Shaw Festival 2025: What shows to see — and skip — this season

Hamilton Spectator

11-07-2025

From a new adaptation of a classic 'Narnia' story to a revival of the beloved Cole Porter high-seas musical 'Anything Goes,' there's no shortage of offerings at this year's Shaw Festival. The repertory theatre company in Niagara-on-the-Lake is presenting 10 mainstage productions for its 63rd season, which runs through December. Here's a comprehensive guide of what to see — and skip — this year.
This roundup will be updated throughout the season as more shows open.
Gabriella Sundar Singh as Anitra and Qasim Khan as Peter in 'Gnit.'
This play by the American dramatist Will Eno is billed as a 'faithful, unfaithful and wilfully American reading' of the Henrik Ibsen classic 'Peer Gynt,' about a restless young man who abandons his bride-to-be and sets off in search of his true self, only to turn bitter and disillusioned. The two-act work flirts with surrealism and realism and, like its original, is filled with wry humour and deep existentialism. Artistic director Tim Carroll directs this production, staged in-the-round and featuring Qasim Khan as the titular anti-hero.
Until Oct. 4 at the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre.
This psychological thriller premiered on Broadway in 1966 and was later turned into a classic film starring Audrey Hepburn. It follows a woman who is blind and finds herself targeted by a gang of criminals after her husband unwittingly takes possession of a drug-laced doll. With her husband absent, she's forced to outsmart her assailants by relying solely on her gumption and the help of her cunning young neighbour. This revival, directed by Sanjay Talwar and starring Sochi Fried, uses Jeffrey Hatcher's new adaptation of the play, which sets the action in the middle of the Second World War.
Until Oct. 5 at the Festival Theatre.
Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of the classic Broadway play needs to cut to the chase and trim all
Gabriella Sundar Singh as Barbara Undershaft and André Morin as Adolphus Cusins in 'Major Barbara.'
The sole Shavian work programmed in the Shaw Festival lineup this year, this social satire follows a Salvation Army officer and her estranged father. A provocative and witty comedy of ideas, Shaw's play explores timeless themes of poverty, religion and war. Canadian director Peter Hinton-Davis leads this lean, modern revival, featuring festival regulars André Morin and Gabriella Sundar Singh, the latter starring as the title character.
Until Oct. 5 at the Royal George Theatre.
Mary Antonini as Reno Sweeney with the cast of 'Anything Goes' at the Shaw Festival.
When you think of classic Broadway, 'Anything Goes' ought to spring to mind. Cole Porter's musical romp on the high seas, which premiered on the Great White Way in 1934 starring Ethel Merman, is filled with standards like 'You're the Top,' 'It's De-Lovely' and its tap-dancing title number. Associate artistic director Kimberley Rampersad is directing and choreographing this revival, featuring Canadian Broadway alum Mary Antonini as Reno Sweeney, a nightclub singer and former evangelist who finds love and a boatload of hijinks aboard the S.S. American.
Until Oct. 4 at the Festival Theatre.
Director and choreographer Kimberley Rampersad's lustrous production of the Cole Porter classic
From left, Elodie Gillett, Dieter Lische-Parkes and Daniel Greenberg star in the Shaw Festival's production of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.'
Co-adapted for the stage by Selma Dimitrijevic and Tim Carroll, this new production of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' marks the Shaw Festival's final foray into the land of Narnia after
'The Magician's Nephew' (2018)
,
'The Horse and His Boy' (2019)
and
'Prince Caspian' (2023)
. Based on the first novel in C.S. Lewis's 'The Chronicles of Narnia' series, the play with music follows four siblings who discover a magical kingdom thrown into perpetual winter by an evil witch. Dimitrijevic directs this production, which stars Jeff Irving, Alexandra Gratton, Dieter Lische-Parkes and Kristi Frank as the Pevensie children.
Until Oct. 4 at the Festival Theatre.
Is it a panto or a musical? This stage adaptation of C.S. Lewis' classic novel has no clue what
Julia Course as Louise Allington and Mike Nadajewski as Aubrey Henry Maitland Allington in 'Tons of Money.'
A man who's deep in debt finds out that he's the recipient of a significant inheritance. How can he pocket the moolah without paying back his pesky creditors? Such is the premise of 'Tons of Money,' a century-old British farce by Will Evans and Valentine (the pen name of Archibald Thomas Pechey). Director Eda Holmes, a name many Shaw Festival regulars will instantly recognize, helms this production with a starry ensemble cast that includes Mike Nadajewski, Julia Course, Marla McLean and Qasim Khan.
Until Oct. 5 at the Royal George Theatre.
An ensemble cast led by Mike Nadajewski shines in this uneven play filled with plot holes and