25-26 Season Statement - Lois Anderson

At Touchstone we believe in story. We believe in the capacity for story to build and reveal identity. The stories we’ve chosen this season capture our diverse nature as a nation of nations. They help us consider where we’ve come from and where we’re going.

This season we leap into humour – both cheeky and satirical. We celebrate ingenuity and scintillating brilliance. And we listen to what the heart has to say.

We burst into Fall with the crackling comedy Women of the Fur Trade. Writer Frances Koncan (Anishinaabe and Slovene) re-focuses history through the lens of Marie-Angelique, Cecilia and Eugenia, tracking their hilarious and fiery encounters with ‘heart-throb’ Louis Riel. This National Arts Center Indigenous Theatre/Native Earth/ GCTC production snagged multiple award nominations. Directed by Renae Morriseau (Cree and Saulteaux), with Cherie Maracle (Haudenosaunee), Columpa Bob (Tsleil Waututh and Nlaka’pamux), Kelsey Kanantan Wavey (Tataskweyak Cree Nation), Jonathan Fisher (Anishinaabe) and Victor Hunter (Metis).

Next up Gertrude and Alice – Dora Award nominated for Best Original Play – and one of Vancouver’s Best of 2024. Gertrude Stein’s wit flies off the stage in this clarion call for art to reflect ‘the present moment’. A love story that spills over with freshness and light. We are thrilled to be working with Toronto-based playwrights Evalyn Parry, Anna Chatterton and Karin Randoja.

In Danceboy, Munish Sharma conjures his younger self – a time in his life when he learnt about love through watching Bollywood films, dancing it all out in his bedroom. Munish channels life’s existential questions through dance – and his ebullient energy is absolutely contagious.

Our PUSH Festival collaboration is 2021. A live narrated video game design in which daughter Cole re-creates her father’s final weeks in a New Jersey hospital. Using gaming technology Cole Lewis interfaces with her father, contemplating his life and their relationship. This striking piece is created by award-winning Guilt By Association.

Fall 2025 we are thrilled to present The Time Is Now – an evening of Climate Change plays. Spring 2026 we present Fresh Ink: New Play Festival which includes staged readings of El Terramoto by Christine Quintana, Wiwimaw by Metis playwright Tai Amy Grauman and Ali and Ali by Marcus Youssef, Camyar Chai and Guillermo Verdecchia.

Welcome to our 2025-2026 season.

– Lois Anderson, Artistic Director