The Shaw Festival Announces its 2025 Show Line-Up

– Curtain closes on the Royal George Theatre after the last performance of A Christmas Carol

Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (August 2024) — Today Artistic Director Tim Carroll revealed the Shaw Festival playbill for next season. Beginning April 9, 2025, the Festival’s upcoming season kicks off with a journey back to Narnia in a new adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The season continues with long-beloved favourites and farces; a thrilling murder mystery or two, a timeless toe-tapping musical, one of Shaw’s most satisfyingly funny and unsettling plays; rejuvenated classics, fresh voices, a Canadian premiere and a feast of entertainment in the Spiegeltent.

“We’re really excited to have the chance to continue showcasing all the talents of The Shaw company and the different ways that we bring art to life,” said Artistic Director Tim Carroll. “We’ve made it a focus this season to engage and interact with our audience a bit more as well, because it’s good for the spirit.

“With this new season, comes a change to our performance times. All matinees will now start at 1 p.m. and evening shows will now start at 7 p.m., rather than 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. This is in response to a lot of conversations and some quiet research.”

“For decades, our beloved faux-Edwardian Royal George Theatre has needed a rebuild, due to its failing foundation, and that issue cannot be further mitigated. At the conclusion of our 2025 rendition of A Christmas Carol, the George will close its doors on this incarnation,” announced Tim Jennings, The Shaw’s executive director. “Working with governments, we hope to be able to rebuild this jewel box theatre with a future of access and sustainability in mind. Our intention is not to change the feel of our Royal George Theatre, rather we hope only to amplify this treasured space with 21st-century amenities and technology, allowing it to be accessible to every Shaw patron for many years to come and to improve the overall Shaw experience for patrons and artists alike.”

The Shaw Festival’s 63rd season begins on April 9 and runs until December 21.

FESTIVAL THEATRE

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE Co-Adapted for the stage by Selma Dimitrijevic and Tim Carroll Based on the novel by C.S. Lewis

Directed by Selma Dimitrijevic
Previews: April 9 Closes: October 4

Step through the wardrobe and enter a magical world of breathtaking battles, mythical creatures, and unforgettable characters in a new adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s classic story about love, redemption, loyalty, and what it takes to be a hero. Guided by the noble lion Aslan, the Pevensie

children – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy – embark on a quest to free Narnia from the White Witch’s eternal winter and restore peace to the enchanted land. This production marks the culmination of the Narnia cycle at the Shaw Festival.

ANYTHING GOES
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Original Book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse New Book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman

Directed and choreographed by Kimberley Rampersad
Previews: May 2 Closes: October 4

Lovers of tap dance take note. This fresh revival of Cole Porter’s timeless tale of romance, intrigue, and high-seas hijinks brims with spectacular dance numbers and non-stop laughter. Reno Sweeney, a spirited nightclub singer, navigates love triangles, mistaken identities, and comical misunderstandings on a transatlantic voyage aboard the S.S. American. Featuring beloved songs like “It’s De-Lovely,” “You’re the Top,” and the showstopping title number “Anything Goes.”

WAIT UNTIL DARK By Frederick Knott Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher

Directed by Sanjay Talwar Previews: June 25

Closes: October 5

In a New York apartment, darkness and light face off in this suspense-filled thriller. Susan, a young woman who recently lost her sight, becomes the target of a ruthless gang of criminals. As darkness falls, she must use all her wits to survive this heart-stopping, high-stakes game of cat and mouse.

ROYAL GEORGE THEATRE

TONS OF MONEY
By Will Evans and Valentine

Directed by Eda Holmes

Previews: April 11 Closes: October 5

To escape the clutches of his creditors, failed inventor Aubrey Allington devises a scheme to fake his own death, then assume the identity of his long-lost cousin – all to inherit tons of money. This madcap, fast-moving farce will have you in stitches from start to finish.

MAJOR BARBARA By Bernard Shaw

Directed by Peter Hinton-Davis

Previews: June 1 Closes: October 5

Bursting with Shaw’s inimitable wit and incisive dialogue, idealism, and reality clash in this three-act social satire. Salvation Army officer Barbara Undershaft could not be more different from her estranged, wealthy, arms manufacturer father. As their worlds collide, she finds all her beliefs on wealth, poverty, and redemption tested to the breaking point. As provocative as it was in 1907, this play continues to resonate and raise questions about justice, morality, and the truth of human nature.

MURDER-ON-THE-LAKE
A Spontaneous Theatre Creation
By Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak

Directed by Rebecca Northan
Previews: July 26 Closes: October 4

A shocking murder has rocked the tranquil town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the dastardly crime can only be solved with the assistance of a great detective – randomly chosen from the audience. This fresh new spin on the whodunit will have the entire theatre deducing who had the means, motive, and opportunity from the moment the curtain rises. A different show and endgame at every performance. Brought to you by the creators of the 2023 smash hit, The Game of Love and Chance.

JACKIE MAXWELL STUDIO THEATRE

GNIT
By Will Eno

Directed by Tim Carroll
Previews: June 19 Closes: October 4

A rollicking and very cautionary tale about how the opposite of love is laziness, from the author

of the 2017 smash hit Middletown. Peter Gnit, a funny-enough but so-so specimen of humanity, embarks on a lifetime of bad decisions in search of his True Self, an ideal which is disintegrating even as he searches for it. An existential comedy, Gnit is a faithful, unfaithful, and willfully American reading of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, a 19th-century Norwegian play which is famous for all the wrong reasons.

BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY

By Pearl Cleage
Directed by Kimberley Rampersad
Previews: August 2 Closes: October 4

Angel, a struggling singer who has recently been fired from her gig at the Cotton Club, and her friends grapple with love, loss, and ambition. Set in the 1930s, this exhilarating drama throws five richly drawn characters into a dynamic story that captures the glamour and true essence of Harlem during its transformative Jazz era. A Canadian premiere.

SPIEGELTENT

DEAR LIAR
By Jerome Kilty
Adapted from the correspondence between Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell

Bernard Shaw was besotted with – and infuriated by – the great actress Stella Tanner, better known by her stage name, Mrs. Patrick Campbell. This witty and moving two-hander follows their long-lasting relationship through the letters they wrote to one another and some of the scenes that Shaw wrote for his Stella. Two renowned artists find, lose, and find each other again through dueling wits, hidden longings, and the shared pain of a lifetime in the theatre.

Previews: May 18 Closes: September 27

Cabarets, concerts, singing and dancing, laughter, and more in 2025!

Details to be announced at a later date.

HOLIDAY SEASON

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
By Charles Dickens
Adapted and originally directed by Tim Carroll

Directed by Tim Carroll
Royal George Theatre
Previews: November 1 Closes: December 21

Ebenezer Scrooge returns! The Shaw’s charming annual production of the beloved classic A Christmas Carol will once again warm the cockles of even the most frigid of hearts and remind audiences what the holidays are really all about.

Irving Berlin’s

WHITE CHRISTMAS
Based on the Paramount Pictures Film
Written For the Screen by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank

MUSIC AND LYRICS BY IRVING BERLIN BOOK BY DAVID IVES and PAUL BLAKE Original stage production directed by WALTER BOBBIE Orchestrations by Larry Blank

Vocal and Dance Arrangements by Bruce Pomahac
Directed by Kate Hennig
Festival Theatre
Previews: November 7 Closes: December 21

Back by popular demand! Irving Berlin’s heartwarming holiday musical returns to The Shaw’s Festival Theatre. Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, former soldiers turned successful song-and-dance duo, follow sister act Betty and Judy Haynes to Pine Tree, Vermont. Together they put on a Christmas show to save the charming, but nearly bankrupt, Vermont Inn. Based on the uplifting, timeless film of the same name, this delightful adaptation features well-known songs like “Blue Skies,” “I Love a Piano,” “How Deep Is the Ocean” and the beloved title song, “White Christmas.”

More details about the Shaw Festival’s upcoming 2025 season, casts, and creative team will be announced in the coming weeks. For the latest updates, visit shawfest.com. Dates listed are subject to change.

Tickets to the 2025 season go on sale beginning November 2 for Friends of The Shaw and December 7 for the general public. Orders can be placed through the Box Office at 1-800-511- SHAW (7429) or online at shawfest.com. Patrons wishing to get front-of-the-line access to tickets can call 1-800-657-1106 x 2556 or visit shawfest.com to become Friends of The Shaw.