TORONTO 鈥� A contemporary take on a 4,000-year-old Sanskrit epic is among the leading stage productions vying for this year鈥檚 Dora Awards.
Why Not Theatre鈥檚 two-part show 鈥淢ahabharata鈥� collected 15 nominations overall, including nine for 鈥淧art One: Karma: The Life We Inherit鈥� and six for 鈥淧art Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose,鈥� both presented by Canadian Stage.
Because each part got separate nods, the elaborate show will compete against its other half in multiple races, including best new play for Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes, who developed the work using poetry from Carole Satyamurti鈥檚 鈥淢ahabharata: A Modern Retelling.鈥�
The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts announced 225 nominations for the Dora Mavor Moore Awards, which celebrate Toronto鈥檚 professional theatre, dance and opera communities.
For a second year in a row, Mirvish Productions is absent from the list because it withdrew from the alliance known as TAPA in 2023.
However, nine nominations in the musical theatre division went to the off-Mirvish show 鈥淟ife After,鈥� from Yonge Street Theatricals and other non-Mirvish partners, while five went to 鈥淎 Strange Loop鈥� from The Musical Stage Company, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Crow's Theatre and TO Live.
The independent theatre division saw eight nominations each go to 鈥淟ast Landscape,鈥� from Bad New Days in partnership with Common Boots Theatre, and 鈥淢ukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)鈥� from Corpus.
The awards will be presented June 30 at an evening ceremony in Toronto hosted by actor Peter Fernandes, who is up for a best performance award for Canadian Stage鈥檚 鈥淔at Ham.鈥�
Other contenders in the general theatre division include Crow鈥檚 Theatre and Obsidian Theatre Company's 鈥淔LEX,鈥� which scored six nominations including best production and Canadian Stage鈥檚 鈥淲ho鈥檚 Afraid of Virginia Woolf,鈥� starring Martha Burns and Paul Gross, which pulled four nominations including one for Burns.
The opera race includes seven-time nominee 鈥淟a Reine-gar莽on,鈥� a Canadian Opera Company co-production with Op茅ra de Montr茅al and two shows with five nominations: 鈥淢adama Butterfly,鈥� a Houston Grand Opera production presented by the COC, and 鈥淎portia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White,鈥� from the COC in association with the National Arts Centre's National Creation Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, and Ontario Arts Council.
The dance division includes two productions with five nominations each 鈥� Citadel + Compagnie鈥檚 鈥淓verything I wanted to tell you (but couldn鈥檛, so here it is now)鈥� and 鈥淏ig Time Miss,鈥� from Rock Bottom Movement presented by Fall For Dance North.
The Dora Awards are nominated by members of Toronto鈥檚 professional performing arts community. Jurors include performers, designers, directors, producers, administrators and educators.
Online: tapa.ca/doras
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2025.
Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
