Although New Stages Theatre just wrapped up its 2023-24 season earlier in June, the theatre company has already announced its next season of professional theatre in Peterborough — and it’s even bigger than last season, which was then the biggest in New Stage’s 27-year history.
Building on the success of last season — which saw New Stages present eight shows, including its first-ever holiday production, and double the growth of its operations and donor base — the theatre company will present an all-Canadian line-up of nine plays from September 2024 to June 2025.
The 2024-25 season is sure to appeal to a wide audience, with a mix of dramatic and comedic shows, the ever-popular staged reading series of contemporary plays, a night of music and theatre, the return of the popular week-long Brand New Stages Festival, and another family-friendly holiday production in December.
If you want to ensure you don’t miss out (several of last season’s productions were sold out), season subscriptions are on sale now at www.newstages.ca, with individual tickets available for sale closer to the beginning of the season in September.
While New Stages artistic director Mark Wallace revealed the 2024-25 season following last season’s final production (a staged reading of David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face), the theatre company has released even more details of each of the productions in the coming season, almost all of which will be staged at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough.
The 2024-25 season kicks off on September 27 and 28, with what New Stages describes as an “enhanced” staged reading of Rosamund Small’s Dora award-winning play Vitals, about the life of a Toronto paramedic who hits her breaking point.
On November 16, New Stages will present a night of short theatrical and musical performances by an all-star cast, not surprisingly called A Night in November.
Following the success of last season’s acclaimed production of It’s A Wonderful Life – A Radio Play, New Stages is presenting another family-friendly holiday production from December 11 to 15. Katie Leaman’s A Christmas Carol Comedy, an irreverent take on Charles Dickens’ classic tale, will star Peterborough’s own Cream Cheese Angel Linda Kash as Scrooge, with one yet-to-be-cast actor performing all the other characters.
For the second year in a row, from February 25 to March 2, New Stages will present its Brand New Stages Festival that features four plays in six days, along with drama workshops, special events, and more.
The festival includes a staged reading of Magic Lies, a play about the life of work of beloved Canadian writer W.O. Mitchell, written by his son Orm Mitchell and Barbara Mitchell of Peterborough.
Acclaimed B.C. playwright Nicolle Nattrass will perform a staged reading of her play Suddenly 50, and Paul Tedeschini will perform his work Clown Fish.
The festival will also see the return of hometown actor M. John Kennedy to New Stages, after performing in last season’s It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play and Yellow Face. Kennedy, who is the head of the acting program at Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto, will perform his Dora award-nominated hit solo show Fireside Munsch, a high-energy performance featuring four of Robert Munsch’s classic stories performed as one wacky storytelling play.
On May 3, New Stages will present a staged reading of Emil Sher’s Dora award-winning play The Boy in the Moon. The play tells the story of Walker, the severely handicapped son of Globe & Mail columnists Ian Brown and Johanna Schneller, and is based on Brown’s award-winning 2009 memoir, The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search for His Disabled Son.
New Stages will wrap its 2024-25 season on June 14 with a staged reading of Marcia Johnson’s Serving Elizabeth, which is the Black playwright’s response to a first-season episode of the Netflix series The Crown.
Performed at the Stratford Festival in 2021 to rave reviews, Johnson’s play reimagines — from a Kenyan perspective — young Princess Elizabeth’s visit to Kenya in 1952 when she learned that she had become Queen.
New Stages, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is committed to keeping its prices as affordable as possible. Subscriptions for New Stages’ 2024-25 season cost $178 for six shows, or $217 for all nine shows.
Subscribers not only realize cost savings, even if they miss a couple of shows, but they can transfer their tickets to someone else if they have to miss a show. They also get discounts on any workshops or special events and can request reserved seating during the shows, which is otherwise general admission.
To order a season subscription, visit www.newstages.ca.
