Frontmezzjunkies reports: Canadian premieres, urgent new voices, and the return of Dark Day Cabarets headline ICARUS Theatre’s 2026/27 season

By Ross

Some theatre companies earn your attention through scale. Others earn it through instinct. Over the past few years, ICARUS Theatre has built a reputation for programming contemporary plays that provoke conversation long after the curtain call, tackling difficult questions with unwavering energy and a willingness to embrace risk. Their newly announced 2026/27 season feels like a natural extension of that identity, while also signalling a company entering an exciting new phase of growth.

Featuring a Canadian premiere, a Toronto premiere of a celebrated Canadian work, and the return of their popular Dark Day Cabarets, the season places women’s stories firmly at its centre. Across three productions, audiences will encounter astronauts confronting humanity’s future, young women navigating trauma and desire, and a video game developer pulled into the unsettling realities of online culture. Together, the lineup promises an examination of connection, identity, power, and belonging through some of the most exciting contemporary writing around today.

The season begins in September with the Canadian premiere of Walden by Amy Berryman, directed by Erik Richards and starring Charlotte Dennis, Emily Anne Corcoran, and Oshen Aoun at the Theatre Centre BMO Incubator. Fresh from its acclaimed Off-Broadway run (you can read my review of that production here), the play imagines a near future where Earth is becoming increasingly uninhabitable and humanity’s future may lie beyond the planet itself.

At the centre of the story are twin sisters Cassie and Stella. After returning from a year-long lunar mission, Cassie reunites with Stella, who has remained on Earth and built a life of her own. As climate collapse looms ever closer, the sisters are forced to confront impossible choices about duty, survival, family, and the future of the human race. What makes the premise especially compelling is its emotional intimacy. Beneath the science fiction framework lies a deeply human story about love, separation, and the painful decisions that arise when two people imagine radically different futures.

Richards has spoken about being drawn to the play’s unsettling proximity to our own reality, describing a world only a few steps removed from the one we currently inhabit. With another heatwave affecting parts of England and Europe this month, the future Berryman imagines feels increasingly plausible. That tension between the personal and the planetary feels like fertile territory for a company that thrives on contemporary urgency.

In November, ICARUS turns its attention to Liliana Padilla‘s acclaimed How to Defend Yourself, directed by Emily Anne Corcoran. After an off-Broadway premiere at NYTW (you can read my review of that production here), the play arrives in Toronto with a cast that includes Parastoo Amanzadeh, Paula Goldie, Anthony Goncharov, Sasha Khan, Heeyun Park (박희윤), Samel Sunil, and Kaeley Jade Wiebe.

Set in the aftermath of a sexual assault within a college sorority, the play follows several young students who gather for a series of self-defence workshops. What begins as practical instruction quickly evolves into something far more complex as the participants grapple with anger, fear, shame, desire, vulnerability, and the realities of navigating a world shaped by unequal expectations and persistent threats.

Corcoran describes the piece as a celebration of young women standing at the edge of adulthood, simultaneously exhilarated and terrified by what lies ahead. The play’s exploration of bodily autonomy, personal safety, and the messy contradictions of desire has earned it a devoted following since its debut, and it feels particularly well suited to ICARUS‘s commitment to work that sparks discussion both inside and outside the theatre.

The season concludes in February with the Toronto premiere of Mob by Catherine-Anne Toupin, translated by Chris Campbell and directed by Artistic Director Anthony Goncharov. The production stars Krystina Bojanowski as Sophie, a video game developer whose life begins to unravel after she is pushed out of her job.

Seeking escape from her anger and humiliation, Sophie retreats to a remote bed and breakfast where she encounters an unlikely new connection. As relationships develop and identities become increasingly uncertain, the play delves into the darker corners of internet culture, examining online harassment, anonymity, and the ways people behave when shielded by screens.

Having already enjoyed successful runs across Canada, Mob arrives in Toronto carrying a reputation as a tense and provocative thriller. Goncharov’s comments about growing up alongside internet culture suggest a deeply personal connection to the material, and the play’s examination of digital cruelty feels especially timely as online spaces continue to shape our public and private lives.

Alongside the theatrical offerings, audiences can also look forward to the return of Dark Day Cabarets, presented in association with Crow’s Theatre. Running monthly from September through December, the series will once again showcase some of Toronto’s finest musical theatre performers backed by a live band. Equal parts concert, celebration, and community gathering, the cabarets have become a favourite fixture within the company’s programming.

What excites me most about this season is not simply the individual productions, but the conversation that seems to connect them. Whether looking toward the future of humanity, examining the realities of gendered violence, or navigating the hidden dangers of online life, each play places people at a crossroads where certainty has vanished, and difficult choices remain. For a company that has built its identity around contemporary stories and passionate debate, the 2026/27 season feels like an invitation to lean into uncertainty, ask difficult questions, and search for connection in a world that often feels increasingly fragmented.