The lights come up, and the imagined world fades. The audience returns from a journey into whichever story our tickets admitted us, and we’re back where we started. But we’re different somehow. Settling into a theatre seat is like picking up an unopened book — it has unrealized potential and questions unanswered. Who are these characters? What are we supposed to take from this story? You leave the theatre, but you find yourself thinking about the experience long after. The 2026-27 arts lineup in the Edmonton area invites you to ask questions and explore stories new and old.
It’s worth arriving early for a show at the Citadel Theatre to experience the greenery of the atrium. The contrast between the living, twisting plants, the brick walls and sweeping windows always inspires the imagination.
This upcoming season the Citadel opens with a classic, Murder on the Orient Express, running from Sept. 19 to Oct. 11. A collection of strangers on the most luxurious train of the 1930s is stranded by the snow. One dead body. One private detective. You may have read Agatha Christie’s classic novel, or seen a film adaptation. What you haven’t seen is how it’s pulled off as a play. “There’s a full train on stage that revolves and transforms throughout the show,” says Bridget Norris-Jones, producer at the Citadel. The show is a co-production between the Citadel and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. “The costumes are gorgeous,” Norris-Jones adds. “Our audiences are going to be able to immerse themselves right into it.”
The stage is a versatile medium, where old classics are remixed to offer new takes on a story — or a song. That’s how Bridget Ryan is grounding her show Oh, Anne!, a reinterpretation of Anne of Green Gables, playing at the Roxy Theatre Sept. 17 to Oct. 18. Traditional sea shanties, usually sung by men, are delivered instead by the four women who also perform all the roles in the production. “With the same spirit, power and commitment that you might hear along the coast by four fishermen, you’ll see four powerhouse women singing on stage,” Ryan says.
The show features set design from Canmore-based Indigenous artist Jason Carter. Set pieces, from a barn to a horse-drawn carriage, are made from reclaimed Alberta barnwood. Carter also painted a coastal backdrop, projected behind the set to establish the seaside location. That painting is on display at the Roxy too, as part of a coast-to-coast-to-coast art show.
On the other side of the river, the Walterdale Theatre’s 68th season focuses on reclaiming narratives. Two shows illustrate this theme: The Tamer Tamed, starting the season in October, and The Extractionist, which premiers in April next year. The Walterdale’s new artistic director, Joyanne Rudiak, directed scenes from The Tamer Tamed during her studies at the University of Alberta 15 years ago. Now she’s directing the play in its entirety.
“Shakespeare wrote The Taming of the Shrew at the end of the 1500s, and this sequel was written within a couple decades,” Rudiak says. “It turns the thing on its head and fights for equality of the sexes within relationships. It’s a more progressive story, but it was written in 1611.”
Looking ahead to 2027, April will see The Extractionist, a neo-noir thriller written in 2023 by Michaela Jeffery and directed for the Walterdale by Ashley Patenaude. It follows Asha Ray, a professional extractionist who works in a grey area outside the law, removing people from bad situations, and exposing corrupt elites and shadowy organizations.
“When I read the play — it was so different from anything else,” Rudiak says. “It was slick and fast paced. It’s cinematic in a way.”
Teatro Live also has a vibrant slate prepared for its 2026-27 season. One highlight: Jane Austen’s Emma. Adapted by local playwright Camille Pavlenko, the production creates, “something fast-paced, joyful and deeply theatrical, while remaining devoted to Austen’s characters and language,” says Farren Timoteo, artistic director at Teatro. “What makes Emma meaningful is that we’re creating something new as a handcrafted gift for our audience,” he adds.
And if you crave adventure but you can’t make it to the mountains this fall, the second-best way to visit comes courtesy of the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival.
The yearly outdoor film festival travels to 600 communities and 40 countries. This year, its local stop is St. Albert’s Arden Theatre on Oct. 13. Dive deep into the world of action sports, take in remote mountain peaks and learn about inspiring environmental conservation — all from the comfort of a theatre seat.
Each film tells the story of something bigger than its topic implies. So even if you’ve never set foot on a pair of skis, you can still connect to the narrative that unfolds. Last year’s selection took viewers to kiteski on Baffin Island, packraft through Alaska and bike with toddlers in the Swiss Alps.
And as the snow blankets Edmonton for the holiday season, there’s another stage to visit — one that tells a different story with every performance of the same show.
The show is The Blank Who Stole Christmas, and the gimmick is exactly as it sounds. Someone has to fill in for the Grinch in the classic Dr. Seuss tale. A guest performer (who hasn’t rehearsed with the rest of the cast) plays a character of their choice to throw the show off script. “We get hardcore fans coming back multiple times to catch as many versions of it as they can,” says Matt Schuurman, executive director of Rapid Fire Theatre, Edmonton’s 46-year-old improv comedy home.
The Blank in the title has been filled by fictional characters, like Batman, the Easter Bunny, and comedic takes on real-life figures, such as Dolly Parton and Justin Trudeau. Aside from the ever-changing Blank, there’s another difference between versions of the show — three tiers of nice, naughty and nasty so there are family-friendly matinées and late night versions for different audiences.
“There have been about a hundred performances of the show,” says Schuurman, adding that across November and December of this year there’ll be about 35 different performances of the show. You’ll never see the same story twice.
The sound of an orchestra tuning is a beautiful cacophony. It holds the same promise as the unopened book or the dimming of the theatre lights. Here are the sounds, now what will the musicians make with them?
In the case of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the Winspear, in November it means playing Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and Jacques Hétu’s Légendes, written to celebrate Quebec City’s 400th anniversary.
The Sibelius concert is part of the Winspear’s Pairings Series in collaboration with Fort Saskatchewan-based Fort Distillery and its pre-mixed cocktail counterpart, Tumbler & Rocks. Tickets for those performances come with a complimentary drink. The partnership, like many innovations, started with problem-solving.
“It solved a timing issue,” says Nathan Flim, CEO of Fort Distillery and Tumbler & Rocks. The Winspear’s bartenders didn’t have time to mix cocktails in a short intermission. “We solved a problem for them by being able to pour cocktails quickly and they solved a problem for us helping to market our brands,” Flim says. The relationship grew to include events held by both organizations.
In November, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra embarks on another collaboration with frequent partner, Edmonton Opera. The two organizations are performing Barber of Seville, introducing (or reintroducing) the audience to Rosina and Figaro, the latter likely being the first name a neophyte thinks of when it comes to opera. The repetition of the character’s name in the aria Largo al factotum has been used in popular movies from A Farewell to Arms (1932) to Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and was heard recently in the opening to the 2026 Winter Olympics. One of opera’s best-known songs, it’s a doorway into the rest of the operatic experience. And, as a comedy, Barber of Seville might surprise opera sceptics.
Iconic Edmonton music venue the Yardbird Suite once again hosts Fernanda Cunha and Trio on Sept. 26. Cunha has said it’s her favourite performance venue, and she returns every two years with a new show. This year is no different, blending jazz standards, Brazilian music and Cunha’s own original compositions. This is the first time drummer Dave Laing performs as part of Cunha’s group, joining pianist Chris Andrew and bassist Rubim de Toledo.
When there’s no way to express emotion with words, movement can tell a story. This is the idea behind contemporary dance. The emotions behind Mile Zero Dance company’s 41st season, titled SOFT Landings, are generosity and understanding. “A dancer knows that a landing is never an ending. It’s a moment of listening, absorbing impact, finding balance and preparing for what comes next,” says Gerry Morita, Mile Zero’s artistic director. “Strength comes not from resisting gravity, but from meeting it with awareness and care.”
The performance of Omote, meaning “surface/face” and “mask” in Japanese, explores the understanding of identity and mixed Japanese and Canadian heritage. Vancouver-based dancer Shion Skye Carter and Halifax-based mask maker Miya Turnbull perform in custom paper-mâché masks of their own faces expressing different emotions, going through movements that evoke tea ceremonies and other rituals. Mile Zero’s Omote plays on Nov. 6 and 7.
Performance is about connection, at minimum between performers and audience. For Brian Webb Dance Company, the show Canada/India … India/Canada connects the two countries in dance.
Webb himself is working with Indian dancers Anush and Niha Mishra, while Indian choreographer Sanjukta Sinha is creating a dance for Canadian performer Marla Palakamanil.
“They asked me, this husband and wife team, to choreograph them,” Webb says. “And I said, ‘No, I won’t, but I will collaborate with you.’” He explains that, as with spoken language, countries have differing dance languages; working together allows them to create something new. The joint performances feature music from Gary James Joynes and Deepak Paramashivan, as well as a performance by Sinha.
Late summer and early fall is prime time to walk the 124 Street area. Close enough to downtown for an urban feel, but far enough to walk tree-lined avenues populated by historic houses. It’s also home to Edmonton’s gallery district. Between 107 Avenue and Jasper Avenue you’ll find six of them: the Peter Robertson Gallery, Lando Gallery, West End Gallery, Bearclaw Gallery, Bugera Lamb Fine Art and Maud Gallery. Dip in and out of galleries, coffee shops and stores along 124th for a pleasant afternoon. The group of galleries also organizes two self-guided walking tours, per year.
If any population understands the magic infused by lighting a dark, winter city, it’s us — and maybe Victorians experiencing electricity for the first time, when it seemed miraculous. After years of relying on candlelight to dispel the dark, the flip of a switch was a near-religious experience.
The Art Gallery of Alberta celebrates that glow with its exhibit The Light Fantastic, which runs until Feb. 21. Catherine Crowston, AGA chief curator and executive director, curated it, and the show features pieces by contemporary artists.
Artists participating in the show use regular domestic lighting such as fixtures, lamps and bulbs to bring us back to a time when these items were not commonplace, but were new, unexplained and uncanny.
One example: “Cloud,” an interactive sculpture by artists Caitlind Brown and Wayne Garrett. The large-scale piece is made up of 6,000 incandescent light bulbs to form a richly textured cloud. Germaine Koh, a Canadian conceptual artist, will also display a site-specific version of her work “The Haunting.”
Come March, once the snow has started to melt and the sun regains some strength, there’s another opportunity to explore the city’s artistic haunts. This one’s heated to facilitate the journey in case the snow is still flying. The Edmonton ArtBus is a free, one-day outing organized by the John and Maggie Mitchell Art Gallery, MacEwan University’s public gallery space.
The first stop is the Mitchell Gallery, and the path winds to the Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts, SNAP Gallery, Harcourt House and others. In the past, there have been businesses that offer discounts for patrons sporting ArtBus stickers, including Audreys Books and Rosewood Foods.
And what do all these disparate shows, galleries and performances have in common? Aside from broadly constituting “the arts,” they bring joy and wonder, tell stories and give you something to think about. Beyond learning someone else’s story, you’ll add something to your own.
This article appears in the September 2026 issue of Edify
