Touchstone Theatre is ready to turn on the stage lights as its unveiled its 45th season. The 2021/22 season is tagged, Let There Be Lights refering to the three-time Covid-postponed Flying Start production of Adam Grant Warren’s play, Lights. It also heralds Touchstone’s bold return to live performance in some of Vancouver’s most intimate venues:
“I can’t express how wonderful it feels to announce our 45th Anniversary Season of live theatre. While it has been a valuable time of reflection, examination, and reinvention, we’ve missed gathering together to share stories.” says Roy Surette, Artistic Director
“When the stage lights go on we promise to transport you, bringing you luminous, engaging, and provocative new works – the kind of theatre you have come to expect from Touchstone. Join us as we celebrate leading local and national playwrights, actors and designers and welcome emerging creators – the next generation of theatre artists and leaders enriching our community. All the while proceeding with care and your safety and comfort in mind.”
The season features a dynamic lineup with four Canadian works, including three World Premieres reflecting Touchstone’s continued commitment to new Canadian play development. This commitment is also highlighted by its Flying Start Program and the new $3k David King Prize for new comedic work, which is currently accepting submissions for the juried prize until December 15, 2021.
The Let There Be Lights 2021/22 Season includes:
WORLD PREMIERE – LIGHTS by Adam Warren Grant
In Association with the Firehall Arts Centre
December 2 – 12, 2021 @ Firehall Arts Centre
At once funny, intimate, and unsettling, Lights is a portrait of a tight-night family facing profound life changes and what remains when a lifetime of memories begin to fade away.
Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers by Makambe K Simamba
A Tarragon Theatre and Black Theatre Workshop co-production
Presented with Push International Performing Arts Festival & The Firehall Arts Centre
Jan 20 – 22, 2022 @ Firehall Arts Centre
Based on Trayvon Martin – the African-American high school student fatally shot in 2012 – and his first hours in the afterlife Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers is a protest for all Black life beyond headlines and hashtags, a prayer for all families left behind, and a promise to the community that all Black lives matter.
WORLD PREMIERE – Ominous Sounds at the River Crossing (Or Another F*cking Dinner Party) by Jason Sherman
February 25 – March 5, 2022 @ Performance Works, Granville Island
Pirandello meets Brecht meets the Twilight Zone. Ethics and art collide in this timely, darkly funny, and existential play by acclaimed playwright Jason Sherman.
WORLD PREMIERE – Morag, You’re A Long Time Deid by Claire Love Wilson & Peter Lorenz
In Association with Touchstone Theatre
June 10 -19 | OPENING NIGHT June 11 |The Russian Hall
This new, internationally created experimental musical warps, disrupts, and reconfigures traditional Scottish storytelling, ballad singing and participatory community dance. Reimagining ceilidh theatre from a queer perspective, original compositions are playfully interwoven with electronic loops and interactive dancing to tell old stories anew.
Tickets and Passes for Touchstone Theatre’s Let There Be Lights 2021/22 season are on sale now on touchstonetheatre.com.
In addition to its annual season $90 4-show Play Club Pass, in honour of the company’s45th Anniversary, Touchstone is offering a two-ticket Anniversary pass for $45 dollars. Pass holders are also eligible for discounted tickets to Mamma Mia – Touchstone’s 2022 Lawyer Show and annual fundraiser produced in partnership with Carousel Theatre.