Centaur Theatre 57th Season

Centaur Theatre 57th Season

CENTAUR THEATRE ANNOUNCES ITS 2025-26 SEASON:

THE VIEW FROM HERE

May 26,  2025

Centaur Theatre unveiled its new 2025–2026 57th season, themed The View From Here. This new lineup invites audiences to reflect on where we stand—personally, culturally, and artistically—and to consider how perspective shapes our understanding of the world around us. From reimagined classics to bold new voices, each production offers a distinct lens on identity, resilience, memory, and transformation. Through genre-defying collaborations, world premieres, and unique theatrical moments, The View From Here is both an artistic snapshot of the present and a call to imagine what’s possible next.

Eda Holmes, Artistic and Executive Director of Centaur Theatre, stated:

“The View From Here is about perspective—where we are, where we've been, and where we're headed. This season invites audiences to see the world through different lenses: across cultures, generations, and imaginations. The works we’ve curated are courageous, theatrical, and deeply human—stories that challenge assumptions, spark joy, and leave lasting impressions. Whether you’re a longtime theatregoer or discovering Centaur for the first time, this season offers new ways of seeing and feeling. I can’t wait to share these remarkable journeys with Montreal audiences.”  

The following plays will be staged during the 57th Season:

Stone and Bone Spectacular

October 15 – October 26, 2025

The season opens with Stone and Bone Spectacular  a vibrant new work created by Ange Loft, in collaboration with Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo and Iehente Foote, with Tehatkathonnions Bush, Iehente Foote, Stéphanie Héroux-Brazeau, Wahsontí:io Kirby, Véronik Picard and Iota’keratenion Thomas-Beaton. This large-scale Indigenous production blends puppetry, dance, and storytelling to explore the layered history of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). The outcome of Centaur’s inaugural Indigenous Artist Residency, Stone and Bone Spectacular is a playful and profound look at the history of Tiohtià:ke featuring dancing beavers, stone-lifting stunts, and long-lost lovers.

Kisses Deep 

November 26 – December 14, 2025

Next, the English-language premiere of Kisses Deep by Michel Marc Bouchard, and translated by Linda Gaboriau. takes the stage . This long-awaited English-language premiere tells the story of the transformational relationship between a troubled, gifted young man and his complex and inspiring mother. Directed by Eda Holmes, the cast includes Lyndz Dantiste, Yves Jacques, Leni Parker, Alice Pascual, and Kevin Raymond.

Goblin: Macbeth

March 4 – March 22, 2026

In 2026, the second half of the season begins with a spontaneous theatre creation by Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak, directed by Rebecca Northan. When three goblins—Kragva, Moog, and Wug—come across The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, they eagerly take over a theatre and attempt their own wild, hilarious, and chaotic version of Macbeth. A one-of-a-kind blend of comedy, tragedy, and improvisation, Goblin:Macbeth is a mischievous, theatrical joyride.

Seeker

April 15 – May 3, 2026

Last but not least, a gripping sci-fi drama by Marie-Claude Verdier, translated by Alexis Diamond and presented in partnership with Talisman Theatre. Directed by Rebecca Gibian, with Bénédicte Bélizaire and Andrew Shaver, this hard-hitting sci-fi drama follows a pair of exes hired by the US military to conduct a mysterious mission on Mars that could have consequences for all of humanity. 

Centaur 2025: Michel Tremblay

For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again

by Michel Tremblay

May 13 - June 1, 2025

The Centaur Theatre closes its 56th season with a production that is personal and yet universally resonant. The Michel Tremblay's play For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again is a moving love letter to his mother. Though it presents just an individual and a deeply personal experience of a mother-son relationship and interactions, it has a universal quality that invites the members of the audience to remember and to reevaluate their past relationships with their individual mothers.

With the staging of this brand new production of the play, which was translated from French into English by the Governor General’s Award-winning Linda Gaboriau, directed by Alice Ronfard, and enacted by Ellen David and Emmanuel Schwartz, the Centaur theatre celebrates the iconic Quebec and Canadian playwriter Michel Tremblay.

Trembley draws a curtain off his past and lets us peek into his relationship with his mother, and shows us how she inspired, influenced, and drew him into becoming a literary and a playwriter persona he is now. She was an avid reader and the literature connoisseur, and in that way, indirectly, strongly influenced her son. Though at times overpowering and annoying, she was deeply loving and had a sense of humor that also guided and contributed to Tremblay's formation as a playwriter. His mother no doubt also helped him to better perceive, understand,  and to be able to reproduce and portray more accurately and compassionately the women's character in his own literary creations and in his plays.

Set against the backdrop of working-class Montreal in the 1950s and 1960s, the story is both deeply personal and universally relatable. The English-language premiere of this contemporary classic of Quebec drama took place at Centaur in 1998, and the production was hugely popular, going on to tour Canada and the United States. Centaur is proud to bring this masterpiece back to Montreal audiences. 

This play not only celebrates a cornerstone of Canadian theatre but also highlights the significance of translating Quebecois works for English-speaking audiences, an effort that enriches the cultural dialogue between Quebec and the rest of Canada. With the help of a talented creative team, the production provides a rare opportunity for English-speaking audiences to experience the emotional depth and theatrical exuberance of a classic Quebecois piece, making it one of the must-see shows of the season.

About Michel Tremblay

Michel Tremblay is one of Quebec’s most iconic playwrights, renowned for his transformative contributions to Quebec and Canadian theatre. With over 30 plays, 31 novels, and numerous adaptations, Tremblay’s work reflects the complexities of Quebecois life and identity. His play Les Belles-Sœurs revolutionized Quebec theatre, and his works have been translated into 40 languages and performed worldwide. Tremblay has earned over 90 prestigious awards, including the Prince Pierre of Monaco Award and the Gilles-Corbeil Award, solidifying his status as a key figure in global theatre.

All photos in this article by Andrée Lanthier, courtesy of Centaur Theater.
For more information, visit the Centaur Theatre website.

Centaur Theatre: Sakura

Centaur Theatre / 56th Season

SAKURA – After Chekhov

Written by Harry Standjofski

Directed by Eda Holmes

With Deena Aziz, Ravyn R. Bekh, Stefanie Buxton, Marcel Jeannin, Marc-Antoine Kelertas, Howard Rosenstein, and Paul Van Dyck

September 17, 2024 — October 6, 2024

This is a world premiere adaptation of a 19^th century Russian play, based on Anton Chekhov’s masterpiece The Cherry Orchard, a story of a pre-revolutionary Russian upper-class (gentry) family forced to sell their estate, including a beloved orchard, to pay off debts that have accumulated from years of mismanagement and self-indulgence. Yet if one cherishes the original Chekhov's plays, the subtle and even elusive way he portrays his characters, their dilemmas and relationships, as well as the general mood and wider social connotations, the Harry Standjofski's reinterpretation of the play for the 21th century is very different. Although he uses the same though renamed characters as in the Chekov's play, with basically the same plot, his play fails to create a deep sympathy for the personages on stage as do the original Chekov's plays.

Moreover, the Standjofski's play is supposed to be a "witty comedy with a hint of nostalgia". Chekov's play was not a comedy. This is where the plays of two playwriters part. The frequent language crudity and the enactment on stage of the sex act bring both plays even further apart.

Harry Standjofski is a Montreal playwright and actor. His play is based on the present day's milieu that surrounds him and that he knows the best: their current sensibilities, the language usage, their relationships, and how they tend to express their frustrations and desires. A great number of the audience could relate to that and even identify with it. However, those who might hope to see a Chekov-type of play might be disappointed.

All images in this article courtesy of Centaur Theatre.

For more information about Centaur Theatre visit the Centaur Theatre website.

Centaur Theatre 56th Season

Centaur Theatre 56th Season

CENTAUR THEATRE ANNOUNCES ITS 2024/25 SEASON:

Where Great Stories Bring Us Together

May 23, 2024

PRESENTING:

Sakura

September 17, 2024 — October 6, 2024

A nostalgia-filled comedy that reimagines Chekhov for the 21st century, following a down-and-out family as they face the impending sale of their beloved orchard. based on Anton Chekhov’s masterpiece The Cherry Orchard, written by Montreal playwright and actor Harry Standjofski, and directed by Centaur Artistic Director Eda Holmes. This world premiere adaptation brings the play home from 19^th century Russia to 21^st century Quebec where one over-privileged family faces an uncertain future with nostalgia, anxiety, and a healthy dose of Chekhovian wit.

Three Women of Swatow

November 5, 2024 — May 24, 2024 

By Toronto-based Chloé Hung, this play paints the portrait of three generations of women through the lens of the Chinese-Canadian diaspora. This darkly comedic play looks at the legacy of abuse, the power of family, and how to prevent the resurrection of a headless chicken. Originally presented at the Tarragon Theatre, this award-winning and critically acclaimed work will feature a cast and creative team drawn almost exclusively from the Asian-Canadian community. A French translation of the play has been commissioned to offer performances with French surtitles.

Strawberries in January - A Musical Fantasy

January 21, 2025 — February 9, 2025

Written by Évelyne de la Chenelière and translated by Morwyn Brebner. An aspirational dreamscape following four lonely hearts as they search for the kind of connection with someone else that makes you want to sing. This musical adaptation of the original play is led by the renowned Québec director Frédéric Bélanger. It is a beautiful mix of the Anglophone and Francophone theatre communities.

For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again

May 13, 2025 — June 1, 2025

Michel Tremblay's classic an homage to Tremblay's mother, returns to the Centaur stage for the first time since it premiered in English in 2002. The production will feature Ellen David and Emmanuel Schwartz, bringing these two leading actors—one from the English community and one from the French community—under the direction of Tremblay’s close collaborator Alice Ronfard. It promises to reveal this Quebec classic in a whole new light. 

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For more information on the present and future programs and activities, visit the Centaur Theatre website.

Centaur Theatre 55th Season

Centaur Theatre 55th Season

CENTAUR THEATRE ANNOUNCES ITS 2023/24 SEASON:

BUILDING THE FUTURE @ CENTAUR

BREAKING NEW GROUND IN OLD MONTREAL IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

April 20, 2023

PRESENTING:

alterNatives

October 17 – November 5, 2023

The English-language production of Menuentakuan’s alterNatives

Written by Drew Hayden Taylor / Directed by Xavier Huard

With Charles Bender, Natalie Tannous, Étienne Thibeault, Lesly Velazquez, Nadia Verrucci, and Xavier Watso

Moose roast, meatless lasagna, and biting social commentary are on the menu in this irreverent comedy of manners from one of the leading Indigenous playwrights in Canada.

GUILT (a love story)

March 12 – 30, 2024

The Tarragon Theatre production of GUILT (a love story)

Written and Performed by Diane Flacks / Directed by Alisa Palmer

A sharply perceptive and painfully funny one-woman show confronting the unshakable monster that is guilt.

Thy Woman’s Weeds

April 23 – May 12, 2024

In partnership with Repercussion and Tableau D’Hôte 

Written by Erin Shields / Directed by Amanda Kellock

With Deena Aziz, Leni Parker, Joy Ross-Jones, Espoir Segbeaya, Warona Setshwaelo, Felicia Shulman, and Julie Tamiko Manning

Seven of Montreal’s finest actresses pull back the curtain on the Bard in this bold behind-the-scenes look at what it means to be a woman working with Shakespeare today.

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For more information on the present and future programs and activities, visit the Centaur Theatre website.

The Last Wife

Centaur Theatre / 50th Season

THE LAST WIFE

Quebec Premiere

February 12 - March 3, 2019

Written by Kate Henning, The Last Wife is a historical drama presented within a contemporary setting and with present-day vocabulary. Though the play is about the King Henry VIII's sixth and the last wife Katherine Parr, it equally well portrays Henry VIII himself, his three children Edward, Mary and Elizabeth (who will all in turn become English monarchs), and Thomas Seymore, a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII.

The play takes the audiences behind the throne into a home not unlike that of any power family today. Almost 500 years ago, Katherine Parr manoeuvred her way through the halls of power and earned the respect and trust of her husband, King Henry VIII. Though history shows that a wedding with the notorious King proved fatal to several of his wives, but in last wife Katherine Pratt he met his match in wit and negotiation, and gained a formidable ally worthy of ruling the country while he fought in France. Moreover, she had prepared his heirs - Edward, Mary and Elizabeth - to rule the British empire. The Last Wife is a smart, funny and potent examination of patriarchy, family, sexual politics, and, surprisingly, even women’s rights.

The playwright Kate Hennig explained her attraction to Katherine Parr:

 “After watching the events of the Arab Spring on the news in 2011, I became curious about the wives and daughters of tyrants. That led me to Henry VIII, which led me to Katherine Parr. The Last Wife is an ‘imagined’ history based on actual people and events. What I was deeply interested in was the humanity of these iconic characters, imagining what made them do what they did, thereby shaping history. Creating a contemporary voice for this history allows us to see ourselves and our own personal and political struggles. It also raises questions such as do women see power, specifically political power, as a position from which things get done or is the teaching of children--an archetypically feminine domain--a more powerful platform for change than seeking political office?”

 The play’s director Eda Holmes stated:

“The uncanny political timeliness and social relevance render The Last Wife popular both here and in the US. It’s full of sexy characters and life and death stakes--pillars of great theatre--but what emerges as the thrilling core of the story are Katherine Parr’s gutsy intelligence and resilient pragmatism. Kate [Hennig] has unleashed a modern woman into history, giving us a new prism through which to view power, patriarchy and feminism. In fact, she has done the very thing that historian and women's rights campaigner, Dame Mary Beard, proposes: she has redefined the structures of power.” 

The play brings the nearly 500 years old historical events to life with great mastery. All the actors shine in their roles, especially Diana Donnelly who portrays the lead character Katherine Pratt, the last wife of Henry VIII. She succeeds in enacting the complex drama of Katherine Pratt’s life, who succeeded in navigating the tough corners of her relationship with her unpredictable husband King Henry VIII, at the same time being a devoted and dedicated stepmother to his three children.

Even in the case you are not much familiar with this particular period of English history, the play will still hold your attention. It might even make you search later on at home in your books or online for the historical accounts of those times. 

PRODUCTION TEAM

• Written by Kate Hennig
• Directed by Eda Holmes
• With Diana Donnelly, Robert Persichini,  Antoine Yared, Mikaela Davies, Anne-Marie Sahen and  Alessandro Gabrielli.
• Set & Costume Designer Michael Gianfrancesco
• Lighting Designer Andrea Lundy
• Music Composers Anna Atkinson and Alexander MacSween
• Fight Director Anita Nittoly
• Assistant Director Jessica Abdallah
• Assistant Set & Costume Designer Zoe Roux
• Coach to Mr. Gabrielli Jonathan Patterson
• Stage Manager Melanie St-Jacques
• Assistant Stage Manager Danielle Skene

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Hover your mouse over images for description and credits.

For more information, visit the Centaur Theatre website.

True Crime

Centaur Theatre /50th Season

TRUE CRIME

January 8 - 27, 2019

This is a one man show, based on a personal experience of the actor and the writer of the play Torquil Campbell. (You can read more about him here). The play’s twisted narrative about an exceptionally successful, true-life con man was additionally co-created with Crow’s Theatre Artistic Director Chris Abraham, and with Julian Brown.

In his youth, Torquil Campbell was obsessed with true crime reality TV shows. Thanks to his good memory, when in 2009 he read  about Clark Rockefeller having been arrested for kidnapping his own daughter, he recognized him as Christopher Chichester from an old episode of Unsolved Mysteries, where he was wanted in connection with the disappearance of two people. This imposter was born in Germany as Christian Gerhartsreiter, and is currently serving a near-life sentence in a California State prison.

To explain his preoccupation with the criminal, Torquil admits:

"When I saw the pictures of him [Rockefeller] I immediately noticed that we bore a resemblance to each other and I started to realize that a lot of what he had been trying to do for a long time was impersonate someone quite a lot like myself — he was trying to be an effete East Coast preppy WASP! We look alike, we wear the same kind of glasses, we have the same tastes in things … the similarities started to get eerie. And that got me wondering, ‘What would it be like if I tried to become this guy?"

Torquil Campbell plays both characters, himself and the imposter, with a lot of expressive energy, gesticulation, and a rapid change of facial expressions and body language. The differentiation of the two personas is also additionally achieved by the changing of the lights configuration behind the actor. This is a cleaver and quite effective device that also adds to the play’s décor. Yet if you have sensitive eyes, I would advise you to sit away from the stage, to add additional distance to this back stage character lightening signalisation. I was sitting in the second raw and had to look away from the stage during most of the play, as the lights were really bothering my eyes.

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Hover your mouse over images for description and credits.

For more information, visit the Centaur Theatre website.

The Children

Centaur Theatre /50th Season

The Children

November 6 - 25, 2018

A 2018 Tony-nominated play

Written by Lucy Kirkwood

Directed by Eda Holmes

With Geordie Johnson, Laurie Paton and Fiona Reid

Centaur Theatre and Canadian Stage Co-production

Quebec Premier

The Children, written by a British playwright Lucy Kirkwood, earned two Tony Award nominations: the Best Play and the Outer Critics Circle Award. It also won the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Play in January 2018. It made its debut in November 2016 at the Royal Court (London, UK). A year later, it opened on Broadway, at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Last month, October 2018, it enjoyed a successful ran at Canadian Stage, the Performing Arts Theatre in Toronto. Now, it is enjoying the Quebec premieres at Montréal’s Centaur Theatre.

The play examines the forefront issues we now all face as a collective humanity – the safety of our energy sources, the toxic and nauseous pollution of our living environment, and the sense of responsibility, or the lack of it, as how to remedy the consequences of our mistakes.

Following a nuclear disaster in the plant where they used to work, two British nuclear engineers, a husband and wife, live just outside of the exclusion zone, near a seaside, where they moved after the accident. At their retirement age, when they should have enjoyed their lives after having contributed their long careers to the society, they are now facing not only the re-examination of their relationship but also consequences of their mistakes, both personal and professional. This is triggered by an unexpected visit of a former colleague whom they have not seen in 38 years. What at first appear as a simple reminiscing, escalates into an existential and moral dilemma with inevitable, grave and irreversible consequences to all three characters.

I highly recommend this play. It has an intricate plot where the real meaning revealed only at the end. The play raises important issues that could affect all of us, and suggest we are all responsible for our actions within our society. Though at first it appears to be light-hearted, it is in reality quite multifaceted. In addition, the actors’ performance is excellent.

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Set & Costume Designer Eo Sharp

Lighting Designer Bonnie Beecher

Sound Designer John Gzowski Assistant Director Christine Horne

Assistant Sound Designer Maddie Bautista

Stage Manager Maria Popoff

Apprentice Stage Manager Meghan Froebelius

Click on images to enlarge them.

Hover your mouse over images for description and credits.

For more information, visit the Centaur Theatre website.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Sunday Chat-Up:

Sunday November 11, 2018 at 12:30pm in the Gallery.

Join Gazette Editor-in-Chief, Lucinda Chodan, in conversation with Colleen Thorpe, Director of Sustainability Consulting at Equiterre. Together they will discuss possible solutions that can be done individually and collectively, to improve the fate of the planet.

Free public event with refreshments provided by Bonaparte Restaurant.

Post-Show Talkbacks:

Thursday November 15 and Sunday November 18.

Audience members are invited to stay after the performances for a Q&A with select members of the cast.

Saturday Salon:

Saturday November 24 after the matinée performance, at 3:30pm in the Gallery.

Join Eda Holmes, Centaur’s Artistic and Executive Director and also The Children Director, for an informal conversation about The Children, Season 50, and what is coming up at Centaur.