Canadian Stage Sets 2024-25 Season Featuring Toronto and Canadian Premieres & More

Canadian Stage has unveiled its 24.25 season. Nearing the end of a 20-year-record-breaking 23.24 season, Canadian Stage – one of the country's  premiere producers of large-scale theatre and the largest not-for-profit theatre in Toronto -  is thrilled to announce one of their most ambitious seasons to date for 24.25, defined by exhilarating large-scale productions, innovative and thrilling theatre from Canada and around the world, and traditions for the whole family to share – all from a diverse line-up of brilliant Canadian theatre-makers.
 
Building upon the successes of its 23.24 season, which saw audiences taking in Canadian Stage productions well above pre-pandemic attendance levels, the 24.25 season sees a further major expansion of artist and audience reach and impact.    Attendance will grow from almost 100,000 to over 150,000 next season, as the organization increases the number of performances across its current venues and augments offerings with an additional venue: the Winter Garden Theatre.   To increase support for local artists still recovering from the precarity brought on by pandemic shutdowns and economic strains, Canadian Stage's next season features large-scale ensembles and projects that have prioritized the hiring of local artists.   Indeed, the 24.25 season marks the largest assembly of local artists and creatives employed by Canadian Stage in decades.  
 
For 41 years, Canadian Stage has been a foundational theatre experience for generations of Torontonians through its beloved summer theatre tradition – Dream in High Park.   The highly accessible tradition returns this summer with a production of HAMLET directed by Jessica Carmichael and brought to life by an astounding ensemble, including Qasim Khan in the title role. Dream in High Park is generously supported by Lead Sponsor TD Bank.
 
As a complimentary and permanent addition to the Canadian Stage seasons:   the company steps up to lead the next chapter of another beloved Toronto all-ages theatre tradition - Ross Petty's iconic 25-year holiday Panto. For a quarter-century, Petty's Pantos created fun-filled, irreverent experiences for over 50,000 people each winter.   In 24.25, Canadian Stage becomes the new creator and producer of the Toronto Panto, with a transition guided by Petty in the official role of Executive Producer Emeritus.  Canadian Stage continues this beautiful legacy, starting December 2024 with a brand-new production of THE WIZARD OF OZ: A HOLIDAY MUSICAL PANTO FOR ALL, directed by Ted Dykstra and starring Panto mainstay Dan Chameroy as Plumbum!
 
The 24.25 Bluma season begins with the must-see Canadian premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winner Elizabeth Strout's MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON starring the incomparable Maev Beaty and directed by Jackie Maxwell. Next up, Canadian legends take the stage when Martha Burns and Paul Gross face off with Hailey Gillis and Mac Fyfe in a new production of the Edward Albee classic WHO'S AFRAID OF Virginia Woolf? directed by Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy. And Why Not Theatre's touring production of the internationally acclaimed two-part epic MAHABHARATA, created and written by Ravi Jan and Miriam Fernandes, is brought to Toronto audiences after a triumphant debut at the Shaw Festival and a stop at the U.K.'s Barbican Centre last year.  The Bluma season is generously underwritten by John & Nancy Embry.
 
The 24.25 Berkeley season kicks off with the stunning 1939 by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan, which premiered at the Stratford Festival in 2022.  Born of both family legacy and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action, the play has been guided by Indigenous Elders, Survivors, and ceremony throughout its development.  The season continues with beloved veteran of stage and screen Saul Rubinek making a triumphant return to the stage in PLAYING SHYLOCK, who returns to Berkeley having been a key artist of its very first season in 1972.   Necessary Angel's Winter Solstice, in association with Canadian Stage, is a rapid and razor-sharp satire on the rise of extremism and will be helmed by Alan Dilworth.  Audiences will delight in the Canadian premiere of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winner for drama, the ‘flat-out hilarious' reimagining of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, FAT HAM, directed by Philip Akin and starring Peter Fernandes in the role of Juicy.
 
“This upcoming season is truly one of our most ambitious to date,” enthuses Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy. “We've been incredibly fortunate to see audiences returning to our theatres at record levels this past year. We believe it's because we are offering a mix of consequential shows from Broadway, the West End, and beyond, alongside work from the most exciting artists this country has to offer. Furthermore, we program with the intention of platforming a diversity of perspectives that reflect this incredible city we call home. Our aim is to offer a range of exceptional theatrical experiences that have something to inspire and delight a wide range of audiences, new and returning, and I think the 24.25 season comes as close as we ever have to that goal.”
 
Canadian Stage is not only set to captivate audiences with its ambitious lineup of productions across four stages in the upcoming 24.25 season but is also doubling down on its commitments to community investment and new play development. 
 
Building on the success of the current season, which saw six playwrights in residency with Canadian Stage and the launch of the Festival of New Theatre (FONT), FONT will return for its second installment in Spring 2025, promising fresh perspectives and ground-breaking works. Moreover, in a bold move forward, Canadian Stage is doubling its annual budget for new work development, thanks in part to the generous support from the Fabio Mascarin Foundation. This financial boost will not only facilitate the development of existing projects but also enable the commissioning of additional new works and more development resources that will move plays through an effective pipeline onto stages at Canadian Stage and across the country in future seasons.
 
Beyond the stage, Canadian Stage is reaffirming its commitment to community engagement, with renewed efforts supported by the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Family Foundation. As part of these initiatives, the theatre is similarly increasing its annual investments and will introduce innovative programs, including free childcare during select matinee performances for all Berkeley productions in the upcoming season, making theatre more accessible and inclusive for more and more members of the public. 
 
“Brendan and I have co-led Canadian Stage for just over five years, navigating the pandemic and numerous challenges and opportunities along the way with an exceptional team of artists, staff, and Board,” says Executive Director Monica Esteves. “It is gratifying for our team to experience and build upon the organization's current momentum, which has enabled us to not simply recover from the pandemic, but to rebound and achieve a level of stability that is often a delicate balance to strike for not-for-profit arts organizations.  None of this would be possible were it not for our artists, our incredible donors, and our audiences, new and returning. We are incredibly grateful and delighted.”
 
 
 
SEASON AND PRODUCTION DETAILS
 
 
ON THE WINTER GARDEN STAGE
 

THE ANNUAL HOLIDAY PANTO 2024

THE WIZARD OF OZ: A HOLIDAY MUSICAL PANTO FOR ALL

Written by Matt Murray
Directed by Ted Dykstra
December 6, 2024 to January 5, 2025
 
A Canadian Stage Production in association with the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres
 
The first year of Canadian Stage's era of the annual holiday Panto will kick off in “TorOZto” with a brand new and irreverent take on the beloved The Wizard of Oz.   Audiences of all ages will embark on a whimsical journey alongside Dorothy and her companions as they navigate the fantastical landscapes of a very, very unusual OZ…brimming with laughter, toe-tapping music, and mischievous antics.   Long-time Panto mainstay Dan Chameroy returns in the Panto's famous Plumbum character alongside a large ensemble of actors and musicians. 
 
“Taking up the mantle of the annual holiday Panto that Ross Petty brought to Toronto 25 years ago and made one of the most timed-honoured stage traditions in this city, feels like a natural step for us as the producers of Toronto's favourite summer theatre tradition – the Dream in High Park – for over forty years,” adds Brendan Healy. “Like the Dream, the Panto will be another way that Canadian Stage entertains families and helps create the next generation of theatre lovers.”
 
Says Ross Petty, "I've had a privileged career as a performer having appeared on Broadway, London's West End, and the Lido in Paris. But what I'm most proud of is having introduced the magic of live theatre to thousands of children and their families over my 25 years at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre. I'm delighted that Canadian Stage will breathe new life into my legacy and continue producing Pantos for years to come.”
 
The Panto is sponsored in part by Polar Asset Management Partners.
 
 
ON THE BLUMA APPEL THEATRE STAGE (ST. LAWRENCE CENTRE FOR THE ARTS)
 

MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON

By Elizabeth Strout / Adapted by Rona Munro
Directed by:  Jackie Maxwell 
October 18 – November 3, 2024
 
A Canadian Stage Production
 
The Bluma season begins in October with the Canadian Premiere of the stage adaptation of Elizabeth Strout's New York Times best-selling novel MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON.  A tour-de-force one-person show which first premiered at London's Bridge Theatre in 2018, moving to Broadway in 2020 with Laura Linney in the title role. The virtuosic Canadian actor Maev Beaty steps into the role this fall under the direction of former Shaw Festival Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell – a creative pairing that promises to deliver an unforgettable night at the theatre.
 
My Name is Lucy Barton is underwritten by Ian & Kiki Delaney and by the Sabourin Family Foundation.
                                                                     
Edward Albee'S

WHO'S AFRAID OF Virginia Woolf?

Directed by:  Brendan Healy 
January 18 to February 2, 2025
 
A Canadian Stage Production
 
To begin 2025, fireworks are guaranteed when stage and screen icons and real-life husband and wife – Paul Gross and Martha Burns – take on what has been called ‘one of the three best plays of all time' (Time Out) in a new production of Edward Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF Virginia Woolf?, directed by Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy.  Burns and Gross – who last appeared on stage together in the 2015 Company Theatre production of DOMESTICATED at Canadian Stage - are joined on stage by another prominent Canadian theatre couple, Hailey Gillis and Mac Fyfe.   Both have earned acclaim for their stunning performances over the last decade:  most recently Gillis as Natasha in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (Crow's Theatre)and Fyfe as Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire (Soulpepper). 
 
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is underwritten by Elaine Kierans & Shawn McReynolds and by Trina McQueen, O.C..
 

 MAHABHARATA: Karma (Part 1) and Dharma (Part 2)

Created and Written by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes,
Using poetry from Carole Satyamurti's Mahabharata:  A Modern Retelling 
Directed by Ravi Jain 
With Associate Director Miriam Fernandes
April 8 – 19, 2025
 
A Why Not Theatre Production presented by Canadian Stage with Why Not Theatre
 
In the spring, Canadian Stage is thrilled to present the Toronto Premiere of a true Canadian theatrical epic, Why Not Theatre's internationally celebrated MAHABHARATA: Parts 1 & 2.  Originally commissioned and presented by the Shaw Festival in association with Barbican, London, the play premiered in the Shaw's 2023 season and ran at the Barbican that fall.  A contemporary take on the 4,000-year-old Sanskrit epic poem foundational to Indian culture, Why Not's MAHABHARATA is both a gripping story of a family feud and profound exploration of philosophical and spiritual ideas.  Presented in two parts and written by Why Not's Co-Artistic Directors Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes, MAHABHARATA is a dazzling, once-in-a-lifetime theatrical spectacle with a large and exquisite ensemble of 25 performers and musicians.
 
Mahabharata is underwritten by David W. Binet, Lead Underwriter, and by Alexandra Baillie, Supporting Underwriter.
 
The 24.25 season at the Bluma Appel Theatre is underwritten by John & Nancy Embry.
 
 
ON THE BERKELEY STAGE
 

1939

Written by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan
Directed by:  Jani Lauzon 
September 15 – October 6, 2024
 
A Canadian Stage and Belfry Theatre joint production in association with The Stratford Festival
 
The 24.25 Berkeley Street Theatre season begins with the revival of another newly made Canadian classic, Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan's acclaimed 1939.  Initially produced at Stratford in 2022, 1939 imagines a visit by King George VI to a fictional residential school in Northern Ontario, prompting an English teacher to enlist her students in a production of All's Well That Ends Well.  But her rigid ideas of how Shakespeare should be performed are challenged as news spreads, audience expectations abound, and her Indigenous students start finding parallels between themselves and the characters in the play, setting out to make Shakespeare's bitter-sweet comedy defiantly their own. The production will be brought to life by an extraordinary ensemble including Brefny Caribou, Merewyn Comeau, Richard Comeau, Catherine Fitch, Nathan Howe, Amanda Lisman, Cheyenne Scott, and John Wamsley.  
 
The first production in the 24.25 season is supported by Sandra Simpson in recognition of her generous gift to Canadian Stage's Transformation Campaign. 1939 is also supported by Performance Underwriters Huw Evans & Kathryn Bird, M. Fainer, and the Remembering Otto and Marie Pick Charitable Foundation.
 
 

PLAYING SHYLOCK

Written by Mark Leiren-Young
Directed by:  Martin Kinch 
October 26 – November 17, 2024
 
A Canadian Stage Production in association with Starvox Productions 
 
In late October, a Canadian stage and screen icon – Saul Rubinek – makes a triumphant return to the stage and the roots of his career, in PLAYING SHYLOCK.  A provocative work by Vancouver playwright and screenwriter Mark Leiren-Young, PLAYING SHYLOCK is a one-man play that imagines a production of The Merchant of Venice is cancelled mid-performance after public outcries about the play.  The actor playing Shylock remains on stage, delivering a candid and passionate appeal about identity, public discourse, and the theatre. 
 
Speaking directly to the current moment, this production is directed by one of Canadian Stage's founding artists, Martin Kinch, who was one of the three founding artistic directors of the revolutionist Toronto Free Theatre in 1972.   Toronto Free Theatre merged with Centre Stage in 1987 to collectively become Canadian Stage.   
 
Saul Rubinek himself has ties to the nascent years of Canadian Stage.   With an illustrious television and film career that has seen the actor work with leading actors and directors in Canada and Hollywood for over five decades (Wall Street, Unforgiven, Barney's Version, The Family Man, Frasier), Rubinek was a young actor in that very first inaugural Toronto Free Theatre season in 1972 and was a key contributing artist to the company's early year(s).   Canadian Stage is honoured to reunite Kinch and Rubinek on the Berkeley stage once again – an unmissable and celebratory moment for the organization.
 
Playing Shylock is underwritten by The William and Nona Heaslip Foundation.
 
 

WINTER SOLSTICE

By Roland Schimmelpfennig
Translated by David Tushingham
Directed by Alan Dilworth
January 14 – February 2, 2025
 
A Necessary Angel Theatre Company production in association with Canadian Stage and Birdland Theatre.
 
In January, Necessary Angel returns to Canadian Stage with a production of Roland Schimmelpfennig's WINTER SOLSTICE,directed by Necessary Angel Artistic Director Alan Dilworth and starring Canadian legends Diego Matamoros and Nancy Palk. A rapid and razor-sharp satire on the rise of the new right from Germany's most celebrated playwright, in WINTER SOLSTICE, a woman brings a man she met on a train to her daughter's house on Christmas Eve. Written in the wake of Trump-era politics, this comedy of manners heeds a warning: beware the sincere stranger.
 
 

FAT HAM

By James Ijames
Directed by Philip Akin
February 15 – March 9, 2025
 
A Canadian Stage Production
 
Then in February, comes a Canadian Premiere production of the bold and hilarious re-imagining of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy and the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winner for Drama, James Ijames' FAT HAM. Revelatory, raucous, and uproarious, FAT HAM transplants Shakespeare's most famous tragedy to a backyard family barbecue in the contemporary American South, where Juicy - a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity - encounters the ghost of his father demanding revenge.    
 
Acclaimed Canadian director Philip Akin – who led the recent hit Canadian Stage production of THE LEHMAN TRILOGY – helms a remarkable ensemble with Peter Fernandes as Juicy, joined by David Alan Anderson, Raven Dauda, Nehassaiu deGannes, Virgilia Griffith, Tawiah M'Carthy, and Tony Ofori. 
 
Fat Ham is underwritten by Jim Lawrence & David Salak and by Paul Maranger & Robert Brown.
 
 
DREAM IN HIGH PARK
 

HAMLET

Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Jessica Carmichael 
July 21 – September 1, 2024
 
A Canadian Stage production
 
Getting the season underway, audiences can prepare for FAT HAM by reconnecting with the source material, when Canadian Stage presents a new production of HAMLET in the High Park Amphitheatre this summer. 
 
Jessica Carmichael – whose 2021 production of The Rez Sisters for The Stratford Festival was called “the most confident directorial debut at the festival in ages” by The Globe and Mail, directs a stunning cast led by Qasim Khan as Hamlet, joined by Prince Amponsah, Raquel Duffy, Christo Graham, Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, Sam Khalilieh, Breton Lalama, Beck Lloyd, Dan Mousseau, Amelia Sargisson, James Dallas Smith, and featuring Diego Matamoros as Claudius.  
 

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