YAGA to Open at Shadow Theatre in Edmonton

Edmonton’s Shadow Theatre will open its 2026–27 season with Kat Sandler’s Yaga, running October 14 through November 1 at The Varscona Theatre.

The production marks Shadow Theatre’s first season under new Artistic Director Lana Michelle Hughes, who also directs the play.

A genre-bending adult fairy tale and comic thriller, Yaga reimagines Baba Yaga as a seductive, intelligent modern woman driven by morally ambiguous motives.

The play follows a detective who travels to a small, isolated town to investigate the disappearance of the young heir to a yogurt empire. Joined by an apprehensive local sheriff, he begins examining the case’s possible connection to stories about an old witch.

A university professor with a taste for younger men and an assortment of curious characters become part of a mystery involving secret lives, ancient magic and multiple suspects.

The production interrogates how stories about Baba Yaga have historically been shaped by men while giving the mythic figure the opportunity to reclaim her own narrative.

“Sandler has triumphantly reclaimed the evil-woman myth,” wrote Martin Morrow in The Globe and Mail. “Move over, Wicked and Maleficent, and welcome Yaga to the sisterhood.”

N Girgis, Emily Howard and Maxwell Vesely will appear in the production.

The creative team includes Costume Designer Kat Evans, sound designer Christ Scott, set designer Cindy Zuby, lighting designer Even Gilchrist, fight and intimacy director Morgan Yamada and stage manager Tim Yakimec.

“When I began building our 2026–27 season, I knew I wanted to celebrate Canadian stories that were fearless, moving, and deeply human,” Hughes said. “The result is a season that reflects the richness of this country: its humor, its complexity, its communities, and the relationships that shape us.”

“Whether through myth, first love, personal memories, or a 50-year marriage, each play reminds us that the most powerful stories are often the ones closest to home,” she continued. “At their heart they are stories about our desire to be seen, accepted, and connected.”

An eight-episode screen adaptation of Yaga will begin streaming on Crave on October 23. The series, featuring Carrie-Anne Moss and Hudson Williams, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 17.