Dora Awards 2026 nominations: snubs and surprises

Dance Nation, Rogers v. Rogers, Le malentendu (The Misunderstanding), Through the Eyes of God, The Green Line and Octet are among the most-nominated shows at this year’s Dora Mavor Moore Awards, announced at a live press conference this morning at the Elgin Theatre.

The ceremony, recognizing a full year of summer-to-spring productions, will take place on June 29 at Meridian Hall, hosted by actor Amaka Umeh, who incidentally was nominated for two Doras in the acting ensembles for Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary and Narnia.

While the awards, administered by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, or TAPA, are voted on by various Dora juries, the general public can vote on Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award for their favourite production, named after the late great theatre writer and my much-missed colleague and friend at NOW Magazine. You can vote here until until Monday, June 22. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony.

In all, the jurors selected some worthy shows this year. Keep in mind that Mirvish Productions is not part of TAPA, which explains why shows like & Juliet, Kimberly Akimbo and Tell Tale Harbour are not on this list, which you can find at the end of the article.

That said, here, with a focus on theatre, are some Dora nomination surprises and snubs:

Surprise: bahia watson x2

Watson made my list of the Top 10 artists of 2025 for her impressive and very different performances in The Welkin and The Comeuppance. The General Theatre Dora jurors singled out her work for the former and for her sensitive performance in this year’s Summer and Smoke.

The General Theatre division acting category — as per recent awards, ungendered and not specified by lead or supporting — was filled with some great choices: Amanda Cordner (How to Catch Creation), Béatrice René-Décarie (Le malentendu (The Misunderstanding)), Gabriella Sundar Singh (Through the Eyes of God), Michelle Monteith, especially notable because she doesn’t have many lines in Red Like Fruit, Ordena Stephens-Thompson (The Neighbours) and Sophia Walker (Slave Play).

Sundar Singh and Walker were both recognized recently by the Toronto Theatre Critics Awards in the categories of Best Solo Performance in a Play or Musical and Best Lead Performance in a Play.

That said, there were some notable omissions, including...

Snubs: veteran actors Tom Rooney and Clare Coulter, and more

I figured Rooney’s bravura performance in the otherwise much-nominated Rogers v. Rogers would have been acknowledged. Likewise, Coulter’s layered and deeply-felt performance in Queen Maeve, a play that was largely ignored by the jurors.

Other omissions include Tony Nappo for The Neighbours (he was as essential and as powerful as Stephens-Thompson) and Hailey Gillis and Gray Powell from the completely shut-out A Doll’s House.

Surprise: Two actors can be an ensemble

Maev Beaty and Liisa Repo-Martell delivered exquisite work in You, Always, but was either a lead? Not really. I suppose they were co-leads. They were submitted as an ensemble by producer Canadian Stage, and the Dora jurors checked their boxes in that category, where they’re joined by the terrific ensembles for Bremen Town, Enormity, Girl and the Earthquake in Her Lungs, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary and The Welkin.