Plan the ultimate cultural weekend in Toronto. One of the world’s top theatre cities, the 6ix is the place to be for the best in classic and contemporary work.
Indulge your love of theatre with a weekend getaway built around what’s on stage in Toronto in 2025–2026. The upcoming theatre season is full of ingenious and cutting-edge work.
While global in scope, Toronto’s theatre scene also showcases homegrown talent, covering off a range of Canadian, Indigenous and international works, artists and ideas.
Open your mind, ready your calendar and book ahead to get the best seats. These are the Toronto theatre productions that have caught our eye.
Must-See theatre in Toronto this season
Expect these productions to make waves and earn accolades this coming season.
Also worth a gander: a new season of blockbusters from Mirvish Productions.
Slave Play
September 27–October 19, 2025
Otherwise known as “the most talked about play of the decade,” Jeremy O. Harris’s thoughtfully provocative Slave Play is FINALLY making its Canadian debut at Canadian Stage. This razor-sharp drama explores history’s impact on intimacy and interracial relationships, mixing pleasure and pain like never before.
Rogers v. Rogers
December 2–28, 2025
The beloved collaboration between Crow’s Theatre and award-winning playwright Michael Healey (The Master Plan) continues! Inspired by real life, Rogers v. Rogers explores the Succession-like father-son rivalry between Ted and Edward Rogers, and shrewd Matthew Boswell, a cunning public servant determined to derail Rogers’ billion-dollar takeover of Shaw Communications.
Dance Nation
April 12–May 3, 2026
Dance Moms meets Yellowjackets in this dynamic multidisciplinary collaboration between Coal Mine Theatre, Outside the March, and Rock Bottom Movement. The Pulitzer Prize finalist Dance Nation follows an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plotting to take over the world, and the love and fear that fuels their animalistic ambition.
Theatre companies to watch
Diehard theatre lovers should consider a seasonal subscription to lock down seats while saving on ticket prices. Here are seven theatre companies worth committing to, plus standout shows for the 2025–2026 season.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Established in 1979, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is the largest and longest-running queer theatre company in the world—and a Toronto must for artistically rigorous alternative theatre.
The Green Line
September 19–October 4, 2025
Written and directed by recent first-time Dora Award winner Makram Ayache, The Green Line entangles two love stories that miraculously flourish along the same vegetative belt bursting through Beirut’s concrete amidst separate civil wars.
The highly anticipated Toronto premiere of this 2024 Governor General Literary Award finalist marks a sensational collaboration between Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Factory Theatre, In Arms Theatre Company and the MENA Collective.
Kainchee Lagaa + Jhooti: The Begging Brown Bitch Plays
April 1–18, 2026
You won’t want to miss the world premiere of The Begging Brown Bitch Plays, which follows two larger-than-life Brown trans women caught between cycles of deception, desire, displacement—but most importantly—rebirth.
This is latest work by Bilal Baig, the Peabody Award-winning co-creator of the acclaimed TV show Sort Of, and a co-production with House of Beida.
Canadian Stage
A collision of disciplines and cultures, Canadian Stage is the leading contemporary performing arts organization in the country, with a focus on bespoke and large-scale productions from around the world.
The Far Side of the Moon
November 1–16, 2025
The Far Side of the Moon is a visually stunning multimedia spectacle featuring two Quebec City brothers caught in the crossfire of the Cold War’s U.S.-Soviet rivalry.
Created by controversial visionary Robert Lepage (recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement), this critically acclaimed Ex Machina production is nothing short of a feast for the eyes, mind, and soul.
Clyde’s
April 11–26, 2026
Broadway meets The Bear in the Canadian premiere of the 5-time Tony-nominated Clyde’s. In this Lynn Nottage-penned play, a truck stop diner is staffed by ex-convicts, each cook seeking to reclaim their lives while embarking on collective quest to create the perfect sandwich.
Crow’s Theatre
An East-end gem, Crow’s Theatre is a distinguished cultural destination for stories that challenge our imagination through complex and entertaining works.
Octet
September 9–October 12, 2025
Following a support group for eight internet addicts, Octet blends cultural critique with haunting choral harmonies in its exploration of human connection in the digital age.
Inspired by internet forums, scientific debates, religious texts, and Sufi poetry, the Canadian premiere of three-time Tony Award nominee Dave Malloy’s latest off-Broadway sensation is an unmissable co-production between Crow’s Theatre, Musical Stage Company, and Soulpepper.
Narnia
November 18–December 28, 2025
The award–winning Bad Hats Theatre returns with a brand-new musical adaptation involving a beloved lion, witch, and four children who stumble through a wardrobe and into a mystical snowy land where their loyalty and courage are put to the test.
Another iconic Crow’s Theatre and Soulpepper co-production, Narnia is the ideal holiday spectacle for all ages!
Factory Theatre
Since 1970, Factory Theatre has made a name for itself as a company that exclusively produces Canadian plays. The company prioritizes emerging and next-gen theatre artists.
Public Consumption
November 21–December 7, 2025
Public Consumption follows a washed-up actor who has been cancelled for cannibalistic ideation (and convicted for worse). The main character’s life sentence involves reading countless pages of erotic fanfiction in order to train an AI model’s abilities in content moderation—until he unexpectedly realizes he’s may not be cut out for the job.
Holiday! An Improvised Musical
December 10–20, 2025
A Toronto comedy staple, Bad Dog Theatre’s Holiday! An Improvised Musical is a merry and melodic improv romp that’s entirely made up on the spot using audience suggestions as prompts.
Soulpepper Theatre
Best known for launching Kim’s Convenience—the hit play that was later developed into a hit TV comedy—Soulpepper is also renowned as Canada’s leading artist-driven theatre, presenting diverse and dynamic works in the heart of the Distillery District.
The Comeuppance
October 30–November 23, 2025
When a group of old classmates (a.k.a. the self-declared “Multi-Ethnic Reject Group”) meet up before their 20th high school reunion, the flames of their rekindling might just set everything on fire.
Premiering in Canada this fall—Branden Jacobs Jenkins’ The Comeuppance is touted by Soulpepper as “a reckoning for elder millennials, caught between who they were, who they’ve become, and the world they never saw coming.”
Tiger Bride
May 29–June 14, 2026
Tiger Bride is no clean-cut fairy tale; it’s a punk rock-reimagining that turns Beauty and the Beast inside out. Equal parts rock concert, cabaret and theatre, this is for you if you’re looking for a raw, gothic horror tale loaded with sex, fury, and transformation. This world premiere promises to be as electrifying as it is untamed.
Tarragon Theatre
Tarragon Theatre is Canada’s premiere destination for groundbreaking contemporary plays and artistic discourse. With an emphasis on developing new work, Tarragon creates theatre that investigates artistic form through non-traditional approaches to live storytelling.
Queen Maeve
March 3–29, 2026
Queen Maeve follows a seemingly unremarkable woman in a nursing home carrying an extraordinary secret: she’s actually the great Irish Warrior Queen Maeve, reincarnated into one of many deceptive forms.
This production marks Canadian playwrighting pioneer Judith Thompson’s return to Tarragon. The Toronto premiere of her newest work features the equally iconic Canadian actor, Clare Coulter.
cicadas
May 5–24, 2026
Set in 2035, cicadas takes place a decade after the fictional Trinity Bellwoods Collapse, where the investigation of young girl’s strange disappearance leads to an even stranger house that’s sunken into the earth.
This modern eco-thriller serves as both a mystery and a warning. Cicadas is a world premiere and co-production with the National Arts Centre.
Theatre Passe Muraille
One of Canada’s first alternative theatre companies, Theatre Passe Muraille (translated as Theatre Beyond Walls) has always tried to blur the line between audience and performers, stressing the liveness of theatre. A leader in collaborative and inclusive theatre practices, they’re a west-end hotspot for provocative, subversive and joyful independent artistry.
What Brings You In
October 17–25, 2025
Listening is a transformative act in What Brings You In, a theatrical concert by violinist Leslie Ting.
Created in collaboration with Blind and Low Vision artists, What Brings You In fuses live music, interactivity, and diverse therapies (talk and hypnotherapy, sand play, reiki, and more) in a genre-defying performance that invites audiences to explore discovery through the act of listening.
New and Noteworthy Toronto Theatre Productions
Catch the newest emerging talent at these must-see Toronto theatre shows.
Ride the Cyclone
September 24–October 4, 2025
Shifting Ground Collective’s recent sweep at the prestigious Dora Mava Moore Awards marks a significant win for emerging Canadian musical theatre. Ride the Cyclone kicks off the indie theatre’s new, all-Canadian season.
The production follows a second-rate high school chamber choir’s brush with death at an amusement park, and a mysterious fortune-telling machine offering a second chance at life—but only for one.
Mischief
January 15–February 8, 2026
A Tarragon Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, and Neptune Theatre co-production, Mischief explores the collision of ancestry and justice when an unfamiliar visitor mysteriously appears in the utility closet of a cigarette shop on the Rez.
Tips for planning your Toronto theatre getaway
Fall and winter are peak theatre season in Toronto. From crowd-pleasing blockbusters to thought-provoking indie productions, this is the time to catch a show… or several!
Booked your theatre tickets? Plan your Toronto weekend getaway with our hotel, restaurant, shopping and sightseeing inspo.
Pro tip: Enter your trip dates into our Event Planner to find out what else is going on during your Toronto theatre-cation.
