WOMEN OF THE FUR TRADE and More Set for Touchstone Theatre 2025 2026 Season

Today, Touchstone Theatre revealed its 2025/26 season –a dynamic slate of four works by Canadian/Turtle Island creators, headlined by the acclaimed revival of Frances Končan’s Women of the Fur Trade, a hilarious historical satire that upends colonial, male-centric histories by spotlighting the women who lived through the era of Louis Riel.

The season continues with Gertrude & Alice by Evalyn Parry and Anna Chatterton with Karin Randoja, the 2018 Governor General award-nominated portrait of literary icons and life partners Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. 2021 by Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn, and Sam Ferguson follows with an immersive blend of theatre, video games, and AI, placing the audience at the heart of a deeply human story about memory and loss. Closing the season is Danceboy by Munish Sharma, a dance-filled solo performance that dives into questions on masculinity, culture, and love. 

“At Touchstone we believe in story,” says Artistic Director Lois Anderson. “We believe that story can help us put together a picture of our diverse nature as a nation of nations - to better consider how to live together into the future. To know how to best move forward we first need to know where we are right now - and for that we need to know where we’ve come from. This is the power of story.” 

WOMEN OF THE FUR TRADE by Frances Končan

For tickets & info:
 
Touchstone Theatre kicks off its season with a kick-ass revival of Women of the Fur Trade by Anishinaabe/Slovene playwright Frances Končan. Presented in partnership with Western Canada Theatre and UBC, this acclaimed national touring production lands in Vancouver and Kamloops following its 2024 premiere at the National Arts Centre Indigenous Theatre (Ottawa) and Native Earth Performing Arts (Toronto), where it earned a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for Outstanding New Play.
 
A rip-roaring satire of survival and cultural inheritance, the play shifts the spotlight from the male gaze to women's power - past and present - set against the backdrop of the Canadian fur trade.  Women of the Fur Trade  is directed by Renae Morriseau and features performances by Kelsey Kanatan Wavey , Cheri Maracle, Columpa Bobb, Victor Hunter and Jonathan Fisher .
 

GERTRUDE & ALICE by Evalyn Parry & Anna Chatterton, with Karin Randoja. 

Gertrude and Alice returns to the stage in November 2025 – a luminous love story from acclaimed Toronto playwriting trio Evalyn Parry, Anna Chatterton, and Karin Randoja. A finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award (2018) and Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, this richly imagined work captures the iconic partnership of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas and a life shaped by devotion, art, and war. Directed by Touchstone Artistic Director Lois Anderson, the production is presented in partnership with Western Gold Theatre and in association with United Players.
 

2021 created by Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn, Sam Ferguson 

In January 2026, Touchstone Theatre teams-up with PuSh Festival to co-present 2021 created by Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn, and Sam Ferguson. Co-produced by Guilty by Association and The Elbow Theatre, this live-narrated video game performance invites an audience member to step into the role of Cole Lewis’ father, an unhoused veteran reliving his final weeks in a New Jersey hospital. As Cole reimagines her father’s final days, 2021 blurs the lines between memory and simulation, story and gameplay, the living and the dead, and asks what it truly means to be remembered.
 

DANCEBOY by Munish Sharma

 In Danceboy, creator and performer Munish Sharma explores his lifelong love of dance and how it sparked his greatest transformations. Part high-energy solo show, part dance-floor memoir, Danceboy takes audiences on a comedic journey through the desi, diasporic rhythms that shaped Sharma’s life while also tackling toxic masculinity, cultural stereotypes, and Bollywood’s glossy, heteronormative ideals of love – all without missing a beat. 
 
SPECIAL EVENTS 

THE TIME IS NOW: An Evening of Climate Change Plays | SEPT 17

On September 17, Touchstone co-presents an evening of Climate Change plays in participation with Climate Change Theatre Action, a worldwide festival of short plays about the climate crisis presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations COP meetings. Learn more about Climate Change Theatre action here: www.climatechangetheatreaction.com
 

THEATRE Under the Wire | FEBRUARY 2026 

Theatre Under the Wire returns bringing lightning-fast creativity to the stage in just 48 hours. This exhilarating theatre creation event challenges artists to write, rehearse, and perform brand-new short works in just two days. Theatre Under the Wire is a co-production between Axis Theatre, Monster Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, and the Vancouver Fringe. Stay tuned for the upcoming call for applications! 

FRESH INK: NEW PLAY FESTIVAL | SPRING 2026

In Spring 2026, Touchstone presents 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. More info to come.

THE LAWYER SHOW 2026 - A Fundraiser for Touchstone Theatre

Returning in May 2026, The Lawyer Show—one of Vancouver’s premier fundraising events and a beloved annual tradition—takes the stage once again at the BMO Theatre Centre. Stay tuned for full details.

PROGRAMS

EARLY CAREER PLAYWRIGHT’S COHORT

The Early Career Playwrights Cohort supports a select group of emerging playwrights and devisors. Participants gain access to Touchstone’s current season, alongside opportunities to attend artist talks, staged readings, and a masterclass in playwriting. To learn more or apply, email info@touchstonetheatre.com.

FLYING START PROGRAM

Development continues on 2024-2026 Flying Start program recipient Jordyn Wood’s play Vascular Necrosis. Touchstone Associate Artist Daniela Atiencia helms the program. A powerful incubator for developing playwrights, previous Flying Start recipients include Zahida Rahemtulla (The Wrong Bashir ), Adam Grant Warren (Lights), and Amy Lee Lavoie (C’mon Angie).
SEASON AT A GLANCE 
 

WOMEN OF THE FUR TRADE

By Frances Koncan, directed by Renae Morriseau
A NAC Indigenous Theatre, Great Canadian Theatre Company & Native Earth Production Arts co-production, presented by Touchstone Theatre in association with Western Canada Theatre and UBC Theatre and Film 
Sept 25 - Oct 4, 2025 | Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC 
TICKETS ON SALE
 

GERTRUDE & ALICE

By Evalyn Parry & Anna Chatterton, with Karin Randoja, directed by Lois Anderson
In partnership with Western Gold Theatre and in association with United Players. 
November 6 - 23, 2025 | PAL STUDIO THEATRE 
TICKETS ON SALE
 

2021

Created by Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn, Sam Ferguson
Co-produced by Guilty by Association and The Elbow Theatre 
Presented by Push International Performing Arts Festival and Touchstone Theatre 
January 23 & 24, 2026 | THE ANNEX 
 

DANCEBOY