This is the fourth in a series of Q&A Profiles of London area theatre companies and groups. Today, we profile the Grand Theatre, London’s premier professional theatre company.
Q. When was your company founded? By whom and why?
In 1934, the four amateur drama guilds in London, The London Drama League, The Half-Way House Players, The Meredith Players , and The Community Drama Guild, pooled their resources together to become London Little Theatre. With the amalgamation, London Little Theatre was able to afford to rent the Grand Theatre. In 1945, the London Little Theatre purchased the Grand Theatre building from Famous Players.
In 1971, London Little Theatre became a professional theatre company known as Theatre London.
In 1983, Theatre London changed its name to the present Grand Theatre.
Q. Is your company best described as professional or not-for-profit community theatre?
The Grand Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre company, known for world-class theatre created and built in London, Ontario. As southwestern Ontario’s premier producing theatre and one of the most beautiful theatre spaces in Canada, the company has deep ties to the community and to its artists, artisans, and technicians.
It is one of twenty-two Regional Theatres across Canada, typically the largest or most established company in an area, serving the dual role of bringing work and artists from the national or world stage to the region while also celebrating work and artists from the region.
The Grand Theatre is also ranked as a Category A theatre, one of twenty of Canada’s largest and highest budget theatres alongside Mirvish Productions, the National Arts Centre, and the Stratford Festival.
Q. What venue do you use to stage your productions?
The Grand Theatre, 471 Richmond St, London, Ontario.
Q. Does your company have a Mission or Statement of Purpose?
OUR VISION
The place to gather where world-class theatre thrives.
OUR MISSION
We create live professional theatre that gathers, inspires, and entertains audiences in London and beyond.
Q. Does your company have a Board of Directors and paid staff?
The Grand Theatre has a volunteer Board of Directors. The Grand Theatre Foundation has a volunteer board of directors. In a typical season, the Grand Theatre will work with one hundred or more professional guest artists, and approximately an equal number of production, technical, and administrative professionals and staff.
Q. Tell me about your 2025-2026 Season. Does it have any underlying theme?
The Grand Theatre’s 2025/26 season, titled “You Are Here”, invites theatregoers on a year-long trip full of visits to places they love, or have been dying to see. Stopping at unknown destinations along the way, unlocking delightful discoveries that they can’t wait to revisit.
In the plays this season, there is a theme of people trying to go it alone. But at their heart, these joyful plays are about quite the opposite. They are about the discoveries we make when we come together in community— the same way we do when we go to the theatre. The same way we do when we come to the Grand: the place to gather where world-class theatre thrives.
Q. What shows will you be staging this fall (September to December)? Tell me a little bit about each.
The Grand’s 2025/26 season will launch with the hilariously chaotic The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields & Jonathan Sayer, and directed by former Grand Theatre Artistic Director Dennis Garnhum, director of last year’s smash-hit comedy CLUE.
(Pictured: Company members in THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, 2024, The Citadel Theatre in partnership with Theatre Calgary and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Photo by Nanc Price.)
This will be followed by the wonderfully magical holiday hit, Disney’s Frozen, directed by Grand Theatre Artistic Director Rachel Peake, a co-production with Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre.
In the New Year, the Grand Theatre welcomes fresh beginnings with Primary Trust by Pulitzer-winning playwright Eboni Booth, a co-production with Crow’s Theatre.
In February, experience the star-studded musical drama Piaf/Dietrich by Daniel Große Boymann and Thomas Kahry, adapted by decorated Canadian playwright Erin Shields, intertwining the lives of Marlene Dietrich and Edith Piaf in a dazzling tribute.
Next, travel back to Victorian England with Oscar Wilde’s beloved comedy The Importance of Being Earnest.
Finally, land in the northeast tip of North America for the heartwarming and uplifting Come From Away, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning Canadian musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein.
And don’t forget about Newsies, this year’s Grand Theatre High School Project, Disney’s Newsies The Musical.
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Jack Feldman
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Based on the Disney Film written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White
Originally produced on Broadway by Disney Theatrical Productions
September 17 to September 27, 2025
Opening Night: Friday, September 19
Spriet Stage
Q. Do you have any thoughts about the London area theatre community and your place in it?
As one of Canada’s premier producing theatres and a vibrant cultural hub, the Grand Theatre delivers world-class productions that both engage and inspire, while fostering deep connections within our community.
We strive to be the cornerstone of entertainment in London, to support the artistic community and the development of theatre-makers, and to be a trusted place for communities to gather where the diversity of their lives is reflected. Our spaces offer a welcoming and accessible environment, intended to act as a hub within the community. We are committed to growing the number of local professional artists working on our productions, and to being a national teaching theatre working to correct imbalances in the industry by providing opportunities for artists from equity-denied groups.
The Grand Theatre and the City of London benefit from a vibrant collection of community theatre companies, many of which produce shows on the Grand’s Auburn Stage and connect with the Grand through initiatives designed to welcome and nurture the talented theatre artists who call London home. Artists in the Auburn gathers emerging and local artists for a hands-on workshop series, speaker series, available rental space, and season-long Playwrights Lab, led by director, dramaturge, and Grand Theatre Artistic Director Rachel Peake.
The Grand engages dedicated professional artists from across the country – and around the world – to create world-class, London-made productions on our stunning 839-seat Spriet Stage each season.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.grandtheatre.com/
Follow The Grand Theatre on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheGrandLondon
And on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thegrandlondon/
The Beat Magazine 2025 