Press Release

A troupe of surrealist artists. One very sensible farm. Nothing stays ordinary for long.

Old Port of Montreal from April 22, 2027 | Place des Festivals Zibi, Gatineau, from September 5, 2027

Club Cirque and waitlist presale opens today | General sale Monday, October 26, 2026

Montréal, October 20^th, 2026 - On a quiet farm, nothing is quite as it seems. When a troupe of surrealist artists arrives at Marguerite's doorstep, the familiar gives way to the unexpected. In FINDING UTOPIA, Cirque du Soleil invites audiences into a fully immersive world where extraordinary acrobatics, imaginative storytelling and an evolving environment bring a new story to life.

Written and directed by Michel Laprise, the new Big Top production opens with its world premiere in Montreal’s Old Port on April 22, 2027, before moving to Gatineau’s Place des Festivals Zibi from September 5, 2027. The opening of FINDING UTOPIA marks Michel Laprise’s return to the Old Port, where his big top creation KURIOS premiered in 2014, and that has since wowed more than 7 million spectators in more than 50 cities around the world.

Starting today, Club Cirque members and waitlist subscribers have exclusive first access to tickets. General sale opens Monday, October 26.

In French, the show will be named L'ÉVEIL D'UTOPIA.

FINDING UTOPIA is Cirque du Soleil’s 21st Big Top creation, and its story has deep roots in the company’s own history. Cirque du Soleil began in the early 1980s with Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul, a street-theatre troupe of stilt-walkers, jugglers and fire-breathers who roamed the streets of a small Charlevoix town and went on to change what circus could be. More than forty years later, FINDING UTOPIA brings that idea home to Quebec: what happens when artists show up somewhere no one expected them, and everyone is changed by the meeting?

"I want us to embrace the same boldness as our founders. To give ourselves permissions. I want us to go all in. A dose of love. A dose of poetry. A dose of disobedience. A show that doesn't apologize for what it is. We play music... loud. We swing from the chandeliers. We are unapologetically artistic.

Our main character, Marguerite the farmer, leads a happy and comfortable life, but one that has become predictable. It's as though she has stopped allowing herself to be surprised. Much like our modern society, where every answer seems just a few keystrokes away.

Then, out of nowhere, Marguerite's life is turned upside down and transformed by the arrival of a troupe of artists whose wild ideas disrupt everything she thought she knew. In many ways, it's a reflection of my own life, and of the lives of our creative team, all profoundly shaped by the extraordinary adventure that is Cirque du Soleil.

Now, we want to give audiences a generous dose of Cirque du Soleil in return. We want to shake up our habits, and even our Big Top, all in the hope of bringing you joy.

Our ambition is simple: to move you by every possible means, so that, filled with wonder and exhilaration by these artists performing live before your eyes, you'll find yourself saying, 'It's too beautiful to be fake.'", says Michel Laprise, Writer and Show Director.

Human skill at the centre

FINDING UTOPIA brings together nine distinct acrobatic acts, with ensemble performances that rely on precision, trust and collective momentum. The production features disciplines never before performed under the Big Top, highlighted by a groundbreaking act that combines Icarian Games and teeterboard.
An original score blending an unexpected mix of musical styles accompanies the action, while the farm itself transforms around Marguerite as the story unfolds, drawing audiences deeper into the show's immersive world.

Inside the creation

The show is now in rehearsal at Cirque du Soleil’s International Headquarters in Montreal. Following months of workshops and an extensive research and development phase, the Creation team has finalized the show's creative foundations and is moving into production mode. Artists are currently in training for the next weeks, with staging scheduled to begin in January 2027. In the coming weeks, the wardrobe team will begin fittings and makeup tests as the show’s costumes move from sketch to stage. Finally, in March 2027, the company will move to the Old Port to complete the show under the Big Top.

Gatineau: the first stop after Montreal

After Montreal, FINDING UTOPIA travels to Place des Festivals Zibi. The Gatineau run offers audiences across the Ottawa–Gatineau region a first opportunity to discover a new kind of Big Top experience before it continues on tour.

About FINDING UTOPIA

One sleepy farm. One very sensible life. And a wandering troupe of artists about to turn it all upside down. When these rambunctious artists land on Marguerite’s doorstep, her quiet fields stop behaving like fields, and the ordinary rules of logic, gravity and movement begin to give way. Not everyone in town is pleased. But the longer the artists stay, the harder it becomes to remember why being reasonable ever mattered so much.

FINDING UTOPIA brings Cirque du Soleil's acrobatic excellence together with the surrealist imagination that has defined its most daring work. Combining unforgettable characters, an immersive environment and unexpected creative influences, the production invites audiences into a world that extends beyond the performance itself. It is Cirque at its most human: surreal but never distant, bold but never cold.

Discover a place where imagination takes root, where circus mastery meets surrealist art, and where the impossible grows.

Show Creation Team

Here is the creative team behind FINDING UTOPIA :

Show Director and Writer Michel Laprise

Executive Producer Matthew Whelan

Director of Creation Julie Castonguay

Production Manager Rémi Lemieux

Technical Director Christian Laflamme

Costume Designer Vanessa Sannino

Make-up Designer Lisa-Marie Charron

Musical Director and Composer Antoine Seychal

Set Designer Geneviève Lizotte

Lighting Designer Martin Labrecque

Sound Designer Jean-Michel Caron

Props Designer Alain Jenkins

Video and Projections Designer Félix Fradet-Faguy

Acrobatic Equipment Designer Danny Zen

Human Performance Designers Ginger Griep-Ruiz, Jérôme Lebault, Emilie Therrien

Acrobatic Choreographer Silvia Gertrudix Gonzalez, Marie-Ève Demers

Movement Choreographer Megan Lawson

Clown Act Designer David-Alexandre Després

Tickets

• Montreal: Quai Jacques-Cartier, in the Old Port of Montreal, from April 22 to August 22, 2027.
• Gatineau: Place des Festivals Zibi, from September 5 to October 17, 2027

Presale: Club Cirque members and waitlist subscribers can buy tickets starting today at www.cirquedusoleil.com/finding-utopia, with first choice of seats before general sale.

General sale: Monday, October 26, 2026.

Partners

FINDING UTOPIA is presented in Canada by Sunlife. Cirque du Soleil also thanks its Canadian official partners Lexus, Mastercard, Nespresso, PATH Water and Tourisme Montréal.

About Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil is a global leader in live entertainment. For four decades, the company has pushed the boundaries of imagination, bringing its creative vision to a wide range of artistic formats, including touring and resident shows, seasonal productions, theatrical shows and more. Since its founding in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has inspired more than 430 million spectators across 6 continents and 86 countries. The Canadian company now employs over 3,000 people, including over 900 artists representing more than 80 nationalities. For more information, visit cirquedusoleil.com.

Press materials (show poster, biographies

press conference recap video and photos): LINK

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Media information

Roy & Turner Communications

Martine Laforce

mlaforce@roy-turner.com | 514-577-6945