Program Set for 47th Annual RHUBARB! FESTIVAL At Buddies In Bad Times Theatre

Canada's oldest theatre festival for experimental new work is back this February with Rhubarb! 47. Festival Director Ludmylla Reis has curated a group of 20+ artists to present raw, unhinged, and adventurous performance work that can only be experienced at Buddies in Bad Times.

Rhubarb! artists share new ways to look at art, and invite audiences to be part of it. Here are the artists of Rhubarb! 47, with programming details and tickets to be launched in mid-January:

Aiden Robert Bruce + Rachel Rusonik + Sara Starling; Aliyah Aziz; Bronwyn Keough; Cass Cervi + James Jordan; Dasha Plett + Gislina Patterson (We Quit Theatre); Eris Thomas with Other Hearts; Jessie Walker + Oliver Pitschner + Sophie Parisi; jonnie lombard; Katie Clarke; Lucy Coren; Ludmylla Reis; Macarena Coronado; Morgan-Paige Melbourne + En Tze Loh; and River Oliveira + Max Cameron Fearon.

Each year Rhubarb! invites international touring work with major impact across the globe in terms of queer representation, to present in dialogue with the festival's new Canadian works. This year, critically-acclaimed touring work TESTO from UK artist Wet Mess joins the lineup.

Said Festival Director Ludmylla Reis: "Rhubarb! 47 is titled Hybrid Creatures, as the program has artists mixing and matching odd styles, themes, approaches, and dreams, to generate a being that comes to life on its own. This year, I'm very excited to experience their experiments, witness their artistic detours and engage in different ways to talk about it with each other. Our festival experimentation this year is highly concentrated in the inclusion of an Industry Series, which culminates in a twelve-hour day of collective engagement, art exploration, and audience experimentation. Our closing After Dark event brings the energy up, featuring an alternative music fest. I can't wait to see what hybrids they make and what creatures we will become after four full days at Buddies in Bad Times."

Tickets and full programming will be launched on January 15, visit https://buddiesinbadtimes.com/show/rhubarb-festival-2026/ to learn more.

PLUS! Don't miss:

Rhubarb! After Dark at Tallulah's Cabaret
Rhubarb! After Dark is creative late-night programming that happens at Buddies after Friday and Saturday Rhubarb! performances.

From We Quit Theatre
Men Explain Things to Us... and We Like It!

A live-streamed talk show where men explain things to us... and we like it! Conceived in the spirit and performed in the style of 1970's public access TV, Men Explain Things to Us... and We Like It! features excessively gendered hosts Dasha Plett and Gislina Patterson interviewing real men about topics they are passionate about. A tightrope walk of gender failure, Men Explain Things To Us... and We Like It! invites guests and audiences alike into the playful intimacy of gendered dynamics between trans men and trans women.

From GRRRL Spells
Wrath Month: Louder Than Pride

Wrath Month: Louder Than Pride is a QTBIPOC alternative music show, featuring gothic, punk, metal, and alternative bands and artists who are usually deemed too "weird," "scary," or "different" for mainstream and corporate-funded Pride month events. On this night, we bring back the riot and trade dance beats for a mosh pit!

The Rhubarb! 47 Industry Series: Free Public Events

The Rhubarb! 47 Industry Series is designed to connect presenters, producers, artists, and community members to discuss festival programming and the performing arts industry at large in the afternoon of Saturday, February 7.

Coffee Chats - Buddies brings the coffee and cake, you come to connect. Coffee Chats is a space to talk about festival programming or any thoughts the festival has sparked. Topics include:

Public Conversation on International Producing hosted with Generator,

Public Conversation On Cultural Diplomacy and the Canadian Touring Context hosted with SummerWorks.