Metro Theatre

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 2025/2026 season runs from September until June.

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

Shows in the theatre’s 2025/2026 season include RENT (Sept. 5th to 20th), Lend Me a Tenor (Oct. 3rd to 25th), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Nov. 7th to 29th), Jack & the Beanstalk (Dec. 12th to Jan. 4th, 2026), Neil Simon’s Walk in the Park (Jan. 23rd to Feb. 14th), Nunsense (Feb. 27th to March 21st), Shakespeare in Love (April 3rd to 25th) and Legally Blonde (May 8th to June 7th).

This article contains the following information about Metro Theatre:

Location and Prices | 2025/2026 Season | About the Theatre | Tips and Advice | Other Information

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 also feature famous works too. Productions at Metro Theatre in the upcoming 2025/26 season include Jack and the Beanstalk, Shakespeare in Love and Legally Blonde.

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 began in mid-September of 2024 and runs until early June in 2025. There were eight different shows to enjoy between those months. Show titles, descriptions and dates for the plays still to come in 2025 are listed below.

2025/2026 Season

The 2025/2026 season begins in early October, 2025, and finishes in early June, 2026. This upcoming season features seven shows with for the most part just a couple weeks between each of them. Show titles, descriptions and dates for the plays are below.

Jonathan Larson’s RENT

(From September 5th to 20th, 2025)

Inspired by the opera La Bohème by Puccini from the late 1880s, RENT is a high-energy, award-winning Broadway rock musical from the 1990s. The story is about a small group of young, not-so-well-off, bohemian, LGBTQ+, New York artists and activists. The story, music and lyrics are by Jonathan Larson. Although the musical tackles serious and timely themes, it does so with humour, heart, and a rebellious spirit. It’s an iconic musical.

Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor

(From October 3rd to 25th, 2025)

Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy show written by globally-successful playwright Ken Ludwig. The show begins with a famous opera star passing out right before an extremely famous performance. Assuming that he’s dead, the star’s assistant takes on the role for the night. He does a great job, but soon finds himself being chased down by the real star.

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley

(From November 7th to 29th, 2025)

A spiritual sequel of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley is a modern play that centres on Mary Bennet, who didn’t get much time on the page in the original book. In this show Mary falls for a man while at a family Christmas reunion, with the only issue being that he’s already in a relationship.

Jack and the Beanstalk in 2025/2026

(From December 12th, 2025, to January 4th, 2026)

Metro Theatre always has a Christmas Pantomime and 2025 is no different! Jack and the Beanstalk is the theatre’s 40th holiday panto and features the classic children’s tale of the boy who acquires some magic beans. Pantos are all about audience participation and are great fun for the whole family.

Neil Simon’s Walk in the Park

(From January 23rd to February 14th, 2026)

Walk in the Park is one of the longest-running non-musical plays in the history of Broadway. The romantic comedy features the newlywed pair of Paul and Corie Bratter, who after moving into a small New York apartment find their personalities clashing just a week into their marriage.

Nunsense

(From February 27th to March 21st, 2026)

Nunsense is a musical comedy about a small group of nuns that enter a variety show contest to raise money in order to pay for the burials of a few of their (now former) fellow nuns. The play has taken the stage at Metro Theatre before and was so popular that it’s now being brought back!

Shakespeare in Love

(From April 3rd to 25th, 2026)

A stage adaptation of the movie of the same name, Shakespeare in Love features a young William Shakespeare who is struggling to find inspiration to write. He falls for the daughter of a rich merchant who disguised herself as a man to audition for one of his plays, due to her passion for theatre.

Legally Blonde

(From May 8th to June 7th, 2026)

Legally Blonde tells the story of sorority girl Elle Woods, who follows her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School after he dumps her in order to try and win him back. She then has the chance to prove her brains when she’s added on as an intern to the defence team for a high-profile murder case.

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, then you’ll definitely want to see a play at Theatre Under the Stars in Stanley Park in the summer. 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 also 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, then 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.