A sinewy, multidisciplinary retelling of an ancient Sanskrit epic dominated the 2025 Dora Awards on Monday night, capping an extraordinary journey for a show that was born in Canada and has gone on to tour the world.
“Karma, The Life We Inherit,” the first half of Why Not Theatre’s two-part play “Mahabharata,” won five Doras in the general theatre division, including for outstanding production and outstanding new play. Co-written by Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain, who also won individual awards for performance and direction, respectively, the show tells the story of two warring factions of an ancient noble family, whose conflict spills across generations.
Both parts of the play premiered at the Shaw Festival in 2023, and were remounted by Canadian Stage earlier this year at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. The show has also played in London, Australia and, most recently, at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
While “Mahabharata” entered the awards ceremony with a leading 15 nominations, its large haul at the end of the night was nonetheless impressive. Because Dora administrators considered each of the play’s parts as separate productions, the two halves could have split the vote in the many categories where they were both nominated, including in the races for outstanding production and outstanding new play.
The show’s wins on Monday come after “Mahabharata” also won three Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards earlier this spring, including for best production of a play.
In the independent theatre division, which recognizes plays mounted with smaller budgets and in smaller venues, Coal Mine Theatre’s presentation of “People, Places and Things” claimed four Doras, including for outstanding production. Duncan Macmillan’s drama centres on a middle-aged actor whose life unravels because of addiction. Louise Lambert, who starred as that central protagonist, also picked up a Dora for her performance.
The night’s biggest upsets mostly played out in the musical theatre division. Shifting Ground Collective’s presentation of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” mounted by a young company of emerging artists, bested both the Broadway-aimed musical “Life After” and the Canadian premiere of the Pulitzer-winning “A Strange Loop” to earn the award for outstanding production.
The show won a second Dora for outstanding creative design, which went to director Jennifer Walls, choreographer Nicholas Rocque and musical director Michael Ippolito. It also received the coveted Jon Kaplan audience choice award, voted by the public.
Michael R. Jackson’s “A Strange Loop,” which was co-produced by the Musical Stage Company, Soulpepper, Crow’s Theatre and TO Live, earned two awards for outstanding lead performance (Malachi McCaskill) and outstanding ensemble (Sierra Holder, Amaka Umeh, Matt Nethersole, David Andrew Reid, Nathanael Judah, Marcus Nance, Charlie Clark, David Lopez).
Meanwhile, Britta Johnson’s “Life After,” about a teenage girl grappling with her father’s sudden death, left the awards ceremony empty-handed, though it entered with a leading nine nominations in the division.
The prestigious prize for outstanding new musical or opera, an award shared between the two divisions, went to “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White,” which was presented by the Canadian Opera Company last year. Composed by Sean Mayes, and featuring a libretto by HAUI, it recounts the true story of the renowned Canadian contralto Portia White.
That win was one of two for the new show, which also nabbed the Dora for outstanding performance by an ensemble (for SATE, Adrienne Danrich and Neema Bickersteth) in the opera division.
“La Reine-garçon,” another contemporary Canadian opera, had a strong performance, as well, winning three awards, including for outstanding production, lead performance (Kirsten MacKinnon) and creative direction (director Angela Konrad and musical director Johannes Debus).
Among dance shows, the Citadel + Compagnie’s production of “Everything I Wanted To Tell You (But Couldn’t, So Here It Is Now)” emerged on top, winning Doras in three of the division’s six categories. In the theatre for young audiences division, Soulpepper’s remount of “Alligator Pie” won four Doras.
The 45th edition of the Dora Awards were hosted by actor Peter Fernandes at Meridian Hall in downtown Toronto. In all, the Doras handed out 43 awards across seven divisions, largely broken down by discipline. Mirvish, Canada’s largest commercial theatre producer, was not eligible for the awards after it withdrew in 2023 from the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, which administers the Doras.
