The Coal Mine Theatre is Toronto’s premiere Off-Off-Broadview theatre! Coal Mine brings Canada’s most influential theatre artists back to where many of us started out - in an intimate but transformable black-box space. Get close to the action at Coal Mine Theatre; there’s no professional theatre experience like it in Toronto.

Since its founding in 2015 by Diana Bentley and Ted Dykstra, The Coal Mine Theatre has become one of the most talked-about and critically acclaimed theatres in Toronto, independent or otherwise. For eight seasons, in its intimate storefront space on the Danforth, the Coal Mine has presented challenging, stimulating, and award-winning scripts from Canada and around the world. Its productions routinely feature a thrilling combination of well-known and up-and-coming theatre artists, whose outstanding work regularly results in sold-out shows and extended runs. 

If proof were needed of the extraordinary quality and success of the Coal Mine’s productions, it could be found in the numerous nominations and prestigious awards earned by its actors, directors, and designers. To date, The Coal Mine has received a total of 42 Dora Mavor Award nominations, including 11 wins, and 9 Toronto Theatre Critics Awards.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

“In less than a decade, this tiny east-end company has transformed the independent theatre scene with its bold, intelligent productions of small-to-medium scale international plays.”

— Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine

“What makes the Coal Mine Theatre unlike any other is its ability to produce high-quality shows in small, intimate settings. The quality of the set and lighting design, acting and sound - paired with the small corridors and tight seats makes it a truly immersive theatrical experience.”

— Jason Carlos, Broadway World

“Under Artistic Curator Ted Dykstra and Artistic Producer Diana Bentley, Coal Mine Theatre has become synonymous with quality and professionalism. The venue may be a storefront on The Danforth, but Coal Mine productions are top of the line in terms of programming and theatrical values.”

— Paula Citron, Ludwig Van Toronto

“Is this tiny house the most reliably exciting theatre in Toronto? That's a rhetorical question.”

— Robert Cushman, The National Post

“Coal Mine isn't Toronto's biggest theatre or its newest or oldest. But it has, I think, a clearer artistic identity than any other joint in this city: a quest to constantly transform itself, to surprise audiences each time they enter with a new set, a new story. It is Toronto's brilliant shoebox.”

— Louis Train, Broadway World Toronto

“We owe a debt of gratitude to the Coal Mine Theatre… and you owe it to yourself to see it.”

— Christopher Hoile, Stage Door