Centaur Theatre to Present WINTERWORKS 2026 Festival

WinterWorks, Centaur Theatre's festival dedicated to adventurous, experimental, and cutting-edge performance, will return February 4–22, 2026. Formerly known as the Wildside Festival, WinterWorks has evolved into a dynamic showcase of what's next in Canadian performance—bringing together fully realized productions by established artists alongside Pay-What-You-Can readings by exciting emerging voices.

With accessible ticket prices, festival passes, and a program that spans dance-theatre, live electronic music, immersive technology, and daring new writing, WinterWorks is a must-see event for audiences eager to experience the future of theatre.

“I think of WinterWorks as a perfect tasting menu of theatrical delicacies, offering Montrealers the very best of ambitious and boundary-pushing performance. From lovers of dance-theatre and live techno music to emerging playwrighting voices and even VR headsets, WinterWorks is sure to excite, amaze, and inspire.”
— Rebecca Gibian, WinterWorks Curator

Following last year's record-breaking attendance and META nominations for both of our 2025 mainstage productions, including Resurrection by Dane Stewart for Outstanding INDIE production, WinterWorks 2026 proudly presents four new works. This season features two fully realized productions and two Pay-What-You-Can staged readings. Each piece can be enjoyed independently, or audiences may choose a festival-style double feature, with readings scheduled immediately before or after mainstage performances.

FREQUENCIES

February 4–8, 2026
Produced by HEIST

Using live electronic music, virtual reality and storytelling, musician and performer Aaron Collier illuminates a connection between himself and his brother, who died 7 years before he was born.

Launching the festival is FREQUENCIES - an award-winning mixed-reality performance that blends live electronic music, virtual reality, and intimate autobiographical storytelling.

Musician and performer Aaron Collier explores a profound connection to his brother, who died seven years before Collier was born. Part techno concert, part confessional, Frequencies invites audiences into a hypnotic, emotionally charged world where memory, grief, and imagination collide.

Written by Aaron Collier with Francesca Ekwuyasi and Stewart Legere, directed by Ann-Marie Kerr, and performed by Collier alongside Richie Wilcox, the production uses VR technology to augment the live performance—allowing audiences to experience the show both onstage and through immersive digital scenography.

This critically acclaimed production has toured coast to coast, appeared in the National Arts Centre's 2021 digital season, and was featured on CBC Ideas in conversation with leading Canadian physicists.

“…so smart and so beautiful it will charm your socks off.”
— Prachi Kamble, The Vancouver Arts Review

“…daringly original and unlike anything I had ever seen.”
— Jordan Pike, Kingston Theatre Alliance

PWYC STAGED READING: HOLES

February 8, 2026 (before Frequencies)

Holes explores how we protect ourselves, and those we love, in a world that offers little protection in return.

For audiences eager for a double feature, WinterWorks presents a Pay-What-You-Can staged reading of HOLES by emerging, award-winning playwright Jojo O'Neil.

A darkly funny and deeply moving play about madness, love, and survival, Holes follows Andrew, an amnesiac standing moments before jumping in front of a speeding subway train. With the help of his not-so-helpful schizophrenic girlfriend, Pat, Andrew searches through fractured memories to understand how—and why—he ended up here.

Directed by Christopher Morris(Human Cargo), Holes explores how we protect ourselves, and those we love, in a world that offers little protection in return.

THE HEALING

February 17–22, 2026

A multi-sensory, deeply embodied experience, The Healing deconstructs traditional narrative forms to ask: What do we inherit from others—and what must we confront within ourselves to truly release our past?

The festival's second full production is THE HEALING - an immersive contemporary dance-theatre work by Marie Barlizo, winner of the 2022 Jovette Marchessault Award for Playwriting.

Inspired by Barlizo's Filipino-Chinese heritage and personal history, The Healing is a visceral coming-of-age story directed by Aaron Jan and choreographed by Hanna Kiel. Through raw, intimate scenes, the work follows Marie as she navigates life with an alcoholic and mentally ill father, builds her own adult life, and later confronts the inheritance of fear, addiction, and paranoia as she becomes a parent herself.

PWYC STAGED READING: LAY DOWN ALL DOGS

Saturday, February 22, 2026 at 4pm

After the death of their father, two sisters must decide how far they will go to protect their home when a stranger appears on their doorstep with a secret that could cause them to lose everything.

Presented before the Saturday evening performance of The Healing

WinterWorks concludes with a Pay-What-You-Can staged reading of LAY DOWN ALL DOGS by Sarah Danielle Pitman (National Theatre School, Playwriting), directed by Carter Gulseth.

The play follows sisters Jenna and Haven, reunited to settle their late father's estate. While Jenna maintains the family's aging windmill, Haven obsessively builds a rain machine to combat the surrounding drought. When a stranger arrives with a dangerous secret, the sisters must confront what they're willing to sacrifice to survive.

Lay Down All Dogs is a gripping meditation on legacy, survival, and whether blood truly proves thicker than water in times of crisis.

CONFABULATION: THE SHORTEST STORY

February 14, 2026

Stories, quick as we can tell them.