Theatre Under the Stars to August 22, 2026
Sister Act puts the ‘sis’ back in Genesis. It’s a disco musical with lots of heart, served up enthusiastically by director/choreographer Peter Jorgensen and his cast of more than twenty under the musical direction of Sean Bayntun with his 12-piece band. Rain or, god willing, shine, the show goes on. Hallelujah!
Kat Keynolds as Deloris/Sister Mary Clarence in Sister Act. Credit: Emily Cooper
Bard on the Beach to September 18, 2026
My response to this production would be quite different had I never read the original text. And it leads me to thinking about how theatre makers use ancient texts to reflect the contemporary world.
Yoshie Bancroft, as Antigone, and the Chorus in Antigone. Credit: Emily Cooper.
Bard on the Beach to September 18, 2026
Bard on the Beach is back – with a vengeance!
Munish Sharma as Macbeth. Credit: Emily Cooper
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