Plays in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and beyond—Theatre for every taste!

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If seeing live theatre is one of your favourite ways to spend an afternoon or evening, check out this regularly updated list of upcoming plays in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and beyond. From comedies of manners to thought-provoking dramas, there should be something on this list to appeal to just about every theatre fan. To quote Bugs Bunny, “Overture, curtains, lights. This is it, you’ll hit the heights. And oh what heights we’ll hit. On with the show, this is it.”

Note: Did I miss a play from your favourite local company? Or do you have photos of an upcoming production that I could add to this post? Please email me! I’ll be updating this post regularly to add plays as they are announced.

Jonas and Barry in the Home, Ottawa Little Theatre (September 24 to October 11, 2025)

Now it’s Ottawa Little Theatre’s turn to stage Jonas and Barry in the Home, which Smiths Falls Community Theatre presented earlier this year. In this comedy by Norm Foster, Barry has reluctantly agreed to move into the seniors’ home where his daughter works, so she can keep an eye on him. He is just beginning to adapt to the quiet life when along comes chatty and flirtatious Jonas, who sees the curmudgeonly Barry as a fixer-upper.

9-to-5: The Musical, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Gananoque (September 30 to November 2, 2025)

If you’re like me, just seeing the title 9-to-5 :The Musical will have you humming, “Tumble out bed and stumble to the kitchen…” This musical version of the hit 1980 movie comedy will include the title song and many more, as Violet, Judy and Doralee plot to kidnap their nasty boss and force him to improve their woeful working conditions.

The Hottentot Venus—Untold, The Origin Arts and Community Centre, Ottawa (October 8 to 12, 2025)

The Hottentot Venus—Untold is a work by South African Indigenous storyteller Jacqui Du Toit. Through movement, song, gesture and spoken word, she traces the life of Saartjie Baartman, an Indigenous South African woman who was taken into slavery and brought to London. Saartjie was cruelly displayed as a “savage curiosity,” but this piece reveals much more to her story. It unfolds in five chapters, each told through the voice of a fictional female character who, in some way—spiritually or physically—intersects with Saartjie’s journey.

The Piano Teacher, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Gananoque (October 10 to November 2, 2025)

In The Piano Teacher, a renowned classical pianist finds herself unable to even touch a piano in the wake of a family tragedy. Then, an unconventional piano teacher reacquaints her with the instrument and gives her new hope for the future. The script won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama in 2022.

Black Butterfly, Shenkman Arts Centre, Orleans (October 10 and 11, 2025)

Black Butterfly is a celebration of love, heritage and self-discovery told through the richness of Black voices and culture. This show by Blackwestward Productions combines Afrobeat rhythms, contemporary choreography and powerful storytelling to create a unique theatrical experience.

Wedding Party, Arts Court, Ottawa (October 11, 2025)

Wedding Party is a totally improvised performance that starts with the premise of a bride and her besties taking off for a bachelorette weekend of fun. From there, anything could happen! It’s on at Arts Court in Ottawa for one night only (Saturday, October 11).

White Lion, Brown Tiger, Teesri Duniya Theatre, Montreal (October 11 to 23, 2025)

White Lion, Brown Tiger takes place in a thrift shop, where two very different employees from Sri Lanka start a fistfight, exploding intracultural tensions and racial politics. It’s the first Sri Lankan-Canadian play ever produced in Montreal, and the theatre will hold post-show talkbacks. Note that the dates above are correct, even though the poster on the website shows the play starting on October 14.

Senior Moments, Upper Canada Playhouse, Morrisburg (October 14 to 19, 2025)

Senior Moments is the latest comedic outing for Maritime comedy duo Lucien and Jimmy the Janitor (AKA Marshall Button and Sandy Gillis). They promise “non sequiturs, one-liners, memory lapses and belly-laughter-provokin’ jokes … and absolutely no nudity.”

Duck Tales: A Double Bill, Studio Theatre, Perth (October 16 to 19, 2025)

Duck Tales: A Double Bill features two one-act plays: A Little Something for the Ducks—a tender, funny duel of hearts and stubbornness—and David Mamet’s classic The Duck Variations, where two friends muse on life while watching waterfowl. The evening also includes the debut of an original short film, The Prophecy, created by the Perth Youth Players. 

Murder on the Rerun, Station Theatre, Smiths Falls (October 17 to 26, 2025)

Smiths Falls Theatre is presenting Murder on the Rerun, the tale of a ghost who tries to find out who murdered her in a witty, sophisticated, yet suspenseful look at the upper crust of Hollywood. When an Oscar-winning screenwriter is found dead at the bottom of a staircase in a Vermont ski lodge, her four friends and her husband all say she fell. But did she? And if she didn’t, why are those closest to her trying to cover up the real story?

Where Have All the Buffalo Gone? Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe, Nepean (October 18, 2025)

Where Have All the Buffalo Gone? follows two souls through seven different periods of Métis history. It is filled with stories about the Sun Traveler and the Callihoo family, incorporating a life-like buffalo puppet.  This original play for families, inspired by historical events of the Métis people, explores the loves, the losses and the fight of Treaty 6’s Métis people, and their love and kinship to the buffalo.  

Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses, Constance and Buckham’s Bay Community Centre (October 21 to 26, 2025)

The Rural Root Theatre Company’s latest show is the comedy Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses. After inheriting the Lovers’ Landing Beach Hotel, a popular wedding destination, Audrina discovers that her Uncle Bubba (the hotel manager) is running all sorts of illegal extra-curricular activities on the property.

Roald Dahl’s Matilda, Brockville Arts Centre (October 23 to 25, 2025)

The Brockville Operatic Society is presenting Roald Dahl’s Matilda, a musical version of the beloved children’s story. Matilda is a brilliant little girl with psychokinetic powers and cruel parents. During her first term at school, Matilda forges a strong bond with her teacher, Miss Honey, but crosses horns with the school’s mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. But with courage and cleverness, Matilda outwits her foes and makes things better for her fellow students.

The Turn of the Screw, Ottawa Little Theatre (October 29 to November 15, 2025)

Just in time for Halloween, Ottawa Little Theatre is staging The Turn of the Screw, the classic horror play based on a Henry James tale. A young governess and two orphaned children in an idyllic country house start to see frightening spectres of the former footman and governess. The governess is willing to risk everything to keep her charges safe … but will her horrifying catching up with her?

The Spitfire Grill, Ron Maslin Playhouse, Kanata (November 5 to 15, 2025)

Kanata Theatre’s production of The Spitfire Grill is based on the movie of the same name. A troubled young parolee yearning for a fresh start follows her dreams to Wisconsin. There, she unexpectedly discovers the healing power of community while working at the Spitfire Grill, and rejuvenates the entire town in the process.

Arsenic and Old Lace, North Grenville Municipal Centre, Kemptville (November 13 to 16, 2025)

North Grenville Community Theatre’s fall show is the classic black comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. Mortimer’s world falls to pieces on his wedding night when he has to tell his new wife that he can’t join her on their honeymoon. He’s just discovered that his two sweet elderly aunts are luring gentlemen callers to their death, and his brother Teddy is helpfully burying them in the cellar. Um, awkward!

Annie, Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe, Ottawa (November 21 to 30, 2025)

Orpheus Musical Theatre is presenting Annie, the enduringly popular show based on the Little Orphan Annie comic strip. Annie fights her way up from poverty in New York City to search for the parents who left her at an orphanage years ago. Along the way, she wins the hearts of billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his secretary Grace Farrell, and a cute dog named Sandy.

The Lion in Winter, Studio Theatre, Perth (November 27 to December 7, 2025)

In The Lion in Winter, it’s Christmas 1183. For the holidays, the Plantagenet royals are getting together to fight over a kingdom, the succession and the king’s teenaged paramour. As Queen Eleanor and King Henry’s three sons scheme for the crown, the young King of France skulks about, stirring up trouble. It’s all good fun and high drama until someone (perhaps) ends up in the dungeon.

Annie, Carleton Place Town Hall (November 28 to December 7, 2025)

No, this isn’t a typo! The Mississippi Mudds theatre troupe is also staging Annie. Their show is taking to the stage at Carleton Place Town Hall from November 28 to 30, and December 4 to 7.

A Sherlock Carol, Ottawa Little Theatre (December 3 to 20, 2025)

Ever wondered what a mashup of the works of Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle might look like? You’ll get your answer in the mystery A Sherlock Carol. Sherlock Holmes is a haunted man after the death of Moriarty, until a grown-up Tiny Tim asks him to investigate the peculiar death of Ebenezer Scrooge, forcing the Great Detective out of his lethargy.

Miracle on 34th Street: The Play, Station Theatre, Smiths Falls (December 5 to 14, 2025)

In Miracle on 34th Street: The Play, an elderly man named Kris Kringle gets hired to play Santa at Macy’s department store. However, he falls afoul of management when he starts directing parents to other stores to buy the toys they’re seeking. Macy’s tries send him to a psychiatric hospital, but a court confirms him as the real deal—much to the delight of a small girl named Susan.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Ron Maslin Playhouse, Kanata (December 27 to 30, 2025)

In Ken Ludwig’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, a mouse sets off on a wild adventure to find out why Santa skipped his house last year. An elf and a determined little girl come along on his trip to the North Pole.

The Drowning Girls, Ron Maslin Playhouse, Kanata (February 4 to 14, 2026)

In The Drowning Girls, Bessie, Alice and Margaret have two things in common: they are married to George Joseph Smith, and they are dead. Surfacing from the bathtubs they were drowned in, the three breathless brides gather evidence against their womanizing, murderous husband by reliving the shocking events leading up to their deaths.

Hadestown: Teen Edition, Carleton Place Town Hall (February 13 to 21, 2026)

The Mississippi Mudds theatre company is presenting Hadestown: Teen Edition. This full-length version of Anaïs Mitchell’s Broadway hit follows two romances—that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of immortal King Hades and lady Persephone—and takes the audience on a journey to the underworld and back. In this version, the folk and jazz score has been adapted to younger voices, and adult content has been altered to be suitable for a younger audience.

Jesus Christ Superstar, Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe, Ottawa (March 6 to 15, 2026)

Orpheus Musical Theatre is staging Jesus Christ Superstar, the enduringly popular 1970s rock opera about Jesus in the days before his crucifixion. Personal conflicts abound among Jesus, his disciples, the people of Israel and the leadership of Rome, and Judas Iscariot and Mary Magdalene play pivotal roles.

Broadway Showstoppers, Carleton Place Town Hall (March 20 to 22, 2026)

The Mississippi Mudds theatre company is presenting Broadway Showstoppers. More details to come!

The Watsons, Ron Maslin Playhouse, Kanata (March 25 to April 4, 2026)

What happens when the writer loses the plot? In The Watsons, Emma Watson is 19 and new in town. She’s been cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home. Emma and her sisters must marry, fast. But there’s a problem: Jane Austen didn’t finish the story. Who will write Emma’s happy ending now?

The Play That Goes Wrong, Carleton Place Town Hall (April 30 to May 9, 2026)

In the hit Broadway farce The Play That Goes Wrong, a college drama club is staging a play called The Murder at Haversham Manor. With a falling-apart set, a concussed leading lady and a corpse that refuses to play dead, this murder mystery goes hilariously off the rails.

Singin’ in the Rain, Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe, Ottawa (May 29 to June 7, 2026)

The Orpheus Musical Theatre production of Singin’ in the Rain will showcase the toe-tapping tunes that made the 1952 movie an enduring classic. (You’ve got the title song in your head right now, don’t you?) Set during Hollywood’s transition from silent movies to talkies, the musical tells the tale of an ingenue singer hired to dub the squeaky voice of one of the silent era’s biggest stars—calling into question who should really be a star at all.

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