Single tickets are now on sale for New Stages Theatre’s 2025-26 season of contemporary professional theatre, featuring eight plays from comedy to music to drama — including the return of an acclaimed family-friendly holiday show — all staged at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough from September to June.
“Putting together a season that has a mix of contemporary pieces is one of our main focuses,” says artistic director Mark Wallace. “We will always look for a holiday show that we can do, and we want to have a good mix of playwrights of different genders, and diverse experiences and perspectives.”
“We want to make sure we cover a lot of different themes and issues through the year, and not just end up with one kind of season. There’s a lot of mixing and matching to find the right mix of comedies, dramas, and a little bit of music.”
In curating this season’s line-up, New Stages has responded to a subscriber survey that found audiences were interested in seeing more comedic productions. While three of the plays this season are indeed comedies, Wallace assures they are still multi-faceted, offering light-hearted moments while also addressing serious topics.
“We need to make people laugh and we need to have lighter stuff, but we can’t avoid that there are some tougher, challenging things going on in the world and we want to confront those as well, and our audience tends to really appreciate that about us,” he says.
“We want to make you laugh and we want to make you think. What our subscribers are really passionate about is that we bring these award-winning contemporary plays that are being talked about that otherwise wouldn’t get programmed here. And, of course, we bring in professional actors from out of town to do it, along with some of our own best professional actors.”
This mix of comedy and reflection is present right from the start of the season with a staged reading of A Public Display of Affection, written and performed by Jonathan Wilson. Presented at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 20 during Peterborough-Nogojiwanong Pride Week, this deeply personal solo show excavates the lives, loves, and landmarks of Wilson’s queer youth on the streets of Toronto.
Wallace says the story — which mixes history, comedy, and poignant reflection in equal measure — is “a love letter to the LGBTQ+ community” that explores the AIDS crisis and how things have changed over time.
“It’s heart-wrenching at times, but it is very much a special piece — a confessional, a true testimony,” says Wallace. “I think everyone in this community will appreciate it, especially because we know that Toronto scene as well, living so close.”
The production is being staged in partnership with Ptbo Nogo Pride. The show is restricted to audiences aged 16 and up, as it contains strong language, including homophobic slurs, and discussion of mature and violent themes.
“This was a big hit in Toronto, sold out show after show, and he’s going to come up here and just do the show for one night,” says Wallace, who anticipates the Peterborough show will be a sell-out as well. “We’re thrilled to have that happen.”
At 7 p.m. on Sunday, November 9, New Stages will present Footnote to Freedom, written and performed by Peterborough’s own Beau Dixon with his brother Lance Dixon. The show is a new musical about the life of their grandfather, George Dixon, who served in the No. 2 Construction Battalion — Canada’s first and only segregated Black battalion in World War I.
The musical is a workshop presentation of the Brand New Stages Festival, which New Stages first presented in February 2023 as a week-long showcase of new, emerging, and re-emerging theatre. This year, New Stages is spreading the productions throughout the season, although most of festival will still take place in Feburary.
“We wanted to keep this idea (of Brand New Stages) during the season, but it doesn’t have to be only one week — especially since subscribers might miss it if they’re away for the week,” says Wallace.
“We want to keep that idea of development and having new plays come to life and having opportunities to interact with audiences, without it being limited to one week. We’ll keep that festival vibe in February, but the spirit of it will start to be seen throughout the year.”
By popular demand, New Stages will be bringing back their 2023 holiday hit It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, adapted from the film by Joe Landry, from Wednesday, December 10 to Sunday, December 14, with four evening performances at 7 p.m. from Wednesday to Saturday and two matinee performances at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Directed by Wallace, the show will see the return of most of the original cast from the 2023 production, including Megan Murphy, Brad Brackenridge, Kerry Griffin, M. John Kennedy, and music director Gabriel Vaillant.
“We heard so many positive things and we decided to bring it back,” Wallace says. “Because it was our first year doing a holiday show, it wasn’t as well attended as A Christmas Carol Comedy.”
That irreverent take on Charles Dickens’ classic tale, presented last December, starred Linda Kash as Scrooge and Kerry Griffin as every other character. It featured an audience holiday sing-along before the show and the Market Hall lobby was turned into a Christmas market.
Wallace notes that many audience members have said they appreciate the “lift in the season” from a holiday show, and restaging It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play so more people can see it is a way to do that.
“It’s going to be so fun to revisit this piece,” Wallace says. “What we try to do with these holiday shows is bring joy. It’s not just for people who celebrate Christmas. It brings the feeling of generosity and joy that is so needed in the world.”
New Stages will kick off the new year at 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 24 with a staged reading of Women of the Fur Trade, a comedy by Frances Koncan that shows an alternative side to the typically male-centred history of the Canadian fur trade and historical figures like Louis Riel.
Set in “18 hundred and something-something,” the satirical story is told from the perspective of three women: an Ojibwe, a Métis, and a British settler. The twist is that they all speak in 21st-century slang.
February and March will see two Brand New Stages Festival events, with the first set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 26 when New Stages presents a staged reading of The Cull, written by Michele Riml and Michael St. John Smith and directed by Peter Pasyk.
First produced by Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre, the powerful drama is now entering a new stage of development. It follows a group of old friends who gather at a luxurious home to celebrate one couple’s 25th wedding anniversary as wildfires burn in the B.C. mountains. After a business offer uncovers a secret, the friendships of the tight-knit group are tested.
The second Brand New Stages Festival event will see New Stages founder and former artistic director Randy Read direct a staged reading of 12 Dinners by Stratford Festival actor and playwright Steve Ross at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 1.
Previously produced at Stratford’s Here for Now Festival and this season with Talk is Free Theatre in Toronto and Barrie, the acclaimed semi-autobiographical comedic drama is about a series of meals Ross shares with his parents over a period of several months.
Other events of the Brand New Stages Festival will be announced leading up to February, though they will not be included within subscriber packages.
After a break in April, the New Stages season continues on Saturday, May 2 and Sunday May 3 with a staged reading of Paul and Linda Plan a Threesome by Jane Cooper Ford.
Wallace promises the play to be as entertaining as it sounds — especially with Peterborough’s own Linda Kash among the confirmed cast.
“It’s about a successful, serious couple living in a fancy neighbourhood,” he says. “Their marriage is stale so they try and spice it up by having a threesome — but they advertise for it on Kijiji and things don’t go as planned.”
A sold-out and held-over hit at Stratford’s Here for Now Festival in 2024, there will be an evening performance at 7 p.m. on Saturday and a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Sunday. The play is both very funny and very inappropriate for younger audiences with its strong and explicit language and mature themes.
New Stages will wrap up its 2025-26 season at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 14 with a staged reading of Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage, the Pulitzer-winning playwright of Sweat (which New Stages presented as a staged reading in 2023). Though Nottage is known for dramas, Clyde’s is a new comedy about a truck-stop sandwich joint that employs people who are just out of incarceration.
“We hear about their lives as they’re re-assimilating and trying to get out of the system, but they also get inspired by the pursuit of making a perfect sandwich,” says Wallace. “It’s quite funny and it’s a very diverse cast, so I’m excited to bring that show here.”
For the 2025-26 season, all shows at the Market Hall will have reserved seating, where subscribers and individual ticket holders can select their preferred seating. Wallace notes that very few subscription packages are still available and individual tickets are already selling fast.
“I know that some people in Peterborough leave their ticket-buying decisions to the last minute, and it may not be wise to do that this year with some of these shows,” says Wallace.
New Stages offers a premium subscription package which includes priority access to all eight shows for $210 including taxes and venue fees, or a flex pack with the choice of six shows for $175 all-in. In addition to the cost savings, subscriber benefits include being able to transfer tickets to others if you are unable to make it to a show.
Single ticket prices range from $25 to $40 depending on the show, with a lower-priced “welcome rate” available at each show for those who need it. New Stages is also offering a higher-priced “pay it forward” option, for those who can afford it, to help cover the cost of the welcome rate.
To purchase a season subscription, visit www.newstages.ca. For individual tickets, visit tickets.markethall.org/?category=20.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be media sponsor of New Stages Theatre Company’s 2025-26 season.
