Granville Island is home to a number of theatres including The Improv Centre, The Nest, Performance Works, Waterfront Theatre and Granville Island Stage.

See our article about Vancouver Theatre Companies to learn about theatres throughout Metro Vancouver. To learn about other theatres and theatre venues specifically on Granville Island, continue reading.

Theatres on Vancouver’s Granville Island

Granville Island is known for its theatres and restaurants, and for good reason! The Improv Centre is a theatre company that specializes in improvisational theatre. They put on shows most nights. They also have acting classes. Their shows are excellent, and also quite reasonably priced.

The Nest, Performance Works and Waterfront Theatre are run by the Granville Island Theatre District which is a non-profit organization that rents their venues to arts groups for their shows. Granville Island Stage, meanwhile, is one of three theatre venues operated by the Arts Club Theatre Company.

See below for details about each of these theatres on Granville Island. First though, let us tell you a tiny bit about Granville Island.

(Note: In summary, there are five main theatres on Granville Island, but only three are managed by the “Granville Island Theatre District”. The other two theatres are in the same “theatre district”, but are unrelated to the “Granville Island Theatre District”. It’s a bit confusing. All you need to know though is that Granville Island is Vancouver’s main theatre district and it’s home to a number of theatres.)

OTHER THEATRE COMPANIES IN SUMMER

A couple of other theatre companies you’ll want to check out are Bard on the Beach and Theatre Under the Stars. Bard on the Beach puts on Shakespearean plays between June and September. Its productions in 2024 are Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors and Measure for Measure. Theatre Under the Stars, meanwhile, puts on musicals outdoors at Stanley Park. Showing in 2024 are CATS and School of Rock. The quality of the productions with these two companies are always excellent.

Where & What is Granville Island

Granville Island is one of the most popular places to visit in Vancouver. Its downtown location on False Creek and abundance of shopping and entertainment venues means it’s bustling for much of the year, especially in the summer.

Despite its name, Granville Island is not actually an island, but a peninsula connected to the rest of the city. Granville Island has a big Public Market, art galleries, restaurants and artisan vendors. There are also a number of great theatres! Below are details are about each of them.

The Improv Centre

Right near the entrance to Granville Island is The Improv Centre, located at 1502 Duranleau Street. This is where you’ll find exceptional live comedy theatre.

Improv, or improvisational theatre, is comedy created on the spot based on audience suggestions and feedback. At a typical improv show a group of actors plays a series of short games on stage where they create scenes in different ways. A game will start with the actors asking the audience to call out suggestions for a certain prompt, and picking out their favourite option.

The Improv Centre hosts shows from Tuesday to Sunday pretty much year-round, or at least five nights a week. Different nights have different themes and there are often special holiday shows. Tickets range from about $10 to $30 (so they’re very affordable).

To learn more, check out our article about The Improv Centre.

Granville Island Theatre District

The Granville Island Theatre District (GITD) is a collection of three venues operated by the company of the same name. The GITD company doesn’t produce shows at the venue, but the equipment at the theatres must be operated by their staff.

Anyone can rent out the theatres, as long as they have the money and logistics to do so. The venues are meant to provide a space for local companies to put on a show and foster young and emerging artists. The GITD theatres are used (among other things) as venues for the Vancouver Fringe Festival in September.

The NEST

An acronym for the “New Emergent Studio Theatre”, The NEST is a black box theate. That means it’s a simple venue with black walls and a flat floor. There are customizable aspects of the theatre including various seating options and the ability to open the room’s windows to bring in natural light.

The NEST is located at 1398 Cartwright Street on the third floor of Festival House. The venue can be rented weekly, daily and hourly, with rates as low as $15 an hour for a rehearsal space.

Performance Works

Like The NEST, Performance Works is a black box theatre. Its building at 1218 Cartwright Street used to be a machine shop but was converted to a theatre in the 1990s. There’s both an indoor and outdoor performance space at the venue. The theatre is located near the Granville Island Hotel and Ron Basford Park.

Performance Works rentals are only by the week or by the day, and the costs are up to twice as much as The NEST.

Waterfront Theatre

The biggest of the three GITD venues, Waterfront Theatre seats 224 people in front of a large stage. The theatre is located at 1412 Cartwright Street, next to the Granville Island Kids Market. It’s one of the top theatres within the City of Vancouver and hosts a variety of shows.

The Waterfront Theatre is correspondingly the most expensive of this trio of spaces to rent, but there are substantial discounts for non-profits, cultural partners and emerging artist organizations.

The Arts Club and Granville Island Stage

The Arts Club Theatre Company operates three different theatres in Vancouver, including its Granville Island Stage. The venue at this location is 1525 Johnston Street on the northeast end of Granville Island (the opposite side of where the other four theatres listed in this article are).

The Arts Club puts on plays at all three of its stages throughout the year. Below is the schedule for the Granville Island Stage for the 2024/25 season.

Miracle on 34th Street – a theatrical retelling of the Christmas movie of the same name, it follows Kris Kringle as he works as a mall Santa and tries to prove that he’s the real deal in court. (November 21st to December 29th, 2024)
Primary Trust – a comedic show where a New York bookstore clerk travels the world after being laid off from his job. (February 6th to March 2nd, 2025)
Burning Mom – a 63-year-old widow decides to take her RV to Burning Man in order to live out the dream of her recently deceased husband. (March 27th to April 20th, 2024)
The Mousetrap – heralded as the longest-running play in history, this British murder mystery has entertained audiences for over 70 years. (June 26th to August 10th, 2025)

To learn more about this company, see our article about the Arts Club Theatre Company.