Frontmezzjunkies Reports: Here For Now Announces Their 2026 Season

I only started wandering into Here For Now’s productions this past summer in Stratford, but it took about ten minutes for me to realize this company is doing something rare: making theatre that feels alive. So when they announced their 2026 season — running April 16 to December 23 — I felt that familiar jolt of excitement. This is a company that champions new work with sincerity and ferocity, and next year’s slate is a bold continuation of that mission: boundary-pushing playwrights, adventurous directors, and a spirit of artistic curiosity that runs like a current through everything they touch.

“As a company devoted to new work, it matters to me that we make space for plays that push boundaries and spark curiosity. Theatre should be alive, thrilling, and ever-evolving — a place where we challenge our narratives and discover new ways of seeing. I believe that this is exactly what next year’s playbill will do, and I can’t wait to share it with you.” – Fiona Mongillo, Artistic Director

🌱 SPRING

The Surrogate

By Mohsin Zaidi | Directed by Christopher Manousos
World Premiere | April 16–26, 2026 | Opens April 17
A Here For Now Theatre production in association with Crow’s Theatre, House and Body, and b current Performing Arts.

Jake and Sameer have spent years preparing for this moment — the birth of their first child. But when their surrogate, Marya, is admitted to the hospital with unexpected complications, the couple is forced into a long night of impossible questions: Who gets to decide what makes a family? And at what cost?

From award-winning writer Mohsin Zaidi (A Dutiful Boy), this gripping debut drama dives into privilege, agency, and the messy beauty of modern family-making.

🌞 SUMMER SEASON

I Am An Island

By Julia Lederer | Directed by Fiona Mongillo
World Premiere | May 27–June 7, 2026 | Opening May 29

May lives on a tiny island surrounded by friends, family, and the occasional martini-swilling ghost. The problem? The island is sinking — and no one will listen.

Surreal, comic, and unexpectedly heartbreaking, I Am An Island follows May’s fight to be heard as her world slips beneath the waves. From the author of HFN’s 2024 smash hit With Love and a Major Organ.

Love Us Most

By Sara Farb | Directed by Sabryn Rock
World Premiere | June 17–28, 2026 | Opening June 19

What’s it really like to be a woman in the theatre? Step into the dressing room with King Lear’s three leading ladies as they battle ageism, racism, and the exhausting persistence of sexism — all while trying to get through a five-act tragedy.

A biting, hilariously honest look behind the curtain at an industry that still hasn’t caught up.

Ghosts of My House

By Susanna Fournier | Directed by Leora Morris
World Premiere | July 8–19, 2026 | Opening July 10

Is this a family dinner or a Greek tragedy?

A mother and her three daughters gather to mark an anniversary, only to discover the past has other plans. Inspired (and haunted) by Agamemnon, this raw, darkly funny drama explores grief, memory, and the stories women inherit — and the ancient archetypes that refuse to rest.

Early Genius

By Steve Ross | Directed by Sheila McCarthy
World Premiere | July 29–August 9, 2026 | Opening July 31

Four children. All under eight. All with genius-level IQs.

Enter one substitute teacher. In way over his head.

From fan favourite Steve Ross — “I was asked to write a children’s play and wondered what would happen if it wasn’t for children, but about them” — comes a fast, funny, and delightfully chaotic new comedy. The breakout hit of HFN’s 2025 reading series!

Suzannah

By Jon Fosse (in English translation)

Directed by Peter Hinton-Davis

Canadian Premiere | August 19–20, 2026 | Opening August 20

From Nobel Laureate Jon Fosse comes a luminous, intimate portrait of Henrik Ibsen’s remarkable wife. Three Suzannahs — young, middle-aged, and old — share the stage, weaving longing, wit, memory, and loss into a haunting theatrical triptych.

A rare English-language premiere and a major event for HFN audiences.

🍂 FALL

As Above

By Christine Quintana | Directed by Marie Farsi
Ontario Premiere | October 28–November 8, 2026 | Opening October 30

Beneath the forest floor, mycelial networks knit communities together — sharing, sustaining, healing.

Jo once studied this living web. Now, eight years sober and haunted by grief, she must determine whether repair is still possible in her own fractured life.

A luminous, suspenseful drama where science meets spirit, and where regeneration demands its own kind of courage.

🎄 CHRISTMAS

The Gift Exchange

By Meghan Gardiner | Directed by Sara-Jeanne Hosie
World Premiere | December 9–23, 2026 | Opening December 11

When 11-year-old Phoebe moves from Saltspring Island to Vancouver, she’s determined to fit in — until a chaotic classroom, an over-caffeinated teacher, and a high-stakes holiday gift exchange throw everything off course.

Big-hearted, hilarious, and full of seasonal sparkle, The Gift Exchange is a feel-good holiday comedy for ages 8+.

✨ LIMITED ENGAGEMENTS SERIES

Dora Maar

Written & Performed by Daniela Vlaskalic
June 21–25, 2026

In 1935 Paris, the brilliant photographer Dora Maar meets Pablo Picasso. Attraction sharpens, obsession deepens, and art becomes the battlefield. A poetic, incisive solo work about the cost of love, surrealism, and the public life of private women.

Hypothetical Baby

Written & Performed by Rachel Cairns
September 2–13, 2026

Rachel Cairns mixes data, autobiography, and dark humour in this raw, unflinching, and often laugh-out-loud exploration of abortion, choice, loss, and the stories we never tell aloud.

A searingly honest solo performance from one of Canada’s most original voices (The Globe & Mail).