Touchstone Theatre’s 50th Anniversary season launches September 24th with the acclaimed revival of Women of the Fur Trade by Anishinaabe/Slovene playwright Frances Koncan.
The acclaimed play, a remount by Touchstone and Western Canada Theatre, runs until October 4th, at the Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC. Women of the Fur Trade, riotous satire of survival and cultural inheritance, as it shifts the spotlight from the male gaze to women’s power past and present against the backdrop of the Canadian fur trade. Set in a Red River fort “in eighteen hundred and something something”, three women sip tea and debate revolution, colonization, and the sex appeal of Louis Riel. Marie-Angelique (Kelsey Kanatan Wavey), a Métis Taurus with a plan, is busy writing bold love letters to Riel (Jonathan Fisher), convinced they’re fated. Ojibwe Sagittarius trapper Eugenia (Columpa Bobb) brings word of the rebellion back to the fort but isn’t impressed with the “overrated” Louis. Meanwhile, European settler Cecilia (Cheri Maracle), a pregnant Virgo anxiously awaiting her husband’s return, secretly pines over Thomas Scott (Victor Hunter) – who, unbeknownst to her, is the one actually responding to Marie-Angelique’s letters. Blending sharp wit, pop culture nods, modern slang, and incisive historical commentary, Kon?an’s time-bending play hilariously flips the script on colonial, male-centric narratives, placing three unforgettable women at the centre.
Presented in partnership with UBC and Western Canada Theatre Company, Koncan’s storytelling power has propelled Women of the Fur Trade – from its Toronto Fringe debut to the Stratford Festival – into one of the most widely produced plays in Canada.
Women of the Fur Trade is directed by Renae Morriseau and stars Kelsey Kanatan Wavey (The Rez Sisters, Royal Manitoba Theatre), Cheri Maracle (Father Tartuffe: an Indigenous Misadventure, Arts Club Theatre), Columpa Bobb (White Noise, Firehall Arts Centre), Victor Hunter (Oliver!, Gateway Theatre) and Jonathan Fisher (Copper Thunderbird, National Arts Centre).
Frances Koncan’s Women of the Fur Trade runs September 24 to October 4, 2025 at Fredrick Wood Theatre, 6354 Crescent Road, UBC. For more information and tickets visit touchstonetheatre.com or call 604-709-9973