2026-27 Season

Leading Sponsor

Logo of Cambium Consulting & Engineering with a stylized tree and sun in black and gray.

Season Sponsors

Schilling Financial logo in black and white with stylized 'S' and text
Logo for Peterborough Optometric featuring a stylized eye design with the text 'Peterborough optometric'.
Logo for East City Builders with gray and black text and a stylized gray E.
Logo for kawarthaNOW.com with large gray 'kN' letters, black text 'kawarthaNOW.com', and gray text 'A QUID NOVIS PRODUCTION' underneath.

Government Supporters

Gray circular logo with a stylized black D inside and the text 'Delta Bingo Gaming' next to it.
Logo with the word 'peterborough' and three wavy lines above it.

MUSTARD

by Kat Sandler

What if your childhood imaginary friend never left?Mustard is a funny, wistful, and wildly creative play from one of our great Canadian playwrights.

Directed by Dahlia Katz, starring M. John Kennedy, Aurora Browne, Kris Siddiqi, Matt Schermann, Jason Gray, and Jayda Freeman.

Winner of the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play (2016).

Advisory: Strong coarse language, mature themes (violence, suicide, drug use), not for young children. Recommended for ages 16+.

Sun Oct 4, 2026
Showtime: 7:00 pm

A staged reading. 

Market Hall, Peterborough

CASEY AND DIANA

by Nick Green

In 1991, Princess Diana visited Casey House, Toronto's first AIDS hospice. What happened next would change the world…

Directed by Andrew Kushnir. Cast includes Sean Arbuckle and Linda Kash.

One of the most produced plays in Canada in the past two years makes its Peterborough debut.

"An incredibly moving and deeply accomplished play… The most moving Canadian play of the year." — Toronto Star

Sun Nov 15, 2026
Showtime: 7:00 pm 

A staged reading. 

Market Hall, Peterborough

PRESENTED BY:

THE NONSENSE CLUB

by Dreda Blow and Brad Brackenridge

A family holiday production at Market Hall. Directed by Mark Wallace, featuring Susan Newman and Rob Fortin.

Welcome to the wild, wonderful world of Edward Lear! Peterborough theatre artists Dreda and Brad present their homegrown homage to the whimsical nonsense stories of Edward Lear like The Owl and the Pussycat. Full of dancing, puppetry, music, and sheer wonder.

Dec 9-13, 2026
Showtime: Times vary

Market Hall, Peterborough

PRESENTED BY:

MONKS

Written and Performed by Annie Luján and Veronica Hortigüela

A madcap production at Market Hall 

Two monks, 1 donkey, and a million lentils, what could go wrong? The clown-inspired phenomenon comes to Market Hall, fresh off the Edinburgh Festival and a month at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre.

Winner of the Best New Canadian Work for 2025 by the Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards.

Advisory: 18+. If you are allergic to lentils, you must not attend.

“Monks has the makings of Canadian theatre’s next big thing, destined for greatness.” – Globe & Mail

Jan 21, 22, 24, 2027
Showtimes:

Thurs Jan 21, 7pm
Fri Jan 22, 7pm
Sun Jan 23, 2pm

Market Hall, Peterborough

PRESENTED BY:

Feb 22-28, 2027.

FESTIVAL SPONSORS:

ON THIN ICE

by Drew Hayden Taylor

Part of the Brand New Stages Festival.
Presented in partnership with Public Energy.

A car cracks through the ice. A freezing couple seek shelter at a cottage. But nothing is quite as it seems…

A new mystery comedy thriller set at remote cottage in winter, by award-winning Curve Lake playwright Drew Hayden Taylor.

Cast and creative team to be announced.

Premiered at Magnus Theatre in 2026.

Thurs Feb 25, 2027
Showtime: 7:00 pm

A staged reading. 

Market Hall, Peterborough

YOU, ALWAYS

by Erin Shields

Part of the Brand New Stages Festival

Two sisters. 50 years of shared memories. An ode to sisterhood from award-winning playwright Erin Shields.

Set across decades of memories, we meet two sisters and see the bond they share based on love, rivalry, and the kind of honestly only a sibling can deliver.

Advisory: Mature themes (eating disorder, assisted suicide).

Cast and creative team to be announced.

Premiered at Crow’s Theatre in 2026.

Sun Feb 28, 2027
Showtime: 7:00 pm

A staged reading. 

Market Hall, Peterborough

PRESENTED BY:

THE MYTH OF
THE OSTRICH

by Matt Murray

An outrageous comedic production.

Sometimes a brownie is more than just a brownie. - Rumi

When two very different mothers meet to chat about what their teenagers might be up to, a small misunderstanding spirals into a hilariously unpredictable day. One of the funniest plays you’ll ever see…

Cast and creative team to be announced.

“Delivers more consistent laughs than I’ve had at the theatre in a long time!” – CBC

Apr 21-25, 2027
Showtimes vary:

Wed Apr 21 - Sat Apr 24, 7:00 pm
Sat Apr 24 - Sun Apr 25, 2:00 pm

Market Hall, Peterborough

JABBER

by Marcus Youssef

A Muslim teenager and a rebellious outsider form an unlikely friendship that will put everything they've been taught to the test. Thumbs up, or thumbs down?

Jabber has been performed across Canada and internationally, winning Berlin's Ikarus prize. Marcus Youssef is the winner of Canada’s most prestigious theatre award, the Siminovitch Prize.

Cast and creative team to be announced. Ages 12+.

Sun June 13, 2027
Showtime: 7:00 pm
A staged reading. 

Market Hall, Peterborough

PRESENTED BY:

Leading Sponsor

Logo of Cambium Consulting & Engineering with a stylized tree and sun in black and gray.

Season Sponsors

Logo for Peterborough Optometric featuring a stylized eye design with the text 'Peterborough optometric'.
Schilling Financial logo in black and white with stylized 'S' and text
Logo for East City Builders with gray and black text and a stylized gray E.
Logo for kawarthaNOW.com with large gray 'kN' letters, black text 'kawarthaNOW.com', and gray text 'A QUID NOVIS PRODUCTION' underneath.

Government Partners

Logo with the word 'peterborough' and three wavy lines above it.
Gray circular logo with a stylized black D inside and the text 'Delta Bingo Gaming' next to it.

Show Sponsors & Partners

The word 'SANDBAGGER' in bold with black speckles or particles dispersing around it on a white background.
Logos for Barrick Real Estate and Royal LePage ProALLIANCE Realty
Logo for Lakefield College School with the tagline 'Like no other'
Logo for Hed Law featuring black text with a leaf design, with name Nathan Higgins B.A. & J.D., successor firm to Douglas F. Walker.
Logo of the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough with a circular emblem containing the initials 'cfgp' and the organization's name beside it.
Sign with the logo and name 'Silver Bean Cafe' inside a black oval shape.

Help bring high-quality professional theatre to Peterborough. Your gift makes it happen!

Help bring high-quality professional theatre to Peterborough. Your gift makes it happen!

Give today and help New Stages create and produce high-quality, contemporary, professional theatre in Peterborough.