WinterWorks festival returns to Centaur

Montreal’s Centaur Theatre is back with WinterWorks, running February 4–22. The festival features bold new Canadian work across dance-theatre, live electronic music, virtual reality, contemporary writing, and staged readings.

Formerly the Wildside Festival, WinterWorks brings together emerging and established artists. Tickets are affordable, with pay-what-you-can readings. The 2026 lineup has something for everyone. Frequencies (Feb. 4–8) blends live electronic music and VR to explore grief and connection between two brothers. Holes (Feb. 8) is a staged reading about love, madness, and survival. Lay Down All Dogs (Feb. 21) follows two sisters confronting family secrets. On Valentine’s Day, Confabulation presents: The Shortest Story features two-minute true stories from Montreal storytellers.

A standout is The Healing (Feb. 17–22), an immersive dance-theatre piece by Marie Barlizo, a Montreal-based Filipino-Chinese playwright and dramaturg. The work is autobiographical, inspired by her father who struggled with alcoholism and paranoia and is now disabled. The severe deterioration of his health during the COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst. “His near-death forced me to face long-held anger and resentment,” Barlizo said, adding that she also hoped to highlight the silence, stigma, and cultural taboos around addiction and mental health in Asian communities. “I wanted to show what Asian Canadians go through and the challenges we face.”

Becoming a parent added another layer. “I thought I had already confronted my fears, but when I had my children, I was forced to confront the fact that I inherited my dad’s fear.” The piece explores how past trauma can resurface in adulthood and shows the emotional weight of caregiving, fear, and resilience, while giving audiences a chance to feel and reflect along with the performers.

Barlizo also praised WinterWorks as a festival that encourages discovery and creativity. “Usually it’s really cold in the winter and you don’t want to go out, but I think these plays are really exciting. This is a really great place to get together and watch these incredible plays and hear readings of work and just create community and talk about the work and be with each other.

“You get to see different stories and forms, from staged readings to immersive performances,” said Barlizo, adding. “It’s exciting to watch how artists push boundaries and try new things.”

For more information visit centaurtheatre.com/winterworks-2026