Seeing a play at your local theatre is about more than entertainment — it’s a collective experience that brings communities together.
That’s the overarching theme behind Theatre Calgary’s upcoming season. Launching September 8, the 2026-27 lineup aims to move audiences with a range of productions, from familiar classics to lesser-known works.
Each play centres on the common thread of family and community, and how people find grounding through those connections during turbulent, uncertain times.
“In the chaos of life, what one can always come back to is community and family — to feel grounded, to be reminded of what’s important and to find solace,” says Stafford Arima, artistic director of Theatre Calgary. “You can have families in many different environments. Obviously, there is the blood family, but there are also families in your workplace, in your living communities.”
That connection between family and community guided Arima in selecting next season’s lineup. Balancing well-known works with new offerings was a deliberate curatorial choice, aimed at ensuring audiences can connect with something familiar while also being challenged and surprised.
“You try to give a little new, give a little old, give a little familiar, and ensure that the audience is going to experience something that they feel comfortable with, but also that they feel challenged with,” he says.
One of the lesser-known titles — First Métis Man of Odesa — will kick off the season. Arima is particularly excited about the opening production, which tells the true story of writers Matthew MacKenzie and Mariya Khomutova, who found love during the pandemic, and who also star in the play.
“Not only are they speaking the words that they wrote, but we are seeing the real-life people,” says Arima. “That, to me, is a very special theatre experience. It’s not just a couple of actors playing a part, you’ve got the actual people.”
The cult classic Little Shop of Horrors hits the stage September 29 as the season’s main musical, featuring memorable numbers and puppetry.
“We’re going to wow the audience with some incredible puppetry. And the music is very familiar to a lot of people,” he says. “If it’s not, the great thing about the score is that it’s all in homage to the ’60s sound.”
The holiday season will feature Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, followed by acclaimed American playwright and actor Sam Shepard’s True West. The production explores sibling rivalry and features real-life brothers Joe Perry and Stafford Perry.
“You’re not just coming to see a play about two brothers, you’re actually seeing two great Calgary actors who are actual brothers,” Arima says of the True West cast.
On March 30, Theatre Calgary will present a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, filled with wit and romance, marking a Calgary premiere.
Laughs, chaos and catastrophe will wrap up the season with Peter Pan Goes Wrong, opening May 25 — a play Arima says will “give audiences a sense of mayhem.”
For Arima, the diversity of the upcoming season reflects Calgary’s evolution into a growing and increasingly global city.
“The globalness of all of these tales reflects, in many ways, how our city is becoming more and more global,” he says. “We want to continue to bring in different communities and different families to see these pieces that will either reflect the relationships they’re familiar with or communities they’ve been involved with.”
Season subscriptions and single tickets are available at theatrecalgary.com
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