Touchstone Theatre returns to live performance with Adam Grant Warren’s new Lights, and more
A play about Trayvon Martin and a Scottish-themed queer musical are other highlights
Touchstone Theatre’s Lights, starring Susinn McFarlen and Adam Grant Warren. Photo by David Cooper
Touchstone Theatre has just unveiled a 2021-22 season of four all-Canadian plays. Aptly titled “Let There Be Lights”, the program features three world premieres—with all the shows marking the Vancouver company’s return to the live stage.
Adam Grant Warren’s new play Lights opens the season December 3 to 12 at the Firehall Arts Centre, after being postponed three times due to COVID shutdowns. Starring Warren and veteran star Susinn McFarlen, it’s set in Newfoundland and explores Alzheimer’s and family bonds; Touchstone artistic director Roy Surette directs.
At the same venue, Touchstone copresents Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers during the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. The play by Makambe K Simamba follows Trayvon Martin—the African-American high school student fatally shot in 2012—into the afterlife. Already trailing awards from its run back East, it’s brought to life in a Tarragon Theatre and Black Theatre Workshop coproduction, from January 20 to 22, 2022.
In February 2022, Governor General Award-winning playwright Jason Sherman’s darkly funny, meta-theatrical work Ominous Sounds in the River Crossing (Or Another F*cking Dinner Party Play) makes its world premiere at the Performance Works stage on Granville Island. Directed by Roy Surette, Ominous is a darkly funny, probing piece of metatheatre exploring the ethical quandaries of dramatic invention in today’s cultural context.
And wrapping up the season in June, Touchstone premieres Morag, You’re A Long Time Deid, created and directed by Claire Love Wilson and Peter Lorenz—an “experimental musical” that traces a “queer ancestral enquiry through the recomposition of traditional Scottish music using live loop-soundscapes”. Opening night is June 11 at The Russian Hall.
In honour of the company’s 45th anniversary, Touchstone is offering a two-ticket anniversary pass for $45. The pass can be applied to any two shows in the 2021-22 season and, through proof of purchase, pass holders are also eligible for discounted tickets to Mamma Mia, plus Touchstone’s 2022 Lawyer Show, an annual fundraiser produced in partnership with Carousel Theatre.
Meanwhile, Touchstone has put out a call for proposals for the David King Prize, a $3000 cash prize awarded by a jury for the development or production of a new comedic work. The award was created in honour of the beloved playwright David King, who died in January 2021. Deadline for proposals is December 15, with the award announced January 31, 2022.
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