A long-awaited musical from playwright Tomson Highway, a '90s take on "Macbeth" and skateboarding stunts are among the spectacles bound for the National Arts Centre.
Canada's multidisciplinary home for the performing arts released a 2025-26 lineup Thursday that includes the return of holiday favourites including Handel鈥檚 "Messiah" by the NAC Orchestra and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's 鈥淣utcracker鈥� in December.
In between are dance, orchestral, pop music and drama productions from new voices and established veterans. Here鈥檚 a look at some of the highlights.
THEATRE
Highway brings the third instalment of his "Rez Cycle" to NAC's Indigenous Theatre program, with the world premi猫re of his musical 鈥淩ose.鈥� The 2003 play is set on the Wasaychigan Hill Reserve in 1992, and revisits several characters from "The Rez Sisters" and "Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing." The story here centres on Emily Dictionary and her biker pals "as they fight to reclaim their community." NAC says the musical has never been staged "due to its scale and ambition.鈥�
In the English Theatre lineup, artistic director Nina Lee Aquino directs two world premi猫res: 鈥淐opperbelt鈥� by Natasha Mumba, a co-production with Soulpepper Theatre about the daughter of a powerful African family caught between ambition and the cost of success; and the eco-thriller 鈥渃icadas,鈥� created by David Yee and Chris Thornborrow and co-produced by Tarragon Theatre, in which a very strange house sinks into the earth.
The English Theatre lineup also includes Marie Farsi鈥檚 stage adaptation of 鈥淔ifteen Dogs,鈥� Andr茅 Alexis鈥檚 Giller Prize-winning novel about a group of dogs suddenly granted human consciousness.
The French Theatre season closes with Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淢acbeth,鈥� directed by Quebec visionary Robert Lepage. The original Stratford Festival production, created in collaboration with Lepage's company Ex Machina, set the action amid the biker wars of the 1990s.
ORCHESTRA
Music director Alexander Shelley鈥檚 final season with the NAC Orchestra opens with Giacomo Puccini鈥檚 opera 鈥淭osca鈥� and boasts an all-Canadian edition of the Great Performers series, including Toronto鈥檚 Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Quebec City-based chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy and recitals by Calgary-born pianist Jan Lisiecki and Grammy Award-winning violinist James Ehnes.
Soloists include violinists Hilary Hahn and Joshua Bell, cellist Bryan Cheng, and pianists Lang Lang, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and H茅l猫ne Grimaud.
DANCE
Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen unleashes what NAC describes as a 鈥渮any鈥� production dubbed 鈥淪katepark,鈥� in which skateboarding thrill-seekers encounter a group of dancers.
Also, Guillaume C么t茅 and Lepage present a dance version of "Hamlet," the Royal Winnipeg Ballet offers up a surreal 鈥淗ansel & Gretel鈥� and the National Ballet of Canada presents a new work, "Procession," from choreographers Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber.
POPULAR MUSIC AND VARIETY
The Pops lineup will see singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright hit the stage Oct. 15, followed by Ariane Moffatt on Oct. 16 and Choir! Choir! Choir! on Nov. 23.
There's also a tribute to Aretha Franklin featuring Broadway star Capathia Jenkins and soul singer Ryan Shaw, Troupe Vertigo fuses acrobatics and symphonic music, and live concerts of film scores from "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."
International artists include the Manchester-based instrumental trio Gogo Penguin on Oct. 17, the Soweto Gospel Choir on Nov. 29 and an onstage conversation and food demonstration with British chef, restaurateur and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi on March 1, 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.
Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
