The Ottawa Little Theatre (OLT) turns 100 in 2026, and the oldest continuously operating community theatre in Canada is marking the occasion with a season that feels more ambitious than anything it's programmed in recent memory.
A Century of Local Theatre
Founded in 1913 at the corner of King Edward and Daly, the OLT has been staging plays, musicals, and original works for Ottawa audiences through two world wars, the Depression, COVID, and everything in between. Current artistic director Caroline Walker, who took the role in 2022, has leaned hard into the centenary as an opportunity to reconnect the OLT with its roots.
"Community theatre exists because communities believe that telling stories together matters," Walker said. "A hundred years of that is worth celebrating."
The Centenary Season
The OLT's spring program includes a revival of Michel Tremblay's The Guid Sisters (in the English translation, performed here for the first time in Ottawa since 1998), a new production of Sharon Pollock's Walsh, the landmark Canadian play about the relationship between Sitting Bull and a North-West Mounted Police superintendent, and a world premiere of an original musical commissioned specifically for the centenary, written by an Ottawa playwright and composer.
The season also features an ongoing exhibition in the OLT's lobby documenting 100 years of productions through photographs, programs, and costume pieces from the archive.
Gala Night
The centenary gala on April 19 sold out its original 300 tickets within 48 hours; a second performance has also sold out. A third gala night is being considered for May, check ottawalittletheatre.com for updates.
Regular season tickets remain available and are reasonably priced ($25–$40 per show). The OLT is at 400 King Edward Avenue, east of the Rideau River.
Source: Google News Ottawa Arts / RSS
