Theatre

The Top 10 Toronto theatre productions of 2025

Anne of Green Gables, Red Like Fruit, The Welkin, Kim’s Convenience and Bright Star top my list of the most memorable shows of the year

Glenn Sumi

23 Dec 2025 • 9 min read

Anne of Green Gables (clockwise from left), Red Like Fruit, The Welkin, The Christmas Market and Bright Star all made going to the theatre memorable in 2025. (Photo credits: David Hou, Riley Smith, Dahlia Katz; Kenya Parsa; and courtesy of Mirvish Productions)

I always look forward to compiling these year-end theatre lists.

When I consider the dozens of potential “best” shows (out of the roughly 180 I see), I always feel like the hours I spend seeing, thinking, talking and writing about theatre is time well spent.

These days — and I know I’m not alone — I’m finding my attention span shrinking. Maybe it’s because of all those three-minute reels we’ve become used to scrolling through on our phones. Fun and distracting, yes, but also exhausting and ultimately not very satisfying.

So it’s a relief, and a privilege, to get to go to the theatre and spend 90 or 130 minutes focused on one thing. It might not all work — and many much-anticipated shows this year didn’t — but what you’re seeing onstage is the work of dozens of people. Live theatre is not the result of AI or chatbots or algorithms but the fruits of genuine artistic effort and imagination.

Here are 10 productions from Toronto and the major surrounding festivals that affected me the most. I’ve included other shows I loved, as well as terrific remounts/extensions (same production, different venue or cast), at the end.

Caroline Toal (left) and Sarah Dodd helped make the trip to Green Gables unforgettable. *Photo by David Hou*

1. Anne of Green Gables

Stratford Festival, April 25 to November 16

Did anyone expect an adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved classic to become one of the most inventive and exciting plays of the year? Or that Howland Co. mainstay Caroline Toal had it in her to convincingly capture Anne-with-an-E’s indomitable spirit? Writer/director Kat Sandler and the Stratford Festival obviously had faith in both things, and proved it in a production brimming with imagination — a major theme in the show. Sandler’s additions, especially in the bold and playful second act, showed how it’s possible to take a familiar story and refashion it for a contemporary audience. The ensemble, full of veterans and gifted emerging artists, seemed energized by the process. So were we. Only question: remount when and where? See my review here.

Michelle Monteith and David Patrick Flemming explored societal biases in *Red Like Fruit. Photo by Dahlia Katz*

2. Red Like Fruit

2b theatre/Luminato/Soulpepper, May 28 to June 15

In Hannah Moscovitch’s bracing and defiantly original play, a journalist (Michelle Monteith) sat back and watched as a man (David Patrick Fleming) read out, word for word, her investigation into a case of domestic abuse. It took a while to get used to the play’s rhythms and spare presentational style, coolly directed by Christian Barry. But at about the 2/3 mark, the creators’ intent snapped into place with disturbing force and clarity. This wasn’t an easy play to experience, but as stories of abuse, corruption and gaslighting continue to make headlines, it felt essential — and necessary. See my review here.