Metro Theatre is a really good, community-driven theatre company in South Vancouver. It has put on shows featuring local artists for over half a century.

The 2024/2025 season runs from September until May. Upcoming plays include The Woman in Black, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Cinderella!, Sinners, And Then There Were None and more.

The next play at Metro Theatre is The Woman in Black. It runs from October 11th until November 2nd. According to The Guardian, it’s “One of British theatre’s biggest — and scariest—hits”. The plot involves an estate, a mysterious woman and old secrets, which makes it perfect for the Halloween season! If you like live theatre with scary stories, you’ll want to check it out.

For full details about the theatre and its upcoming shows, click MetroTheatre.com.

This article contains the following information about Metro Theatre:

Metro Theatre in South Vancouver

Metro Theatre isn’t one of the biggest Theatres in Vancouver. It seats around 300 people and puts on mostly smaller productions. It’s a community theatre venue similar to (but smaller than) places like the Massey Theatre in New Westminster, Gateway Theatre in Richmond and Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver.

You won’t see large touring Broadway productions here. What you will see, however, is a variety of great shows with local actors and/or writers and directors. We’ve been to a few plays at the theatre and really enjoyed them.

Community theatre can be lots of fun and really good! And they can feature famous plays too. Productions at Metro Theatre in past recent seasons have included Steel Magnolias, an Alice in Wonderland pantomime, Jane Austen’s Persuasion and Cinderella, among many others.

Along with the main auditorium the building has the Metro Theatre Lounge which is really nice, licensed and seats over 60 people. There you can enjoy a drink before or after a show, plus maybe have a chat with a member of the cast or crew.

That kind of community atmosphere is what Metro Theatre is all about. There are many volunteers who put their time into helping run the venue and put on performances. The theatre company itself is a non-profit organization.

For tickets and more information about the theatre, see the Metro Theatre website.

Location and Prices

The Metro Theatre Centre’s address is 1370 SW Marine Drive in South Vancouver. It’s in an industrial area close to the Arthur Laing Bridge on the other side of the Fraser River from Richmond.

Shows at the theatre usually take place on Thursdays to Sundays each week, with some weekend matinees and no performances on Mondays or Tuesdays. There are sometimes Wednesday performances, but not for every show. Tickets typically cost around $35 to $45 for adults and about $5 less for seniors and children (or at least that was the case the last time we checked). If you go on Preview Nights, so on the day before the official Opening Nights, tickets usually cost slightly less.

For those who want to help support the theatre further you can become a VIP Member. The membership costs $20 per year and includes benefits such as discounts on tickets as well as the ability to attend special events like Directors Talks. It also allows you to have a say at the Metro’s Annual General Meeting.

2024/2025 Season

The 2024/2025 season begins in mid-September of 2024 and runs until the end of May in 2025. There are eight different shows to enjoy between these months. Show titles, descriptions and dates are listed below.

The Play That Goes Wrong

From September 14th to October 5th, 2024

The Play That Goes Wrong is a play that premiered in 2012. Written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields and Jonathan Sayer, this version of the play is directed by Mark Carter. In fact, this marks the first time the play is being performed in Vancouver. It’s a show within a show. Characters perform a murder mystery for a theatre company and things don’t go according to plan. It’s a hilarious sequence of events. We went to the Preview Night and it was really good.

This play showed nightly on Thursdays to Saturdays between September 14th and October 5th. There were also matinees on the Sundays of September 15th, 22nd, and 29th.

For tickets and full details about the play, click The Play That Goes Wrong.

The Woman in Black

From October 12th to November 2nd, 2024

The Woman in Black is based on the story of the same name by Dame Susan Hill. Metro Theatre puts on the play version originally adapted by Stephen Mallatratt in 1987 (and then directed, starring and further adapted by Metro Theatre’s own Bernard Cuffling in 2024). It’s a popular but creepy story about an estate, a mysterious woman and old secrets. Expect to see a simple setup and a dark atmosphere throughout the show. The play is an effective and gripping study in atmosphere, illusion and controlled horror.

Dates for the show in 2024 are October 11th (for Preview Night) and October 12th (for Opening Night). The play then runs nightly on Thursdays to Saturdays from October 12th until November 2nd. There are also matinees on the Sundays of October 13th, 20th, and 27th.

For tickets and full details about the play, click The Woman in Black.

The Woman in Black at Metro Theatre — The Woman in Black

Billy Bishop Goes to War

From November 9th to 30th, 2024

Billy Bishop Goes to War is a Canadian musical written by John MacLachlan Gray and Eric Peterson. It features one actor and one pianist. Audiences get to hear all about Billy Bishop’s life and his experiences from World War I. There are lots of songs and stories from college up until Billy’s time as a flying ace. This Metro Theatre production is directed by Gerry Mackay.

Cinderella! (Pantomime)

From December 13th, 2024, to January 5th, 2025

Cinderella! is a traditional British pantomime featured at Metro Theatre from mid-December until early January. Written by Shel Piercy and Jo Sears, this show is made for the whole family. It’s the classic tale of Cinderella, but in a different format. There are funny moments and live musical numbers to add to the fun.

For tickets and full details, visit the official Metro Theatre website.

Sinners

From January 25th to February 15th, 2025

Sinners is a famous comedy written by Norm Foster. He’s one of the most produced playwrights in the country year after year. Directed by Angie McLeod, the show is full of hilarious drama. A business owner has an affair with a minister’s wife, but the minister catches them at home. Other people in town then get involved and a web of lies is unraveled.

And Then There Were None

From March 1st to March 22nd, 2025

And Then There Were None is a play written by Agatha Christie and directed by Don Briard. It’s a dark story set on a remote island. Ten people arrive and slowly become detached from life on the mainland. The people start dying, one after another, and the murderer might be in the group. It’s a thrilling mystery!

Arsenic and Old Lace

From April 5th to 26th, 2025

Arsenic and Old Lace is a comedy written by Joseph Kesselring. It tells a story full of dark humour. The plot features two old aunts who poison people. They also get their nephew to bury the bodies. Although it sounds like a serious play, it’s quite the opposite. The show is hilarious and draws a lot of laughs. This play is directed by Catherine Morrison.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat

May 10th to 31st, 2025

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat is a musical made by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It’s a family-friendly adventure with joyful music and storytelling. The production features Joseph and his colourful coat that makes all his brothers jealous. Joseph is thrown into slavery. After finding out he can interpret dreams, Joseph eventually becomes close to the Pharaoh.

About the Theatre

Metro Theatre is a small theatre, but a nice little one. Most of the seats are on the main floor which slopes down, like most theatre auditoriums do, but not with a steep slope. If you’re short, you might want to use a booster cushion, especially if someone tall sits in front of you. The seats are cushioned and comfortable. The backs of the seats though are also really high (which is why shorter people, even adults, might want a booster cushion).

Upstairs there is a balcony with an additional couple of rows of seating. Also upstairs is the lounge which is lovely. It’s attractively decorated with old photos of Metro Theatre actors and past plays.

The lounge is where you can buy snacks and alcoholic beverages. Alcohol can only be consumed upstairs, in the lounge, and no food or beverages are permitted in the theatre itself.

For more details about the venue, see the official Metro Theatre website.

History of Metro Theatre

The Metro Theatre Centre was originally a cinema all the way back in the 1930s before falling into disuse by the 1960s. That’s when the city gave multiple local theatre companies a grant to combine forces to create a new live theatre centre.

Soon after it got off the ground the Metro became an independent company and the venue was quite successful in the following years until the government took away its annual grant in the late 1970s. While it initially looked like the centre might shutter its doors, private funding sprang up to save it and the Metro continued to produce theatre.

Since then the Metro has continued to operate as its own entity without city or provincial support. It relies instead on the support of those in the community and its many volunteers who commit their time to help the theatre run.

LIVE COMEDY & OTHER THEATRES

If you like live theatre, especially comedy theatre, another place you’ll want to check out is The Improv Centre on Granville Island. They specialize in theatresports-style improvisational comedy theatre.

If you like musicals, in the summer you’ll definitely want to see a play at Theatre Under the Stars in Stanley Park. This year their musicals are CATS and School of Rock. If you like Shakespearean plays, on the other hand, then you’ll want to attend Bard on the Beach between June and September. The performances in 2024 are Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors and Measure for Measure.

Tips and Advice

Below are some suggestions and extra information to help you make the most out of your experience at Metro Theatre.

TIP #1: Arrive early as the theatre’s parking lot fills up. There is also a pay parking lot below the viaduct/bridge, but you have to pay via your phone as there is no credit card machine. There is also a fair bit of on-street parking in the area. Unless you arrive early, however, you might have to walk a ways.

TIP #2: Enjoy a drink in the Metro Theatre Lounge. This way, you are supporting live theatre and relaxing in a unique setting that you won’t get in a nearby restaurant.

TIP #3: As already mentioned, the seats are quite tall and each row is only very slightly lower than the one behind it. People who are shorter in stature might have a challenge seeing over the seat in front of them. At the back of the theatre, you can find free “booster” cushions to prop you up so you can see better. Children aren’t the only ones that use them.

TIP #4: The theatre is in an industrial area surrounded by on-ramps, off-ramps and other roadway infrastructure (because it’s where SW Marine Drive connects with the Arthur Laing Bridge). There are few food and drink options in the immediate neighbourhood. If you plan to go out for dinner, go early somewhere else. If you want drinks before your play, enjoy them in the theatre’s lounge which usually opens about an hour before show time.