Metro Theatre

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

The theatre’s 2026/2027 season runs from September until June.

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

This article contains the following information about Metro Theatre:

Location and Prices | 2026/2027 Season | About the Theatre | Tips and Advice | Other Information

Shakespeare in Love at 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 featuring local actors,/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 adaptations of famous works, too. Productions at Metro Theatre in the 2026/27 season include Avenue Q, Murder on the Orient Express and Hello, Dolly!

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 and 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.

Metro Theatre

Location and Prices

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

Shows at the theatre usually run from Thursday to Sunday 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 $38 to $62 for adults and about $5 less for seniors and children (at least that was the case the last time we checked).

If you want to further support the theatre, 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 gives you a say at the Metro’s Annual General Meeting.

2026/2027 Season

The 2026/2027 season begins on September 18th, 2026, and finishes on June 6th, 2027. This season features seven shows, with for the most part just a couple of weeks between each of them. Show titles, descriptions and dates for the plays are below.

Avenue Q

(From September 18th to October 10th, 2026)

Avenue Q is an adult-themed comedy musical that features a mix of puppets and human characters. It tells the story of a recent college graduate named Princeton who moves into an affordable apartment building in the outskirts of New York City. There he meets a wild cast of characters and has to deal with plenty of shenanigans while trying to find his purpose in life.

Nuncrackers

(From October 23rd to November 14th, 2026)

A sequel to the popular play Nunsense, Nuncrackers is a holiday variety show starring the fictional Little Sisters of Hoboken. When their TV Christmas special goes awry, the nuns have to pulls out musical numbers, tap dancing and other festivities in order to put on a great show.

Sleeping Beauty: A Traditional Christmas Pantomime

(From December 4th, 2026, to January 4th, 2027)

Sleeping Beauty is the latest installment of Metro Theatre’s tradition of putting on a Christmas Pantomime. A pantomime is a comedic, highly interactive show where characters constantly break the fourth wall and the audience can influence the show with cheers, boos and sometimes even having someone come out of their seat and on to the stage!

This year’s production features the classic fairytale of Sleeping Beauty. It’s the story of a princess who is cursed by the evil witch Maleficent and needs true love’s kiss to wake up and break the curse.

Lend Me at Tenor at Metro Theatre

The New Canadian Curling Club

(From January 22nd to February 13th, 2027)

A wonderfully Canadian show, The New Canadian Curling Club is a modern play set in a small-town curling rink. Four very different people are shoved together into a team for a bonspiel, and must work through their conflicts (and the difficulties of curling) to become a cohesive squad.

Murder on the Orient Express

(From February 26th to March 20th, 2027)

Based on the famous Agatha Christie novel, Murder on the Orient Express features the famous fictional detective Hercule Poirot. When a very rich passenger is found dead on the opulent Orient Express train, Poirot must find out who the true killer is before someone else meets a terrible fate. The classic whodunit features plenty of unexpected turns along the way!

Our Town

(From April 2nd to 24th, 2027)

Our Town is a three-act play originally written by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It’s set in the fictional American town of Grover’s Corners, and is a unique production in that there isn’t much in the way of a set or props in the show. The main character is the “Stage Manager” of the theatre who guides the action along and talks directly to the audience.

Hello, Dolly!

(From May 7th to June 6th, 2027)

Hello, Dolly! is a musical comedy about a matchmaker named Dolly Levi who tries to find the perfect match for the rich but difficult to deal with businessman Horace Vandergelder. Originally debuting on Broadway in 1964, Hello, Dolly! is one of the most long-running musical theatre shows in North America.

Murder by Misadventure at Metro Theatre

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’s a balcony with an extra couple of rows of seats, plus a lovely lounge. The space is elegantly decorated with vintage production photos and has an Old Hollywood charm. There’s a piano, a full bar and plenty of seating. The lounge opens about an hour before the curtain and is a great spot to meet friends and enjoy a themed cocktail.

For some recent productions, patrons were allowed to bring food and beverages to their seats. Policies can vary by show, so check online beforehand or ask an usher on arrival.

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

A Play at Metro Theatre — Lend Me a Tenor at Metro Theatre

History of Metro Theatre

The Metro Theatre Centre was originally a cinema 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 close its doors, private funding emerged 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 the community and its many volunteers, who commit their time to helping 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 specialise 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 Sister Act and The Little Mermaid. 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 2026 are The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth, Goblin: Oedipus and Antigone.

Inside the Metro Theatre

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 by phone since 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 while relaxing in a unique setting you won’t find at 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 who 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 to the Arthur Laing Bridge). There are a 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.

Arsenic & Old Lace at Metro Theatre