The jury of the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards (TTCAs) has announced its 2026 results — 26 winners across 20 categories, plus a special citation.
This year’s awards recognize professional theatre productions that opened in the city between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026. Theatre Passe Muraille’s Through the Eyes of God is the most dominant show, netting three major prizes including best production of a play. “At just 45 minutes long, Anusree Roy’s script packs a lifetime’s worth of punch, and in Thomas Morgan Jones’ audacious production at Theatre Passe Muraille, the play received a staging worthy of its dramaturgical bite,” wrote Globe and Mail critic Aisling Murphy in a press release.
The TTCAs have been given out since 2011. This year’s jury consists of myself, Murphy, Ryan Borochovitz, Joshua Chong, Paula Citron, Karen Fricker, Stephanie Fung, Arpita Ghosal, Robyn Grant-Moran, James Karas, Ilana Lucas, Steven Ross, Drew Rowsome, Scott Sneddon, and Glenn Sumi.
One other straight play receives multiple awards: King Black Box’s production of Tracy Letts’ Bug, which the jury recognizes for Nicholas Eddie’s lead performance and Sophie Ann Rooney’s scenic design.
Among the musical theatre categories, the Canadian premiere of Dave Malloy’s Octet wins best production and best ensemble. “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,” wrote Fricker, the editorial director of Intermission.
There are three new award categories: best choreography, best digital design, and best puppetry.
In addition, the jury awards the horror-focused company Eldritch Theatre a special citation recognizing its growth over the past season. “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,” wrote Grant-Moran. “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 cosy 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.”
Here is this year’s full list of winners:
Best Production of a Play
Through the Eyes of God (Theatre Passe Muraille)
Best Production of a Musical
Octet (Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper, and the Musical Stage Company)
Best New Canadian Work
The Neighbours by Nicolas Billon (Green Light Arts in association with Tarragon Theatre)
Best International Work
Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector (Coal Mine Theatre)
Best Lead Performance in a Play
Sophia Walker, Slave Play (Canadian Stage)
Nicholas Eddie, Bug (King Black Box Theatre in partnership with Elkabong Theatre Projects)
Best Supporting Performance in a Play
Matthew G. Brown, The Christmas Market (b current Performing Arts in association with Crow’s Theatre and Studio 180 Theatre)
Kristen Thomson, Fulfillment Centre (Coal Mine Theatre)
Best Ensemble Performance in a Play
Karl Ang, Ivy Charles, Mariya Khomutova, Daniel Maslany, and Alon Nashman, The Division (Project: Humanity and Pyretic Productions in association with Crow’s Theatre)
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 (Theatre Smith-Gilmour in association with Crow’s Theatre)
Best Lead Performance in a Musical
Martin Julien, The Drowsy Chaperone (Shifting Ground Collective)
Vanessa Sears, & Juliet (Mirvish Productions)
Best Supporting Performance in a Musical
Damien Atkins, Robin Hood: A Very Merry Family Musical (Canadian Stage in association with the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres)
Thomas Winiker, Kimberly Akimbo (Mirvish Productions and the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts)
Best Ensemble Performance in a Musical
Damien Atkins, Alicia Ault, Andrew Broderick, Ben Carlson, Hailey Gillis, Zorana Sadiq, Jacqueline Thair, and Giles Tomkins, Octet (Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper, and the Musical Stage Company)
Best Solo Performance in a Play or Musical
Gabriella Sundar Singh, Through the Eyes of God (Theatre Passe Muraille)
Best Director of a Play
Thomas Morgan Jones, Through the Eyes of God (Theatre Passe Muraille)
Best Director of a Musical
Meredith Shedden, Tick, Tick… Boom! (Bowtie Productions)
Best Scenic Design of a Play or Musical
Sophie Ann Rooney, Bug (King Black Box Theatre in partnership with Elkabong Theatre Projects)
Best Lighting Design of a Play or Musical
Bonnie Beecher, The Welkin (Soulpepper, the Howland Company, and Crow’s Theatre)
Best Costume Design of a Play or Musical
Melanie McNeill, Night at the Grand Guignol (Eldritch Theatre)
Best Sound Design and Music of a Play or Musical
Ashley Naomi, The Veil (Thought for Food Productions in association with Crow’s Theatre and Guild Festival Theatre)
Best Choreography
Alyssa Martin, Dance Nation (Coal Mine Theatre and Outside the March in association with Rock Bottom Movement)
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ (Mirvish Productions)
Best Digital Design
Nathan Bruce, Rogers v. Rogers (Crow’s Theatre)
Best Puppetry
Ronnie Burkett, Little Willy (Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes, presented by Canadian Stage)
Special Citation
Eldritch Theatre
This news story is unrelated to Intermission’s partnered content. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.
WRITTEN BY
Liam Donovan
Liam is Intermission’s senior editor. He lives in Toronto. His Substack newsletter is available at loamdonovan.substack.com.
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