The Cultch’s 2026-27 season promises Greek gods, chemical romance, and dances with puppets
Highlights include the premiere of a new musical by Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille, the annual East Van Panto, and the return of Ronnie Burkett’s Daisy Theatre
(Left to right) East Van Panto: Hercules (Emily Cooper photo), Knitting Peace
THE CULTCH’s 2026–27 season, announced today, includes theatre, circus, and more from acclaimed local, national, and international creators.
The critically lauded local company The Search Party (which in recent years has delivered hits like the thought-provoking Fairview and the riotous Stupid Fucking Bird) kicks things off at the Historic Theatre September 29 to October 11 with the tech-focused psychological thriller JOB.
The last time playwright Amiel Gladstone and songwriter Veda Hille teamed up, the local creative titans brought us the ambitious Onegin, inspired by the writing of Alexander Pushkin and the operas of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Next spring (April 21 to May 2, 2027, to be precise), the Cultch’s Historic Theatre will host the premiere of Gladstone and Hille’s new musical, For Frances when it’s raining, adapted from Kathryn Davis’s novel The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf.
Veda Hille and Amiel Gladstone. Photo by Chelsey Stuyt
Theatre Replacement’s perennially popular holiday-season production offers an all-ages spin through Greek mythology with East Van Panto: Hercules, which also features Hille’s songs and runs November 18 to January 3 at the York Theatre. Another family-friendly show is Jordan (a copresentation of Montreal’s Geordie Theatre and Vancouver’s own Carousel Theatre), which reflects on the struggle for justice within Indigenous communities, at the Historic Theatre November 12 to 15.
Definitely not for kids, though, is Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes’ The Daisy Theatre: Back in Bloom, running February 9 to 28 at the Historic Theatre. Toronto puppeteer Burkett’s shows tend to err on the side of the bawdy and the naughty.
Puppets also play a role in Dirt, an examination of humanity’s not-always-kind treatment of the planet, by Montreal-based dance company Tentacle Tribe. That one’s at the Historic Theatre November 4 to 8.
For next year’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, the Cultch will present a pair of shows at the Vancouver Playhouse. The first is Knitting Peace, a copresentation with DanceHouse in which world-renowned Swedish circus company Cirkus Cirkör gives new meaning to the phrase “hanging by a thread”. The second Playhouse show is a Hamlet with a difference. In the version by Peru’s Teatro La Plaza, which runs February 4 to 6, eight actors with Down syndrome share their dreams and struggles while pondering life’s big questions.
Wolf Cull. Photo by Alexia Muriah
As part of the Warrior Festival—which per its website “celebrates the strength of artists who are reclaiming space, rewriting narratives, and advocating for justice from the stage to the street”—the Historic Theatre plays host to three shows. In No Apologies (March 10 to 14), the UK’s Emma Frankland mashes up grunge, pop culture, and alternate history. Here Here: Songs We Sing for Home, pairing eight local writers with a bespoke band of Vancouver musicians, is at the Historic Theatre March 17 to 21. In Joey Lespérance’s Michel(le) (March 24 to 28), Pi Theatre presents a deeply personal meditation on resilience and transformation. Closing out the festival, writer-director Cheyenne Scott’s Wolf Cull (April 1 to 11) is a thriller exploring the power of Indigenous women.
From the fertile mind of Lucy Prebble, who won an Emmy for her work on Succession, comes The Effect. In the Rumble Theatre and ITSAZOO coproduction (running October 15 to 25 at the Historic Theatre), two strangers meet while participating in a clinical drug trial and fall in love—or maybe it’s just the pills talking.
At the York from January 19 to 31, Toronto’s Crow’s Nest Theatre brings us Rogers V. Rogers, playwright Michael Healey’s tale of corporate greed and familial grudges based on the real-life battles between Canadian telecom tycoon Ted Rogers and his son Edward.
In addition, The Cultch has also announced that the previously postponed The Horse of Jenin, is coming to the York Theatre October 8 to 11.
“We are proud to have a season that features so many amazing local artists and companies, as well as the work of incredible national and international talents. We hope the 26/27 line-up will create joy and connection, spark conversation, and strengthen community,” Cultch executive director Heather Redfern and associate executive director Nicole McLuckie said in today’s announcement. 
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