Ottawa Storytellers Signature Series
Discover the Art of Storytelling – Live in Ottawa and On Demand
Join us for the city’s only professional storytelling series, where unforgettable performances bring stories to life.
Live Performances - unless otherwise noted, all shows begin at 2:00 p.m. in the Blackbox Studio at Arts Court (2 Daly Avenue).
This season, Ottawa StoryTellers continues to offer both in-person and on demand viewing.
On Demand – Your Story, Your Schedule
Can’t join us in person? Each Signature Series performance is recorded and available on demand starting the day after the show. Watch anytime within one week – and revisit your favourite moments as often as you like. Ticket holders will receive a private viewing link the day after the performance.
Ottawa StoryTellers Signature Series
Six performances. Six remarkable stories. One season of live storytelling.
Ottawa StoryTellers invites you to experience the 2026/27 Signature Series, bringing together an exciting mix of storytellers, performers and comedians for six unique productions from October through June.
This season moves from the eerie and supernatural to the deeply personal, from ancient legend and myth to contemporary comedy. Along the way, you’ll encounter witches and ghosts, explore the storytelling traditions of Southern Africa, revisit an ancient tale with striking relevance today, travel to Prince Edward Island in search of a lost family heirloom, and hit the road with two comedians navigating a world that isn’t always designed with them in mind.
What connects them all is the experience at the heart of Ottawa StoryTellers: a great story, told live, and the connection that happens when storytellers and audiences share the same space.
Whether you’re a longtime storytelling fan or joining us for the first time, this season offers six very different reasons to pull up a chair and listen.
2026 / 2027 Signature Series Season
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Witches Walk
Season Launch Event
Saturday, October 24, 2026 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Featuring Gail Anglin, Colette Laplante & Jack Pyl
What could be more fun and frightening than donning your witch and warlock clothes and joining a walk around the spooky Billings Estate? Then gather round the fire for spine tingling stories told by ancient crones and toast the haunting season with cider.
The Witches Walk is the only Signature Series event that will not take place at Arts Court. This show will be held at Billings Estate National Historic Site.
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How To Love A Fascist
Sunday, January 24, 2027
Teller: Cassie Cao
What happens when love and politics collide?
Award-winning comedian Cassie Cao (CBC, Crave, Just For Laughs) returns to Ottawa with a new solo show about love, relationships, politics and what happens when the people closest to us don’t always see the world the same way.
Sharp, personal and very funny, How To Love A Fascist takes on some of today’s most complicated conversations with Cao’s distinctive comedic voice.
Amakwé and the Lion: A Khoisan Legend
Sunday, February 28, 2027
Teller: Jacqui du Toit
An ancient legend brought to life through story, rhythm and imagination.
Acclaimed storyteller Jacqui du Toit invites audiences into the rich oral storytelling traditions of the Khoisan people of Southern Africa with Amakwé and the Lion: A Khoisan Legend.
Joined by live percussion, Jacqui combines storytelling, movement and rhythm in an immersive performance rooted in a centuries-old oral tradition. Experience a story passed through generations and the extraordinary power of a tale brought to life in front of an audience.
The 70 Mile Yard Sale
Sunday, May 23, 2027
Teller: Justin Shaw
One lost family heirloom. One enormous yard sale. Seventy miles to find it. What could possibly go wrong?
Comedian and storyteller Justin Shaw transports audiences to Prince Edward Island for a hilarious and heartfelt adventure inspired by the Island’s famous 70 Mile Coastal Yard Sale.
What begins as a search for a lost family heirloom quickly turns into a madcap journey through roadside treasures, unexpected encounters, colourful characters and the unique people, places and peculiarities of Island life.
Packed with laughs, surprises and plenty of heart, The 70 Mile Yard Sale is a one-person storytelling show about family, community, home, memory and the strange things we hold onto. Along the way, it becomes a story about finding much more than you ever bargained for.
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Parzifal
Sunday, April 11, 2027
Led by Jennifer Cayley with an ensemble of local storytellers
An ancient myth. A wounded world. A story with startling relevance today.
A king suffers from a wound that will not heal. Around him, the land has become a wasteland. Into this broken world comes Parzifal, beginning a journey that asks what it takes to restore what has been lost.
Led by Jennifer Cayley and performed by an ensemble of four storytellers with live music, Parzifal brings the ancient myth of the Fisher King to life while exploring its connections to our own ecological and spiritual challenges.
Epic, poetic and deeply relevant, Parzifal is an ensemble storytelling experience about our relationship with the natural world and the possibility of healing what has been wounded.
Tales From the Road:
Two Comics, Two Wheelchairs and Lots of Stairs
Sunday, June 6, 2027
Tellers: Alan Shain & Michael Lifshitz
Two comics. Two wheelchairs. Lots of stairs. And years of unbelievable stories from the road.
Comedians and storytellers Alan Shain and Michael Lifshitz have spent years touring, performing and navigating a world that isn’t always designed with them in mind.
Now they’re turning those experiences into a competition: who has the most outrageous story?
Combining personal storytelling, comedy and the grand tradition of the tall tale, Alan and Michael trade increasingly unbelievable stories about inaccessible spaces, unexpected barriers, ridiculous attitudes and life on the road.
Funny, candid and occasionally outrageous, Tales From the Road is ultimately about much more than overcoming obstacles. It’s about resilience, representation and finding ways to thrive, and laugh, when the world puts another staircase in your way.
Experience the Whole Season
Make the Signature Series part of your year with a season package and experience the full range of live storytelling Ottawa StoryTellers has to offer.
2025/2026 Performances
