As hinted at a few times, this is my mega post on what I find interesting and worth checking out this fall and beyond. I've booked almost all of these, though in a few cases I have open-ended subscriptions and still need to book specific dates (and can't afford to slip up here). I'll just add an asterisk for events that haven't been booked at all to remind me to get around to this sooner rather than later.
In terms of art exhibits, most of the interesting shows have already opened at the AGO, such as Light Years (open through Nov. 2), Joyce Wieland (open through Jan 4) and then Moments in Modernism on floor 4 stays open through late April, 2026. After many, many years in storage, they have put the Rothko back on display.
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| Mark Rothko, No.1, White and Red, 1962 |
This is sort of a teaser for whenever the new wing/tower, which will feature modernist art as well as First Nations and Inuit art, opens. (At least that is my understanding of what will go in there.) Presumably the Rothko (and maybe Oldenburg's Floor Burger) will then have a permanent home.
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| Claes Oldenburg, Floor Burger, 1962 |
Interestingly, Floor Burger was also a controversial addition to the AGO's collection (just as the Rothko was) according to this article (and they should have acquired the art students' ketchup bottle...). On my last visit, I noticed they have removed the post-Impressionist works from the 1st floor and moved just a handful including a Picasso and a Chagall up onto the 4th floor as precursors to Modernism. I'm not sure what is going there next on the 1st floor, though potentially they might move a mix of post-Impressionist, pre-Modernist and Modernist works down there as they start construction on the new wing/tower. It will be interesting to see. I was a little sad that on the 2nd floor, they have mixed things up again and one of my favourites, Fabo's The Craft of the Contaminated has gone back into storage. C'est la vie. Hopefully something like this and some of the large-scale Denyse Thomasos paintings they own will find a home in the new wing/tower.
In terms of other exhibits of note, I am really looking forward to the Jeff Wall extravaganza at MOCA this fall/winter where all three floors will be given over to his work. I've seen an earlier retrospective of his work in Chicago (and indeed in London) and will make sure to go a few times after it opens in Oct. I'll have to circle back if it turns out Jeff Wall will be in town for a workshop or something or even if he comes around to sign copies of the new catalogue. I probably don't need another book of his work, but I'll just have to see what was added since the last book (from 2007 or so), the price and indeed if there are signed copies available.
That excursion into art lasted a bit longer than I expected, but I will press on, mostly focusing on theatre but interspersing a handful of interesting musical events. I'll just do this chronologically rather than group by theatre company. However, here are the key links if you are inspired to check out one of the plays or concerts I mention (and want to get tickets).
Concerts:
TSO
RCM
Tafelmusik
Esprit Orchestra
Sound Streams
Theatre:
Soulpepper
Crow's Theatre
Tarragon
Coal Mine Theatre
Canadian Stage
Buddies in Bad Times
Theatre Centre
Factory Theatre
Theatre Passe Muraille (TPM)
There are definitely a lot of smaller companies, like Obsidian, Icarus and Howland, though they are mostly partnering with Soulpepper and Crow's. Once in a while something slips through the net, like the Life Sucks from last year, which I'm still bummed/burned that I missed. Two quite unconventional companies are Outside the March (OTM) and Talk is Free Theatre or TIFT (which splits its time between Barrie and Toronto!). I've seen a lot of Outside the March's site specific pieces, though I skipped OTM's last one, Rainbow on Mars; according to most critics, this was a wise decision. Outside the March hasn't announced anything for 2026 so far. TIFT has hints on what is coming up but details for the Toronto shows are not all in place yet, so I may need to add that in later.
I think I mentioned elsewhere, Canadian Stage is so hit-or-miss for me. Most of the plays (except Soulpepper's Tartuffe!) that I've really hated have been put on by Canadian Stage (and you would have to pay me at least $500 to go see Slave Play), but I've seen some very good productions as well. I'm also going to skip the new adaption of Ibsen's A Doll's House.
I had planned to not subscribe to Tarragon this year and just do rush tickets here and there, but I realized there were 4 shows I would likely see, including The Caged Bird Sings, which I had tried to see previously at Aga Khan, so I bit the bullet and subscribed and will bring a friend along to see one of the shows.
I was very much on the fence with Coal Mine but ultimately I subscribed again. I'm not even sure if this is the third or fourth time I've seen Waiting for Godot, not counting the time in Vancouver I got lost on the way to the Cultch and missed a show (obviously) or the staged reading we did instead of a final exam in our Honors English class in high school. But it's probably worth seeing one more time to bookend the season with Happy Days at the very end. Not sure about Eureka Day, which is about a school board torn between public health issues and anti-vacc'rs. I guess what finally swung it was the chance to see Dance Nation, which will probably remind me strongly of my time on the East Coast volunteering and chaperoning a high school color guard.
And I just realized that musicals are so far off my radar, I didn't even list Mirvish higher up. The only thing I am considering seeing is Some Like It Hot in early 2026, and I am going to hold off until their Boxing Day sale to get tickets for that.
Whoops. I also forgot about Alumnae Theatre. I usually find something of interest, but never want to subscribe to the whole season, and this year is no exception. Public Enemy looks pretty good. New by Pamela Mala Sinha ticks a lot of boxes: the Indian diaspora, newcomer to Canada, arranged marriage, etc., but I probably will not go unless there are really good reviews. And while I like Annie Baker's work quite a bit, I find Circle Mirror Transformation to be one of those plays that are far more interesting to actors than to the general audience...
It doesn't even look possible to subscribe to Buddies this season, and there are only a couple of things I may see. Factory Theatre also looks pretty thin this year, and I may only see Public Consumption, which was also playing at Summerworks this summer, but I decided to hold off and see a slightly more polished version in the late fall. And nothing at TPM really grabs me, though I will check again later on and see if the spirit so moves me. It doesn't look like Video Cabaret has announced anything at all, but they will likely add some indy shows later on.
I don't make it to that many shows from Le Théâtre français de Toronto, as I am not always in the mood for supertitles or trying out their translating goggles. I might go see Camus's Le malentendu and maybe Bonnes bonnes, which is riffing on Genet's The Maids, but also comments on Asians living in Canada.
Finally, it is always hard to tell what is going on at the Theatre Centre as stuff is usually announced pretty late, though I do expect in Jan. or Feb., they will host Shakespeare Bash'd's main production -- and hopefully it won't be cancelled due to a snow storm this year!
So these are the shows I expect to see, with more to be added in 2026, as more things are announced. (I will use a different post to talk about the upcoming Stratford and Shaw seasons.) I think I am most excited about Happy Days and Summer and Smoke, as I've never seen them.
Sept.
Harold Pinter's Old Times - Soulpepper (ends this weekend!)
Lucy Kirkwood's The Welkin - Howland Company/Soulpepper/Crow's
King Gilgamesh - Soulpepper (I saw this before and enjoyed it a lot but probably won't go a second time)
Dave Malloy's Octet - Crow's
Olivier Choinière's Public Enemy - Alumnae
Beckett's Waiting for Godot - Coal Mine
Oct.
Goblins - Oedipus Rex (Out in Stratford)
Bremen Town - Tarragon
Souvankham Thammavongsa Discusses Pick a Colour @ TPL
* David Harrower's Blackbird - TIFT
Nov.
Jacobs-Jenkins's The Comeuppance - Soulpepper
Kanika Ambrose's The Christmas Market - Crow's
LePage's Far Side of the Moon - Canadian Stage (saw this years ago in Vancouver with LePage in the role (!), but he won't be performing this time around)
Abe Koogler's Fulfillment Centre - Coal Mine
* Little Library of the Damned - Red Sandcastle
* Camus's Le malentendu - Théâtre français
* Dennis Kelly's DNA - Icarus/Theatre Centre
Dec
* Public Consumption - Factory Theatre
Bad Hats' Narnia (a musical) - Soulpepper/Crow's
Gary Shteyngart Reading from Vera, or Faith @ TPL
Michael Healey's Rogers v. Rogers - Crow's
Jan 2026
Nasson's Mischief - Tarragon
* Sondheim's Company - TIFT/Theatre Centre (don't usually go to musicals but will likely see this)
Bach Brandenberg Concertos - Tafelmusik
Vivaldi's Four Seasons - TSO
Feb 2026
Tennessee Williams's Summer and Smoke - Crow's/Soulpepper
Cowboy Junkies @ Koerner Hall
Natasha Mumba's Copperbelt Soulpepper
Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day - Coal Mine
Erin Shields' You Always - Canadian Stage (saw an early run-through of this already)
March 2026
Bach Afternoon Concert - RCM @ Koerner Hall (with Brandenberg Concertos 2 & 5†)
Joshua Bell plays Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 (and Beethoven's 7th) - TSO
Ronnie Burkett's Little Willy (puppetry) - Canadian Stage
* Some Like It Hot - Mirvish
* One Block Shop - TIFT
* Jill Connell's The Herald - Buddies
April 2026
Orchestra Baobab @ Koerner Hall
Erin Shields's Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary - Crow's
Lynn Nottage's Clyde's - Canadian Stage
* Bilal Baig's The Beggin Brown Bitch Plays - Buddies
* Bonnes bonnes - Théâtre français
Shostakovich's Symphony 9 - TSO
May 2026
Cicadas by Chris Thornborrow and David Yee - Tarragon
Clare Barron's Dance Nation - Coal Mine
Hilary Hahn plays Ravel and Fauré - RCM @ Koerner Hall
* Susanna Fournier's Take Rimbaud - Buddies/Howland Company
* Zombocalpyse - Red Sandcastle (The Breakfast Club mashed up with zombies)
June 2026
Eboni Booth's Primary Trust - Crow's
The Caged Bird Sings (a radical revision of Rumi's Masnavi) - Tarragon. (I was supposed to see this at Aga Khan in their outdoor space, but it got rained out, and I couldn't get back for another performance. I hope they do this in more or less the same theatre-in-the-round style.)
July 2026
Erin Shields's Medusa - Soulpepper
August 2026(!)
Beckett's Happy Days - Soulpepper
† After Tafelmusik and this concert, I will only be missing out on Brandenburg 6 for this season. Not bad...
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