Frontmezzjunkies reports: And the Winners of the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards Are…
By Ross
One of the great pleasures of being part of Toronto’s theatre community is witnessing how much extraordinary work is created across the city each season, from intimate independent productions to ambitious large-scale collaborations. The Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards have once again recognized the breadth, imagination, and artistry that defined the 2025–26 season, with Theatre Passe Muraille’s Through the Eyes of God emerging as the leading play winner and Crow’s Theatre continuing its remarkable run of artistic success with eight awards across the productions it produced and presented. Among the season’s most celebrated achievements were Dave Malloy’s Octet, named Best Production of a Musical, and Anusree Roy’s Through the Eyes of God, which earned top honours for Best Production of a Play, Best Solo Performance for Gabriella Sundar Singh, and Best Director for Thomas Morgan Jones. This year also introduced new categories for choreography, digital design, and puppetry, reflecting the ever-expanding ways Toronto artists continue to redefine what theatre can be. As both a critic and a proud member of this year’s voting jury, I am thrilled to share the official announcement celebrating the artists and productions that made this one of the most adventurous and memorable seasons in recent memory.
The full press release and complete list of 2026 Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards winners and citations follow below:
TORONTO, ON — Theatre Passe Muraille’s world premiere production of Anusree Roy’s Through the Eyes of God was the biggest winner at the 2026 Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards (TTCAs), claiming three prizes, including the coveted award for best production of a play, best solo performance in a play or musical (Gabriella Sundar Singh), and best director of a play (Thomas Morgan Jones).
This year’s edition of the TTCAs, announced Thursday, May 14, featured 24 winners across 20 categories, celebrating the best of the 2025-26 Toronto theatre season. It also marked the first year awards were handed out for best choreography (shared by Alyssa Martin for Dance Nation and Christopher Wheeldon for MJ), best digital design (Nathan Bruce for Rogers v. Rogers), and best puppetry (Ronnie Burkett for Little Willy).
Crow’s Theatre was the most feted organization this year. Productions that the company produced and/or presented collectively received eight TTCAs, most notably Dave Malloy’s a cappella musical Octet, a Crow’s co-production with Soulpepper and the Musical Stage Company, which was named best production of a musical. The show also received the TTCA for best ensemble performance in a musical.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day, produced in Toronto by Coal Mine Theatre, was named best international work.
Lead performance awards went to Sophia Walker (Slave Play), Nicholas Eddie (Bug), Martin Julien (The Drowsy Chaperone) and Vanessa Sears (& Juliet), while prizes for best supporting performances were handed to Matthew G. Brown (The Christmas Market), Kristen Thomson (Fulfillment Centre), Damien Atkins (Robin Hood: A Very Merry Family Musical) and Thomas Winiker (Kimberly Akimbo). The casts of The Division and Pu Songling: Strange Tales shared the award for best ensemble performance in a play.
Emerging director Meredith Shedden was awarded the TTCA for best director of a musical for her work on Tick, Tick… Boom!
The awards for best scenic, lighting, costume, and sound designs went to Sophie Ann Rooney (Bug), Bonnie Beecher (The Welkin), Melanie McNeill (Night at the Grand Guignol), and Ashley Naomi (The Veil), respectively.
As well, the TTCA jury also handed out a special citation to Eldritch Theatre, recognizing the company’s growth over the past season and exceptional work in the horror genre.
Founded in 2011, the TTCAs are awarded by a jury of professional theatre critics, representing publications such as the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, NEXT Magazine, and Intermission.
This year’s jurors were Ryan Borochovitz, Joshua Chong, Paula Citron, Liam Donovan, Karen Fricker, Stephanie Fung, Arpita Ghosal, Robyn Grant-Moran, James Karas, Ilana Lucas, Aisling Murphy, Steven Ross, Drew Rowsome, Scott Sneddon, and Glenn Sumi.
Winners will be awarded a certificate and a tribute to their work written and signed by a TTCA voter.
Best New Canadian Work
The Neighbours by Nicolas Billon, production by Green Light Arts in association with Tarragon Theatre
Nicolas Billon’s The Neighbours contains no jump scares, ghouls nor bloody imagery. But it’s horror at its best. Wriggling into our subconscious and picking us apart from the inside out, this 90-minute slow burn of a play asks us what it means to be complicit in the actions of others, as we watch a couple leaf through their memories, questioning how they may have missed all the clues pointing to a gruesome crime taking place next door to their home. Billon’s play is a mature, full-fledged work, reminiscent of the shimmering glow of a surrealist painting. Its astonishing Canadian premiere, produced by Green Light Arts at Tarragon Theatre, proves why it deserves to have a long life at theatres around the country. — Joshua Chong
Best International Work
Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector, production by Coal Mine Theatre
Like the unseen parent Leslie Kaufmann in Eureka Day’s most popular scene, I’m tempted to give Jonathan Spector’s play a great big thumbs-up emoji sign. But that would not do justice to the full artistry of this work about the harried board members of a private Berkeley elementary school trying to do the right thing amidst a mumps outbreak among its students. Besides being eerily prescient — Spector wrote it before the COVID-19 pandemic made talk about vaccine status and Zoom calls commonplace — it’s also sharply observant about matters of class, race and privilege. Best, there are no villains in the play, just misunderstood people, and Spector’s empathy and ability to see beyond labels (something we could all learn from) is what gave the audience many “Eureka!” moments. — Glenn Sumi
Best Production of a Play
Through the Eyes of God by Anusree Roy, produced by Theatre Passe Muraille
Through the Eyes of God is a rarity of Canadian theatre: At just 45 minutes long, Anusree Roy’s script packs a lifetime’s worth of punch, and in Thomas Morgan Jones’s audacious production at Theatre Passe Muraille, the play received a staging worthy of its dramaturgical bite. Gabriella Sundar Singh’s solo performance was astonishing; Romeo Candido’s sound and David DeGrow’s lighting designs were among the best of the year. This production ought to tour Canada, or even the world, as soon as possible – in Toronto, it showcased Canadian theatre at its most daring, and by extension, its most impressive. – Aisling Murphy
Best Production of a Musical
Octet by Dave Malloy, production by Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper, and the Musical Stage Company
Chris Abraham’s production of Dave Malloy’s a capella musical about internet addiction was a highlight of Crow’s Theatre’s programming in its current extended golden age. Perfect casting, tight and focused staging, appropriately detailed and low-key design – save for that much-talked-about video floor – and stunning vocalizations under Ryan DeSouza’s musical direction: Octet set a bar for musical theatre excellence in Toronto this season that no other production came close to meeting. – Karen Fricker
Best Lead Performance in a Play
Sophia Walker, Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris, produced by Canadian Stage; Nicholas Eddie, Bug by Tracy Letts, production by the King Black Box Theatre in partnership with Elkabong Theatre Projects
Culminating with a guttural scream that ripped through the Berkeley Street Theatre, Sophia Walker’s astounding performance as Kaneisha in Slave Play was a study of multitudes — a portrait of a woman entangled in hurt and unfulfilled desire while, simultaneously, clinging on to her sense of dignity and pride. As with every role Walker takes on, there was an exactness to her portrayal: each choice deeply considered, each line reading revealing the depth of Jeremy O. Harris’s text and his central character. The highlight of an extraordinary season for Walker, with one exceptional star turn after another, this was one of those gritty performances that stays seared in an audience’s mind for years to come. — Joshua Chong
In the leading role of Peter, Nicholas Eddie charted a dynamic metamorphosis: from gentle, socially awkward drifter to a man consumed by paranoia. To colour this descent, the actor made marvellous use of extremes, crafting a chameleonic performance that encompassed both hyper-detailed realism and utterly theatrical bursts of emotion. It was a cathartic, highly exciting rendition that spoke to the timely question of what it means for someone to lose faith in the rules of society. — Liam Donovan
Best Supporting Performance in a Play
Matthew G. Brown, The Christmas Market by Kanika Ambrose, produced by b current Performing Arts in association with Crow’s Theatre and Studio 180 Theatre; and Kristen Thomson, Fulfillment Centre by Abe Koogler, produced by Coal Mine Theatre
Kanika Ambrose’s chamber play about Canadian immigration – and the migrants rendered helpless by a broken system – was a standout piece of writing in the 2025-26 season. But as Joe, Matthew G. Brown added a whole new level of depth to the piece, inviting audiences to follow the tragic hero through a heartbreaking Christmas season on an exploitative farm in Ontario. Brown’s performance was sensitive, bright, funny and complicated, and ultimately lingered in the minds of the jury long after the Christmas play’s final carol. – Aisling Murphy
When Coal Mine’s Ted Dykstra read Abe Koogler’s 2017 play, he immediately thought of Kristen Thomson for the role of Suzan, a 60-ish former folk singer who finds herself working in an online retailer’s shipping centre. “Suzan has this laugh, this ‘haha’ reaction to things, and I immediately heard Kristen’s laugh,” Dykstra told me. His instincts were right. When Thomson’s Suzan delivered that laugh, it was anything but fun, suggesting the nervous feeling that she may be getting herself into something awkward. Which, we come to realize, has probably happened to her many times before. Thomson’s ability to listen and respond to other actors — whether it’s Emilio Vieira’s irritated manager, who’s half her age, or a brooding malcontent played by Evan Buliung — is unmatched. Over the years, she’s shone in lead parts, but in this role — supporting and reacting to others — she was simply devastating. — Glenn Sumi
Best Ensemble Performance in a Play
Karl Ang, Ivy Charles, Mariya Khomutova, Daniel Maslany and Alon Nashman, The Division by Andrew Kushnir, produced by Project: Humanity and Pyretic Productions in association with Crow’s Theatre; and Dean Gilmour, John Ng 伍健琪, Diana Tso 曹楓, 郝邦宇 Steven Hao and Madelaine Hodges 賀美倫, Pu Songling: Strange Tales by Michele Smith, Diana Tso, Steven Hao, Madelaine Hodges, John Ng and Dean Gilmour (thanks to Michael Man, Lindsay Wu, Jeff Yung and Rosie Simon), produced by Theatre Smith-Gilmour in association with Crow’s Theatre
Memory is a tricky thing, even if you have hours of meticulous recordings trying to preserve it. The ensemble cast of Andrew Kushnir’s The Division, from Project: Humanity and Pyretic Productions in association with Crow’s Theatre, gamely stepped into Kushnir’s multi-country quest to determine the truth about his grandfather’s war service. Stitching together fast-moving scenes while capturing the cadences of the family members, war reporters, elderly refugees, historians, lecturers and horologists Kushnir met along the way—and gleefully skewering Vladimir Putin—they also found moments of delicate stillness and human connection amongst the ideological turmoil. Their performances grounded an expansive play that could have felt philosophically or geographically overwhelming. — Ilana Lucas
Around a single long wooden table, Dean Gilmour, John Ng, Diana Tso, Steven Hao, and Madelaine Hodges become the ink and paper through which a 17th-century Qing master’s vast bestiary of foxes, ghosts, judges, and fools is brushed back to life. With little more than their contortionist bodies, acrobatic voices, and a few sheets of freighted-feeling paper between them, these five master storytellers summon entire worlds into being — and dissolve them again at the rap of a knuckle. Bodies pour into beasts, spirits, monks, and mortals. Tongues and limbs conjure every hoofbeat, sword-whisk, wolf’s howl, and rush of wind that the staging asks for. Across fable, horror, comedy, tragedy, and absurdity, they trade roles, sounds, and atmospheres with such porousness and trust that the seam between performer and tale — between this world and the next — disappears. This is ensemble work as collective conjuring: a masterclass in give-and-take-and-make. — Scott Sneddon
Best Lead Performance in a Musical
Martin Julien, The Drowsy Chaperone by Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, Bob Martin and Don McKellar, produced by Shifting Ground Collective; and Vanessa Sears, & Juliet by Max Martin and friends and David West Read, presented by Mirvish
It should come as no surprise that a bevy of critics would be enamoured with a character who spends most of his time sitting off to the sidelines, boasts an encyclopedic knowledge of musical theatre trivia, revels in the opportunity to share his enthusiasm with a captive audience, and would rather destroy a phone than hear its incessant ringing. Watching Man in Chair is like looking in a mirror; we’d all be lucky if our reflections were even half as affable as Martin Julien. It takes a truly special kind of performer to win “Best Lead” in the musical category without even having to sing or dance. Let’s hope this makes that enigmatic Man in Chair feel a little less blue. – Ryan Borochovitz
The all-Canadian, sit-down production of & Juliet was hotly awaited in Toronto’s theatre circles in the lead-up to opening night. Good thing, then, that Vanessa Sears hit the ball out of the park in the notoriously difficult title role. Sears showed audiences a new side of her voice, belting high pop songs while executing hip-hop choreography and navigating Juliet’s emotionally complex narrative journey. Sears’s star turn may have been a long time coming, but the actor more than rose to the occasion with a dazzling Juliet that matched the show’s exuberant, confetti-filled reputation. – Aisling Murphy
Best Supporting Performance in a Musical
Damien Atkins, Robin Hood: A Very Merry Family Musical by Matt Murray, produced by Canadian Stage in associated with the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres; and Thomas Winiker, Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori, produced by Mirvish and the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts
Damien Atkins, fresh off a demanding role in Octet, did not pause before launching himself into the role of the evil Prince John in Robin Hood: A Very Merry Family Musical. The panto makes very specific demands of its cast and Atkins not only rose to the occasion, he radiated a contagious glee in doing so. Revelling sensually in audiences’ boos and hisses, he sang and danced with an exuberant malevolence that radiated to the back row. But it was the subtle bits of innuendo that turned a character masquerading as a caricature into a fully-fleshed character, that made Atkins uniquely memorable. No matter how hard he worked to be hateful, when his diabolical plot failed, our hearts broke for his ignominious downfall. In a production designed to be over-sized and spectacular, Atkins managed to go over-the-top while remaining achingly human. — Drew Rowsome
It’s always handy when one of the characters in a show does our job for us. Kimberly takes the words right out of my mouth when she describes Thomas Winiker’s Seth as, “a little sly, a little strange / a little bit askew / […] a little odd, a little off / a bit unorthodox.” With an unapologetically awkward charm and enormous heart, Winiker made the audience fall in love with Seth at every joke, giggle, and oom-pa from his tuba. To be so young and already be able to go toe to toe with a legend like Louise Pitre, this emerging performer no doubt has a promising career ahead of him. — Ryan Borochovitz
Best Ensemble Performance in a Musical
Damien Atkins, Alicia Ault, Andrew Broderick, Ben Carlson, Hailey Gillis, Zorana Sadiq, Jacqueline Thair and Giles Tomkins, Octet by Dave Malloy, produced Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper and the Musical Stage Company
As the name of Dave Malloy’s chamber musical suggests, Octet, a series of solo confessions and group prayers during a meeting of an Internet addiction support group, is an ensemble piece that relies on tight a cappella harmonies and impeccable timing. The eight-person cast of Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre, and the Musical Stage Company’s production delivered a stellar combined performance that elevated the work into something that sounded sublime. Each performer created a unique, dynamic character who also slipped perfectly into the blend. They deserve all the “likes” they can get…even if that might cause their characters to relapse. — Ilana Lucas
Best Solo Performance in a Play or Musical
Gabriella Sundar Singh, Through the Eyes of God by Anusree Roy, produced by Theatre Passe Muraille
Gabriella Sundar Singh’s performance in Through the Eyes of God was a physical and emotional feat. Performed entirely on a 4’ X 4’ pedestal, she leveraged her Bharatanatyam training to distinguish the distinct bodies, cadences, and inner lives of the many characters that Chaya, a low-caste widowed mother, encounters in her desperate search from Kolkata to Delhi for her abducted daughter. Playing every character in dialogue with Chaya herself, Sundar Singh navigated shifts in age, gender, class, and temperament with astonishing clarity and control. Yet amid the remarkable and continuous transformation, she never lost Chaya’s emotional heft. The result was a virtuosic solo performance of extraordinary range, subtlety and intelligence that honoured Anusree Roy’s text, while making it unmistakably and unforgettably her own. — Arpita Ghosal
Best Director of a Play
Thomas Morgan Jones, Through the Eyes of God by Anusree Roy, produced by Theatre Passe Muraille
Through the Eyes of God was total theatre such as we rarely see in Toronto, with script, conception, performance, and design all coming together in 50 powerful, unstoppable, unforgettable minutes. Thomas Morgan Jones’s orchestration of all these elements exemplifies what theatre direction, at its best, exists to do. – Karen Fricker
Best Director of a Musical
Meredith Shedden, Tick, Tick… Boom! by Jonathan Larson, produced by Bowtie Productions
No one would call Jonathan Larson’s Tick… Tick… Boom! a first-rate musical, either in its solo version or expanded three-person staging. But in the indie company Bowtie Productions’ thrilling production (of the latter), director Meredith Shedden made you believe in its scrappy spirit and potential for greatness. Working on a budget the fraction of the size of most musicals, she located the soul of the work, getting rich, lived-in performances by actors Joshua Kilimnik, Diana Del Rosario and Misha Sharivker, all joyously underscored by Michael Ippolito and his lively band. Through youthful pluck and ingenuity, she found imaginative ways to bring Larson’s world of joe jobs, theatre workshops and sexy green dresses to life. Can’t wait to see what she does next. — Glenn Sumi
Best Scenic Design of a Play or Musical
Sophie Ann Rooney, Bug by Tracy Letts, production by the King Black Box Theatre in partnership with Elkabong Theatre Projects
Sophie Ann Rooney’s scenic design for Bug transformed The King Black Box into a motel room so rundown, stale, cramped, and convincingly lived-in that the audience felt trapped with the show’s characters inside playwright Tracy Letts’ fevered nightmare. With spectators seated on either side of the action, Rooney collapsed the distance between performer and observer, while pre-show projections of conspiracy videos — including a red-faced, ranting Alex Jones — seeded the paranoia to come. As the individual and collective psyches of the characters slowly unraveled, Rooney’s meticulous realism and scenic specificity grounded their psychological collapse, creating a claustrophobic milieu that audiences did not just observe, but had to physically endure. The production packed a gut-punch wallop and illustrated that punching power comes from the ground up. — Arpita Ghosal
Best Lighting Design of a Play or Musical
Bonnie Beecher, The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood, produced by Soulpepper, the Howland Company, and Crow’s Theatre
Bonnie Beecher’s lighting design for The Welkin breathed on a whole different realm, giving the impression of a living canvas, carefully sculpted to render each moment as a shifting period painting. With a masterful command of shadow and texture, Beecher carved depth and emotion into the confined space, allowing the room to breathe with a haunting, almost dreamlike dimensionality. In a play so deeply rooted in collective voices and moral tension, Beecher’s design became an essential storyteller, guiding the eye without ever overwhelming it, and ensuring that no character was lost to darkness, even as the world around them teetered on the edge of it. – Steven Ross
Best Costume Design of a Play or Musical
Melanie McNeill, Night at the Grand Guignol by Eric Woolfe, produced by Eldritch Theatre
Like the late, legendary Grand Guignol, Eldritch Theatre makes horrendous demands of its cast and creatives. For Night at the Grand Guignol, designer Melanie McNeill, a longtime secret weapon of Eldritch’s, had to begin with costuming three brazen coquettes. Those burlesque beauties then also had to become mad scientists, dowdy housewives, tortured businessmen, murderous circus hobos, asylum inmates, nerdy incels, a practical prostitute and even a rampaging flesh-eating gorilla. All with a musty Gallic flair paying homage to the aesthetic of the Grand Guignol. And all involving lightning fast changes on a miniscule budget. McNeill utilized masks, prosthetics, special effects and wit, to quickly define the dozens of characters that populated the convoluted and terrifying plots. Graphic horror and licentiousness turned into hilarious low-rent high fashion that camped it up without drawing attention to the skill and imagination that went into its creation. — Drew Rowsome
Best Sound Design and Music of a Play or Musical
Ashley Naomi, The Veil by Keith Barker and Thomas Morgan Jones, produced by Thought for Food Productions in association with Crow’s Theatre and Guild Festival Theatre
Don’t be fooled: There is no such thing as innocent ambient noise in The Veil. Ashley Naomi’s sound design and the world outside Crow’s blended into one sinister continuum: every distant dog’s bark, every click, every low atmospheric hum was a thread in the protagonist’s bewitching agenda. Naomi faded her cues in below the threshold of certainty, then nudged the volume just enough that we leaned forward, conscripted, to confirm what we think we heard … and by the time we were sure, we were trapped inside it. This is sound design as predation: restrained, incorporeal, and astonishingly precise in its capacity to erode the membrane between the play we paid to see and the world we hope to return to. In The Veil, that spell did not lift at the curtain call. — Scott Sneddon
Best Choreography
Alyssa Martin, Dance Nation by Clare Barron, produced by Coal Mine Theatre and Outside the March in association with Rock Bottom Movement; Christopher Wheeldon, MJ by Lynn Nottage, presented by Mirvish
Christopher Wheeldon’s choreography for the Mirvish presentation of the Broadway musical MJ was groundbreaking, expanding Michael Jackson’s hyper-individual solo style into a large-scale theatrical ensemble vocabulary. He also deftly reimagined and incorporated Jackson’s key influences — Fred Astaire, the Nicholas Brothers, and Bob Fosse — into the show’s movement language. — Paula Citron
In Coal Mine Theatre’s production of Dance Nation, Alyssa Martin created movement for mature actors playing 13-year-old girls that captured adult sexuality worn awkwardly on adolescent bodies. The work played with overcommitted intensity and emotional vulnerability in equal measure, all while avoiding parody and never losing sight of the absurdity of competition dance culture. — Paula Citron
Best Digital Design
Nathan Bruce, Rogers v Rogers by Michael Healey, produced by Crow’s Theatre
There were moments when one could be forgiven for forgetting that Rogers v. Rogers is a solo show, due in no small part to Nathan Bruce’s jaw-dropping digital design. From embedding screens into the floor and table to the helpful infographics, the literal Brian Cox cameo to the world’s most theatrical Zoom call, Bruce’s design work reminded us that digital media need not be a distraction from live performance, but can be part of what makes it so lively. — Ryan Borochovitz
Best Puppetry
Ronnie Burkett, Little Willy by Burkett, produced by Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes and presented by Canadian Stage
In a new category for the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards, Ronnie Burkett – an officer of the Order of Canada and a beloved force for chaotic good in Canadian theatre – was the obvious winner. The Daisy Theatre’s intricate marionettes were very well-used in Little Willy, a vaguely Shakespeare-inspired confection that allowed Burkett to do whatever the hell he wanted onstage. But, like all of Burkett’s work, those gags were in service of good theatre and better laughs – and resulted in a puppet show that was the perfect antidote to Toronto’s winter doldrums. – Aisling Murphy
Special Citation
Eldritch Theatre, for their biggest, spookiest season yet
Until this season, Eldritch Theatre artistic director Eric Woolfe primarily created and performed all of the company’s strange and macabre shows, with the support of a small team. With critical acclaim and a cult following, it would be easy to stay put. This season, however, marked a change: Night at the Grand Guignol featured a cast of three (none of them Woolfe), while season closer Zombocalypse! squeezed five (Woolfe included) onto the cozy stage at Red Sandcastle Theatre. Eldritch Theatre’s dark and twisted tales grew bigger and more complex with more weird little guys and angsty outsiders, without compromising Woolfe’s unique style and vision. — Robyn Grant-Moran
Photo by Jack Woolfe.
For more information on the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards, click here.
