National Arts Centre reveals diverse lineup for 2025-26 season
With four stages under its hexagonal roof and a skilled team of specialized artistic programmers in charge of six different genres of performing arts, the NAC's schedule gets filled with gems well in advance.
The 2025-26 calendar is no exception. Between September 2025 and spring of 2026, dozens of concerts, theatrical productions and dance events will be shoehorned into the building, including no fewer than nine world premieres. One show calls for a skateboard ramp at centre stage, while another is described as a Macbeth-meets-biker mashup.
The season will also mark a farewell for maestro Alexander Shelley, who has been leading the NAC Orchestra for more than a decade — and whose two young sons were born in Ottawa. Shelley has designed a final season that will include a big opera production of Puccini's Tosca, an all-Canadian edition of the Great Performers series, a seasonal presentation of Handel with an all-Canadian cast of vocalists, four world premieres and more.
Two more world premieres occur during the English theatre season, both directed by the department's artistic producer, Nina Lee Aquino.
The first, scheduled for January 2026, is co-produced by Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre and written by Natasha Mumba, a graduate of Ottawa's Canterbury arts high school and now based in Toronto. Entitled Copperbelt, it's the story of a Zambian-born woman who's made a life for herself in Toronto, but is compelled to return to her homeland when her estranged father falls ill.
The second Aquino-directed world premiere is cicadas, created by David Yee and Chris Thornborrow. Commissioned by the NAC, it's an eco-thriller set in Toronto in 2035.
The English theatre season also features a family play described as a live theatrical cinema experience starring Canadian DJ Kid Koala, who performs live on piano and turntables every night of the Dec. 3-13 run. The tale of a small-town mosquito trying to make it big in music also uses puppeteers, miniature sets, a string trio and cameras to tell its story.
Another six shows will be presented by the Indigenous theatre department under the artistic leadership of Kevin Loring. They range from the inter-tribal collaboration that drives Nigamon Tunai to the world premiere of Tomson Highway's latest, Rose, to an allegorical circus piece from New Zealand, Te Tangi a Te Tūī.
Rounding out the theatre offerings is French theatre with a season programmed by Mani Soleymanlou. The centrepiece is a version of Macbeth, created with Quebec theatre master Robert Lepage, that sets the Shakespearienne tragedy in Quebec in the 1990s and populates it with members of a motorcycle gang.
Speaking of Shakespeare and Lepage, the dynamic duo will resurface as part of the dance season spearheaded by NAC Dance executive producer Caroline Ohrt. In February, Lepage, the famed stage director, joins forces with renowned Canadian choreographer Guillaume Côté in tackling Hamlet. Their reimagination is titled The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
Also on the dance program are big productions by Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada and Dance Theatre of Harlem, plus a piece by Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen that will see the theatre stage become a skatepark to show off Ingvartsen's explorations of the power and energy of skateboarding. A crew of Ottawa skaters will accompany the professional dancers.
As for Popular Music and Variety, the department headed by Heather Gibson has unveiled a preliminary list of concerts confirmed between October and March 2026. Highlights include jazzfest fave Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, the Soweto Gospel Choir, a Choir! Choir! Choir! singalong, a Classic Albums Live take on Michael Jackson's Thriller and a date with the Israeli-born British chef Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi. More concerts will be announced during the season.
Finally, two popular festivals are also returning. The biennial Zones Théâtrales, which showcases Francophone theatre from across Canada, celebrates its 11th edition in September, while the family-friendly Big Bang festival returns in February 2026.
Existing season subscribers get first chance at tickets, with the window to renew subscriptions starting May 16. New subscriptions and individual tickets will go on sale June 12.
For more information, go online to nac-cna.ca or call 1-844-985-2787.
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