The Top 10 Toronto theatre artists of 2025 — plus the year’s breakthrough talents
Kaylee Harwood, bahia watson, Arkady Spivak, Ted Dykstra, Vanessa Sears and George Krissa top my list of the year’s big scene makers
I always look forward to compiling this annual list of the year’s stand-out Toronto theatre artists. These choices are personal and highly subjective. However, continuing the tradition begun by my late NOW Magazine colleague Jon Kaplan, artists must have been involved in at least two productions that played Toronto in the past calendar year.
Because there’s so much talent in this city, I’ve included another 10 artists after the first list. And I’ve also singled out some people who broke through to a new level of recognition or artistry this year. Note: I didn’t see everything at the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, so of course there are big omissions.
Here, in alphabetical order, are the people who made going to the theatre a pleasure in 2025.