The Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards honoured artists involved in Citadel Theatre productions across performance, music, design, direction, and production categories. The theatre won 14 awards at the July 20 ceremony, including the coveted best musical award for Legally Blonde and best new play for Jessy Ardern's adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac. The results also underscored the role of co-productions in Edmonton theatre, with several top winners involving partnerships between local companies and major theatres in Calgary, Winnipeg, and Vancouver.
The other four awards for the regular theatre season went to the cast of The 39 Steps at Teatro Live! for best ensemble performance; Shadow Theatre's An Iliad for best sound design; Defiance Theatre's Lucky Charm for best independent production; and Fringe Theatre's production of Countries Shaped Like Stars, which beat out four Citadel nominees to win the award for best production of a play. Celestial Being from Concrete Theatre took home the award for best production for young audiences.
Shows put on during the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival have their own category. \"SPEED\" A 1940's Radio Drama from Cousins-in-Law Productions won best Fringe new work and best Fringe production, while the cast of Uniform Theatre's Assassins took home the award for Fringe ensemble performance. Fringers can start planning their 2026 festivals now — show descriptions are on the Fringe's website, while the festival guide goes on sale on July 29, and tickets go on sale Aug. 5.
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