It’s fitting that Calgarians see themselves represented in the works that are staged by theatre companies, but seldom few seasons those companies put on will be as reflective as Theatre Calgary’s 2026-2027 season.
Family is the theme that binds through all of the works chosen by Theatre Calgary’s Artistic Director Stafford Arima.
From real life families on stage, to the very real families that form through stage productions, to beloved family favourites returning for the holidays: the guiding principle for the season and for Arima was to present the connection of families we have and the families we make for ourselves.
“I started to actually think much more about what family really means, and the importance of family. Not just blood relations, and not just theater relations or your family at work,” he told On Cue Calgary.
“So this season, to me, really is about recognizing how connections within these organizations of family. Whether they’re real life family members or extended family members that we can we can build these relationships to to find ourselves in a better space, and find community again within these family structures.”
That season theme, said Arima, came about as result of programming the season’s opening production of First Métis Man of Odesa, which runs from Sept. 8 through 27, 2026.
That true story of love unfolding between Award-winning Canadian playwright Matthew MacKenzie and acclaimed Ukrainian actor Mariya Khomutova amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The pair both happen to also be starring in the Theatre Calgary production of the play.
“It’s very specific to Matthew and Maria, and it’s their story, this unique relationship and love affair that that blossoms out of this, but what happens is the more specific you get with a work the more universal it becomes,” said Arima.
“I think that Calgarians and our communities here will be very enraptured by not just the play, but by the kind of immediacy of of this story.”
Feeding audiences with crowd pleasing favourites
The much beloved 1960s pop pastiche Little Shop of Horrors is Theatre Calgary’s second production of the 2026-27 season, running from Sept. 29 through Oct. 25, 2026.
Telling the story of timid shop assistant Seymour and a plant with a taste for human flesh, the original Roger Corman film, subsequent musical production, and the more well known 1982 film starring Canada’s own Rick Moranis has been delighting audiences for decades.
The pop, doo-wop, and Motown score is set to take the stage as only Theatre Calgary can for Calgary’s musical productions.
“The musical: we we know how to do it, and we know our audiences love it when we do it, you know? I mean, just look at what’s happening with Come From Away, our next show after A Doll’s House. I mean we can’t find tickets for people now,” said Arima.
“I think what we’re going to do is is ensure that there’s a familiarity with this piece. We’re not taking it out of the 1960s and we’re not changing it’s DNA, but let’s give the audience kind of a little extra.”
He said that audiences would be in for a big treat with the piece, and for audiences not already familiar with the show, some camp that lends itself to rip-roaring fun.
The work is being directed and choreographed by Tracey Flye, which Arima said would help to keep the production seamless between the musical numbers and the story.
“A lot of choreographers are actually moving into the world of directing and and so they bring a kind of wholeness to the to the process,” said Arima.
“If you have two rooms going the choreographer is doing their thing and in another room director is doing their, thing nine times out of 10, that there is a cohesiveness. But when you have one person doing both jobs, that total vision comes through. For example Darren Lee did both direction and choreography for Gifted Prince, and upcoming Come From Away Jesse Robb is doing both.”
Arima is set to return to direct A Christmas Carol alongside Associate Director Jane MacFarlane to end out 2026.
“The one year that I didn’t do it, we did Little Women, gosh, I mean talk about the mail that I got. People were angry. This is a family tradition, and Calgary families have for generations and decades, come back to see this piece,” laughed Arima.
“What is so wonderful about the returning factor is when you start seeing the grandparents bringing their grandchildren, and that brings me joy.”
As in past years, Arima said that there would be minor changes to the work to make it interesting for returning audiences.
“I’m not talking big changes, but certain things get changed here and there. Just ‘oh, we’ve always wanted to do this,’ or ‘we’re going to make a little adjustment there,'” he said.
“I think it’s fun, because sometimes when I’m in the at the show, the audience will come to me go, ‘oh, did you change that?’ Or ‘I saw this change.’ They’re always having fun just finding the little Easter eggs that are thrown around in the new production. But we’re always proud to do it, and always thrilled that our that our community from far and wide, come to see it.”
Real life brothers on stage bookended by a classic story of sisters
Calgary Theatre will be opening 2027 with True West, Sam Shepard’s modern classic of the American dream gone wrong as two brothers are reunited and Hollywood ambition and resentment collides.
Real life brothers and veterans of Theatre Calgary stages Joe and Stafford Perry are set to take the roles of Austin and Lee in the production.
“When you look at that family, the Perry family, it’s an extraordinary group of siblings that have moved into this world of the arts. So for Joe and Stafford to be brothers, and then have to play brothers in this piece, there’s that kind of verisimilitude. There’s that truth factor,” said Arima.
“It’s similar to, kind of the the uniqueness of The First Métis Man of Odesa. You know you’re when you come to see that show you are seeing the actual people.”
He said that when he called the Perry brothers to ask them if they would be willing to do the show together, they were over the moon.
“This isn’t a show about the Perry brothers, but it is a show about family bonds and and and sibling rivalry. And I thought, you know they’re well known in our community, and they’re terrific actors, and why not put them in a show that they’ve that neither of them have, them have done.”
True West runs from Feb. 2 to 21, 2027, followed by a hot new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility by Jessica B. Hill and Daryl Cloran running from March 30 through April 25, 2027.
The production of the Austen classic will be the first time that Theatre Calgary has ever staged Sense and Sensibility said Arima.
“In the history of Theatre Calgary, 58 years or 59 years, we’ve never done it. So it was kind of a perplexing moment for me. I just wonder why. But anyway, it doesn’t matter why, we are doing it now,” he said.
The production will be another in what has been a series of very successful co-productions with Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre where Cloran serves as Artistic Director.
“It’s going to be at the Citadel first, and then we’ll receive it after it’s had its run up in Edmonton. We’re not modernizing it. It’s staying true to the to the energy and world of Austen,” said Arima.
“Daryl did another adaptation of Sense and Sensibility at the Stratford Festival last year that I got to see. So he’s steeped in in Austen right now, which is wonderful.”
Having Cloran return to Theatre Calgary was also right in line with the season theme of family said Arima.
“I think at this point, Daryl Cloran has probably directed more shows at Theatre Calgary than anybody else because of the number of co-productions that we do. But, yeah, it is bringing family together again,” he said.
The part where the season goes wrong but so delightfully right
Theatre Calgary is ending their 2026-27 season with the much anticipated return of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society in Peter Pan Goes Wrong.
The fictional theatre company was a hit in 2024 with The Play That Goes Wrong, and Arima said that the next installment with the Peter Pan theme would be even more laugh out loud hilarious.
“We traditionally close the season with the musical, but this year we thought let’s try something a little different. And we thought we had such good luck with The Play That Goes Wrong. Our audience just adored it, loved it, clamoured for more tickets, more tickets,” he said.
“In many ways is it’s a stronger play than the first one, and I think the writers found an understanding of these characters. What can go wrong with Peter Pan? Well, absolutely everything, if it’s this group of of thespians. I think that it’s, it’s going to be a really shazam way to end the season with this laugh out loud play.”
As for whether the sequel in the works with the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society doing A Christmas Carol would ever replace the holiday classic, Arima said never say never.
“Look, we brought back Farren Timoteo from Made in Italy a season after. I still get people who say, ‘when are you bringing it back?’ We don’t have a plan for it, but you just never know. When audiences find something that they gravitate to, it doesn’t matter why they are, if that means they’re coming to the theater and experiencing something live and new then it’s great,” he said.
“Look where we’re known for A Christmas Carol so maybe one year, we’ll decide to do A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, and we’ll see how that kind of flies. But at this point, we’re excited about Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and really excited to just end the season with some lots of smiles on people’s faces.”
For more details on Theatre Calgary’s 2026-27 season, see www.theatrecalgary.com/season2627.