shakespeare and yet his plays are produced relatively infrequently. Why is that?
Brandon James Gilbert (as Sergius Saranoff) and Jay Clift (Captain Bluntschli) in Arms and the Man. Credit: Cameron Clark Anderson.
Granville Island Stage to May 17, 2026
I have been writing this review in my head since opening night three evenings ago. It’s a terrific show with more than two dozen, extremely good, mostly non-professional performers, singing and dancing their hearts out and their butts off.
The cast. Credit: Canna Zhou
Cultch Historic Theatre to May 10, 2026
There was almost as much theatre happening outside the Cultch as inside on the opening night of Soldiers of Tomorrow.
Itai Erdal in Soldiers of Tomorrow. Credit: Matt Reznek
Jericho Arts Centre to May 17, 2026
Playwright Carys D. Coburn’s CITYSONG, which premiered in Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in 2017 and is now enjoying its Canadian premiere at the Jericho Arts Centre, is a glorious celebration of language and the cycle of life: birth, death and much that happens in between.
Jono Klassen (Rob), Claire deBruyn (Kate) and Kim Little (Brigid) in CITYSONG. Credit: Nancy Caldwell
Firehall Arts Centre to May 3, 2026
Playwright Drew Hayden Taylor always walks a very fine line between comedy and small ‘p’ political. This play is definitely darker than his others and there’s little doubt about how he feels about ‘pretendians’.
Anita Wittenberg as Nazhi Nigig in The Undeniable Accusations of Red Cadmium Light. Credit: Jon Benjamin Photography
The Cutch Historic Theatre to April 19, 2026
Expect the unexpected when Veda Hille and Maiko Yamamoto get together.
Veda Hille and Maiko Yamamoto in End of Greatness. Credit: Chelsey Stuyt
The Stanley BFL Stage to May 3, 2026
Kimberly Akimbo is, at best, a quirky Theatre for Young Adults musical with an unremarkable score.
Lisa Horner as Kimberly in Kimberly Akimbo. Credit: Moonrider Productions
York Theatre to April 19, 2026
The world premiere of On Native Land, described in the press release as a “sweeping musical journey”, is one of the most beautiful productions ever to grace the York Theatre stage.
The cast. Set design: Alaia Hamer. Lighting design: Jonathan Kim. Costume design: Stephanie Kong. Credit: David Cooper