Fall theatre season bets big on made-in-Canada productions

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For the past year-and-a-half, many Canadians have opted for local or international goods and experiences over American ones. This fall, major Canadian theatre companies – which plan their seasons far in advance – have started to catch up with the shift in demand, just in time for an escalating trade war. Audiences will find a notable uptick in homegrown and international theatre in the months to come.

From an adaptation of a Mona Awad novel to a Canadian musical about a performer with more than 35 siblings around the world, here are five shows to look out for in Toronto and beyond this fall.

A highly personal new play from the creator of a hit TV show

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Ins Choi, best known for writing the 2011 play Kim’s Convenience and its TV adaptation, is back this fall with Son of a Preacherman, a funny drama that combines Choi’s experiences of growing up in a family of clergy with his trademark wit.

An intimate snapshot of this country’s Korean-Canadian communities – and Choi’s own faith – Son of a Preacherman runs at the National Arts Centre until Sept. 26, then tours to Toronto, Vancouver and Kamloops in October and November.

A Canadian musical about a thorny family secret

When Our Little Secret: A True New Musical first premiered at the 2023 Toronto Fringe, the show was subtitled “the 23andMe musical.” And rightly so: The piece, written and performed by Noam Tomaschoff, examines the actor’s experience of finding out he’s not really an only child and instead has at least 35 siblings around the world.

I left the U.S. for Canada a decade ago. These plays and musicals taught me what it means to be Canadian

Our Little Secret has adjusted its title, but after a successful run at Montreal’s Segal Centre last year, the show is just as buzzy as it was three years ago. This fall, a new production directed by Broadway’s Adam Pascal will play at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre in October and at Toronto’s CAA Theatre in November.

A British import about a curious slice of the Second World War

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Operation Mincemeat, the centrepiece touring production of Mirvish’s subscription season, will play at the Royal Alexandra Theatre for a lengthy run from October to December.

First conceived by British musical comedy group SpitLip, Operation Mincemeat may offer a compelling change of pace for Mirvish audiences: The show is neither a jukebox musical nor an adaptation of an existing film. Instead, it’s a hilarious, award-winning spy thriller about the successful 1943 British operation to disguise the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Another Erin Shields adaptation – this time, of a beloved Canadian novel

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You’d be hard-pressed to find a bookish twentysomething in this country who hasn’t read anything by Mona Awad, and particularly Bunny. (Hey, guilty as charged.)

But this fall, Crow’s and Soulpepper theatres in Toronto will tackle another Awad title: All’s Well, which follows theatre professor Miranda Fitch as she struggles to manage chronic pain, a fiery temper and a crop of underinspiring drama students in equal measure. Maev Beaty will play Miranda in the adaptation, penned for the stage by the ever-busy Erin Shields, and former Shaw artistic director Jackie Maxwell will direct. After its premiere run in Toronto this fall, the production will transfer to Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton in early 2027.

A hilarious clown show about lentils – and the meaning of friendship

Monks, another Toronto Fringe success story, first premiered in 2024 and almost immediately acquired a cult following in the city. The clown show, about two friars tasked with counting lentils, has popped up around Ontario for short runs since that first Fringe run, and this summer, the show travelled abroad to the Edinburgh Fringe, where it was showered with praise from audiences and critics alike.

Named one of the best new Canadian works of 2025 by the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards, Monks, created and performed by Annie Luján and Veronica Hortigüela, returns to Toronto this October with a two-and-a-half-week run at Tarragon Theatre.

Editor’s note: A photo caption accompanying this story incorrectly stated that the NAC is in Toronto. It is in Ottawa. This version has been corrected.