welcome

SEPTEMBER 2025 | VOLUME 255

Sept 8-21

Fall Theatre, Part Deux: The Youth Movement

School has started and Bard on the Beach is ending. That’s how we know that Fall is really here, no matter what the calendar says. But there’s another phenomenon I’m noticing—the sheer number of talented, unaffiliated young people invading local stages. I noticed it this summer at Theatre Under the Stars and this weekend at the openings of United Players’ Metamorphoses and Metro Theatre’s RENT. The energy and enthusiasm, and the chops! We’re talking dozens of kids without Equity cards, yet the onstage work is as good as what you’d regularly see at any professional company in town. And behind the scenes, too – the triumvirate of emerging directors shaping Metamorphoses and the terrific design teams behind both shows. A few veterans are sprinkled among those casts and crews, but these are mostly under-40s; many under-30s. The next generation knocking, no, pounding at the door, ready to blow it off the hinges if necessary. What a great, great omen for theatre in our town.

See our On Now page for everything running to at least Sept. 21. Be sure to look for the BUY TICKETS buttons. And plot your theatregoing through most of October on our Coming Soon page.

Theatre lovers, theatre students, theatre historians and casual readers are invited to browse our ARCHIVES pages. Read 1000+ reviews of what you may have seen or missed over the past two decades of Vancouver-area theatre.

Important Note: The BUY TICKETS Button on our PREVIEW and REVIEW pages is strictly a convenience for theatregoers. Click on the button and get direct access to the company’s box office for that show. Vancouverplays gets no cut or commission from your ticket purchase. 100% of the money goes directly to the theatre company.

Presentation House Theatre presents the first in its Movie Singalong Series, The Greatest Showman, Sept. 13, 2 pm and 7 pm. $20 at https://www.phtheatre.org/box-office/.

The film version of Corey Payette’s Starwalker plays at International Village Cinema Sept 13, 5:15 pm and can be streamed on the Vancouver Queer Film Festival website, Sept. 22-28. https://outonscreen.com/vqff-event/starwalker-2/

United Players is holding auditions for Network, adapted from the film, directed by Kathleen Duborg and playing at Jericho Arts Centre next March-April. Sept 20, 10 am-5 pm and Sept. 21, 5-10 pm. Audition applications due by Sept. 18. Info at https://unitedplayers.com/auditions/. 

The Chop Theatre and Gateway Theatre invite you to Playing Fields: A Culture Days Event, an interactive performance on the playing field alongside Richmond’s Gateway Theatre. Sept. 20, 1, 3, & 5 pm. Free. www.gatewaytheatre.com

Western Gold Theatre invites you to a fundraiser at Hastings Racetrack, Sept. 21,1:30-5:30. $25 includes food. Tickets & info HERE.

Richmond’s Gateway Theatre invites everyoneTo the Moon: Mid-Autumn Celebration. Oct. 5, 2 pm. Info & tickets HERE.

The Arts Club’s 13-play 2025-26 season plus 3 touring productions includes a new version of A Doll’s House and musicals Kimberly Akimbo and Come from Away. www.artsclub.com

The Cultch’s rich new season features 18 shows from Australia, Toronto, New Zealand, Hungary, Halifax, Amsterdam, the UK and Vancouver. https://thecultch.com/ticket-packages/#shows

The Firehall Arts Centre’s 8-show season of theatre and dance includes plays by Robert Chafe and Drew Hayden Taylor, and the acclaimed English, about Iranians preparing for an English proficiency exam. www.firehallartscentre.ca

United Players’ 5-play 2025-26 season at Jericho Arts Centre includes Shaw’s Arms and the Man, Metamorphoses, and a new play by Aaron Bushkowsky. www.unitedplayers.com

Coquitlam’s Evergreen Cultural Centre's 8-show season includes three Arts Club shows and three musicals. https://evergreenculturalcentre.ca/theatre-series/

Deep Cove’s First Impressions Theatre’s 4-play season includes Jake’s Gift, Art, and two musicals. https://www.firstimpressionstheatre.com/#nextseasontitle

Metro Theatre’s 7-show season includes plays by Neil Simon, Tom Stoppard, a couple of musicals, a Jane Austen adaptation, and a Christmas panto. https://metrotheatre.com/

North Van’s Presentation House Theatre is staging 6 shows, 3 for kids. Among them Jovanni Sy’s A Taste of Empire and Cheyenne Rouleau’s Fat Joke. https://www.phtheatre.org/2025-2026-season/

Richmond’s Gateway Theatre’s 4 shows include Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson and Annie. https://www.gatewaytheatre.com/

Touchstone Theatre’s 4 shows include remounts of Women of the Fur Trade and Gertrude & Alice plus Munish Sharma’s Danceboy. www.touchstonetheatre.com

Broadway Across Canada’s 5-musical season at the Queen E Theatre includes MJ (the Michael Jackson musical) and old faves Les Misérables and Mamma Mia. https://vancouver.broadway.com/

Pacific Theatre’s abbreviated fall season will have only two full stage shows: a remount of Will Eno’s Wakey, Wakey and their Christmas Presence plus a few special events while they try to find a new venue. www.pacifictheatre.org

Langley’s Theatre in the Country has announced a 5-show 2026 season including The Producers and A Christmas Story. www.theatreinthecountry.com

UBC Theatre’s new season includes a remount of Women in the Fur Trade, Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, and Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. https://theatrefilm.ubc.ca/news/announcing-our-2025-2026-season/

The Studio 58 season includes Romeo & Juliet, a new play by Ami Gladstone, and Something Rotten. https://students.langara.ca/studio-58/current-season/index.html

The Improv Centre is offering classes in improv at all levels. Info HERE.

Enjoy,

Jerry