Vancouver Playhouse

The Vancouver Playhouse is a theatre venue in downtown Vancouver, BC. Operated by Vancouver Civic Theatres, it’s located next to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Lots of plays and concerts happen at the Vancouver Playhouse. One set of events happening at the venue in 2025 is the National Geographic Live Speaker Series. With it, The Untold Story of Sharks shows on April 2nd.

Continue reading below to learn more about the venue.

Vancouver Playhouse Theatre

The Vancouver Playhouse is a small to medium-sized theatre located at 600 Hamilton Street in Vancouver. It’s an intimate venue that hosts a variety of shows throughout the year. The building’s design is particularly good for sound, meaning it’s a popular place for concerts and spoken theatre performances.

Constructed in 1962, the Vancouver Playhouse is a multi-level facility with 668 regular seats plus five extra spots for wheelchairs. The Orchestra level is closest to the stage. Rows are split into three sections named Left, Right and Centre. There’s also a balcony level upstairs with additional seats along the sides.

The venue is one of five places managed by Vancouver Civic Theatres which is owned and operated by the City of Vancouver. The other facilities are the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Orpheum Theatre, the ANNEX and šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn (which is the outdoor plaza in front of Queen Elizabeth Theatre).

Events at the Vancouver Playhouse

In addition to regular classical music concerts, the Vancouver Playhouse hosts a number of other fun events. It’s one of the many venues that holds performances during one the Vancouver International Jazz Festival (June 20th to 29th, 2025), as well as the Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival (in July or August).

Other festivals that use the venue include the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival (February 13th to 23rd, 2025), the Vancouver Dance Festival (March 2nd to 22nd, 2025), and the Vancouver Flamenco Festival (in September).

Another special event happening this year is the National Geographic Live Speaker Series. There are three different talks happening on three different days. Each talk is offered once in the morning for students in grades 1 to 8. There’s also an evening event for those of all ages.

The series kicked off on October 9th, 2024. The talk that day was Life on Thin Ice with Photographer Kiliii Yüyan. The second show takes place on February 12th, 2025. It’s Wild Wolves of Yellowstone with Wildlife Biologist Doug Smith. The third and final talk in the series is The Untold Story of Sharks with Shark Researcher Dr. Jess Cramp. It takes place on April 2nd, 2025.

Tickets for each event cost between about $35 and $60. There’s also a meet and greet available after each show.

To learn more about these films, and other films at the Vancouver Playhouse, see our article about Vancouver Civic Theatres.