The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts has announced the recipients of the 46th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards presented by the Romano D’Andrea Foundation. The Awards were presented on Monday, June 29 at a gala event at ceremony at Meridian Hall, hosted by actor Amaka Umeh.
Several productions took home multiple awards, including Through the Eyes of God, The Division, Narnia, Octet, She Holds Up the Stars, ZAYO, and the Canadian Opera Company’s Orfeo ed Euridice.
The Dora Awards is Canada’s largest and oldest awards program, and this year, included 221 nominations across 44 gender-inclusive award categories within seven divisions, reflecting the remarkable artistry of the 2025-2026 season. This year’s nominations represented 214 shows from 99 TAPA-registered companies.
“This year we saw a return to pre-pandemic numbers for the Doras, with 214 productions registered across divisions of Theatre, Opera, and Dance. It’s a real marker of the quality and abundance of art that our city produces each year, and bolstering to see that despite the precarity of the sector these past years, that Toronto continues to be a world-class city for the performing arts.
The Doras have been a longstanding pillar of excellence and resilience within our community, and I hope this year is a herald of more abundance in the years to come,” comments Victor Pokinko, Producer, Dora Awards, in a statement.
2026 Dora Awards: Highlights
General Theatre Division
- Outstanding Production: Through the Eyes of God (Theatre Passe Muraille)
- Outstanding Direction: Gregory Prest, Bremen Town (Tarragon Theatre)
- Outstanding Performance by an Individual: Sophia Walker in Slave Play (Canadian Stage)
Independent Theatre Division
- Outstanding Production: The Division, Project: Humanity and Pyretic Productions in association with Crow’s Theatre
- Outstanding Direction: Andrew Kushnir, The Division (Project: Humanity and Pyretic Productions in association with Crow’s Theatre)
- Outstanding Performance by an Individual: Nick Eddie in Bug (The King Black Box in partnership with Elkabong Theatre Projects)
Musical Theatre Division
- Outstanding Production: Octet, Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre Company, and The Musical Stage Company
- Outstanding Performance by an Individual: Kaylee Harwood in Bright Star (Garner Theatre Productions presented by Mirvish Productions)
- Outstanding Creative Direction: Fiona Sauder (Director), Matt Pilipiak, Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks (Associate Directors); Fiona Sauder, Rohan Dhupar (Co-Choreographers); Jonathan Corkal-Astorga (Musical Director), Narnia (Soulpepper Theatre Company, Bad Hats Theatre, and Crow’s Theatre)
Opera Division
- Outstanding Production: Orfeo ed Euridice (Canadian Opera Company co-production with Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra Royal Château de Versailles Spectacles, and Lyric Opera of Chicago)
- Outstanding New Opera: Canuck Cantatas, Danika Lorèn, Sarah Slean, Spencer Kryzanowski (Composers); Royce Vavrek, Vern Thiessen, Emma Pennell (Librettists) (Against the Grain Theatre)
- Outstanding Performance by an Individual: Iestyn Davies in Orfeo ed Euridice (Canadian Opera Company co-production with Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra Royal Château de Versailles Spectacles, and Lyric Opera of Chicago)
- Outstanding Creative Direction: Christophe Gayral (Revival Director), based on the original direction of Robert Carsen; Bernard Labadie (Musical Director), Orfeo ed Euridice (Canadian Opera Company co-production with Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra Royal Château de Versailles Spectacles, and Lyric Opera of Chicago)
Theatre For Young Audiences Division
- Outstanding Production: Love You Forever… And More Munsch, Young People’s Theatre
- Outstanding New Play: She Holds Up the Stars by Sandra Laronde (Red Sky Performance)
- Outstanding Direction: Sandra Laronde, She Holds Up the Stars (Red Sky Performance)
- Outstanding Performance by an Individual: Morgan St. Onge in Morgan’s Journey (Roseneath Theatre)
Dance Division
- Outstanding Production: Make Banana Cry, Toronto Dance Theatre in partnership with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
- Outstanding Original Choreography: Esie Mensah, ZAYO (dance Immersion & Esie Mensah Creations, in association with TO Live)
- Outstanding Performance by an Individual: Rose-Mary Harbans in ZAYO (dance Immersion & Esie Mensah Creations, in association with TO Live)
Special Awards
The Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award, sponsored by Now Toronto and voted on by the public, went to The Drowsy Chaperone from Shifting Ground Collective.
This year’s Silver Ticket Award, presented annually by TAPA to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the performing arts, went to Jacoba Knaapen, the former Executive Director of TAPA and Dora Awards producer. Knaapen has been a dedicated advocate for Toronto’s cultural sector and the performing arts for decades.
The Dora Mavor Moore Awards
The Doras are named for Dora Mavor Moore (1888-1979). Moore was a beloved figure, a teacher and director who helped to establish the Canadian professional theatre scene in the 1930s and 1940s.
- Find more information about the Dora Awards [HERE].
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