Gateway Theatre's just-announced 2025-26 season includes Kate Hamill’s cheeky Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B and the hit musical Annie

Kat Sandler’s Wildwoman and Axis Theatre’s Where Have All the Buffalo Gone? round out the stage offerings

By Janet Smith

Clockwise from top left, playwright Kate Hamill, Where Have All the Buffalo Gone?, and Silk Road Music.

A FEMINIST TAKE on Sherlock Holmes, the beloved musical Annie, and more are on deck as Richmond’s Gateway Theatre announces its 2025-26 season.

The mainstage lineup kicks off October 16 to 25 with Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B, Kate Hamill’s cheeky reimagining of the famed British detective, with Lauren Taylor directing. It’s the same celebrated playwright who scripted the hit revamp of Pride & Prejudice last season at the venue.

December 11 to January 3, 2026, the same team that brought Oliver! to Gateway last holiday season is back with the classic tale of the plucky redhead, Annie, featuring hits like “Tomorrow” and “Hard Knock Life”.

Axis Theatre’s production of Where Have All the Buffalo Gone? runs February 16 to 21, 2026 in the more intimate Studio B space. The Theatre for Young Audiences play, written by Tai Amy Grauman and directed by Amanda Testini, follows two souls as they journey through seven important moments in Métis history—with the help of a life-like buffalo puppet.

Rounding out the mainstage season from March 26 to April 4, 2026 is Wildwoman, directed by Jamie King and written by Canadian playwright Kat Sandler (who penned the critically acclaimed Yaga that came to Gateway). Based on the true historical story that inspired Beauty and the Beast, this sharply funny feminist revenge comedy follows a young bride thrust into the patriarchal court of King Henry II. Wildwoman is a coproduction with Alberta Theatre Projects.

Gateway also unveiled a host of events to celebrate community occasions. True Voices, a free Pride storytelling event, takes place July 31, while Playing Fields, a free Culture Days event for youth, stages its immersive production on the Minoru Park soccer field on September 20. The all-ages Mid-Autumn celebration To the Moon, meanwhile, starts in the Minoru Chapel on October 5 with an afternoon concert, followed by all-ages lantern-making session. On February 28, 2026, Silk Road Music marks the Lunar New Year, blending Chinese and Western musical traditions. And The Flame Workshop & Showcase on April 11 and 12 brings back the popular personal true-storytelling event for a second year, led by Deborah Williams.

For information, subscriptions, and single tickets, head to gatewaytheatre.com.  

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