Touchstone Theatre is a professional theatre company in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, founded in 1976 by a group of University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

 theatre graduates. Touchstone's focus is on the development and production of Canadian works. The current Artistic Director is Katrina Dunn

Katrina Dunn

Katrina Dunn is an actor, director, and producer. She has been the Artistic Director of Touchstone Theatre in Vancouver, Canada since 1997.-Training and work:...

, who has served in that position since 1997. Former Artistic Directors have included Gordon McCall, John Cooper and Roy Surette.

Mandate and activities

As of its 30th anniversary in 2005, Touchstone had produced 26 world premieres and works by 38 Canadian playwrights. Touchstone's "All-Canadian" mandate is carried out by several means. Touchstone mounts premiere productions of plays by British Columbian playwrights, it mounts second productions of important plays that premiered in other areas of Canada, and it produces works developed within the company. Touchstone has helped launch and develop the careers of numerous playwrights and actors. For example, Touchstone theatre was Callum Keith Rennie

Callum Keith Rennie

Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...

's first professional theatre performance was in Touchstone's 1990-91 production of production of Lost Souls and Missing Persons. Touchstone fosters the creation of new works through its "Playwright in Residence" program. Under the program, Touchstone spends two to three years working with a playwright to develop a play through workshops and dramaturgy

Dramaturgy

Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. Dramaturgy is a distinct practice separate from play writing and directing, although a single individual may perform any combination of the three. Some dramatists combine writing and...

 to production. The "Playwright in Residence" program has resulted in the development of plays such as Kevin Kerr

Kevin Kerr

Kevin Kerr is a Canadian playwright, actor, director and founding member of Electric Company Theatre. From 2007 to 2010, he was Lee Playwright in Residence at University of Alberta....

's Governor General's Awards-winning Unity (1918). In 2010, the Touchstone program focussed on female Canadian playwrights.

In 2003, Touchstone partnered with Rumble Productions to found the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is held in Vancouver, British Colombia each year. Produced over 20 days each January, the PuSh Festival presents work in the live performing arts: theatre, dance, music and various hybrid forms of performance...

, a performing arts

Performing arts

The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

 festival held every January.

Awards

Touchstone's body of work has garnered many awards and nominations, including numerous Jessie Awards. At the time of its 30th anniversary in 2005, Touchstone had earned 76 Jessie nominations and won 51 Jessie Awards.

In 2010, Artistic Director Katrina Dunn was recognized by the Women’s Caucus of the Playwrights Guild of Canada

Playwrights Guild of Canada

Playwrights Guild of Canada is a non-profit national association of professional and emerging playwrights. It was founded in 1972 as Playwrights Co-op...

, who awarded Dunn with its "Bra D'Or" for supporting and promoting the work of Canadian female playwrights.

Chronology of plays

Touchstone Theatre had produced the following plays, some in partnership with other theatre companies:

• 1976/1977
  • The Exception & the Rule by Bertolt Brecht
    Bertolt Brecht
    Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
    
    
  • The Farce of Pierre Patelin by Anonymous
  • King Stag by Carlo Gozzi

• 1977/1978
  • Faces in the Fast Lane A collective creation
  • Broken Dolls A collective creation
  • Gullband by Susan Musgrave
    Susan Musgrave
    Susan Musgrave is a Canadian poet and children's writer. She was born in Santa Cruz, California to Canadian parents, and currently lives in British Columbia, dividing her time between Sidney and the Queen Charlotte Islands....
    
    

• 1978/1979
  • The Unseen Hand by Sam Shepard
    Sam Shepard
    Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
    
    
  • Hot Rods & Heavy Water by Michael Puttonen
  • Angel City by Sam Shepard

• 1979/1980
  • HIGHBALL! by Ronald Weihs

• 1980/1981
  • Revenge by Howard Brenton
  • Games by Ivan Klima

• 1981/1982
  • The Man Himself by Alan Drury
  • The Crackwalker by Judith Thompson
    Judith Thompson
    Judith Clare Thompson, OC is a Canadian playwright who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail once declared that "...in this country, a playwright as good as Judith Thompson is a miracle." She has twice been awarded the Governor General's Award for drama, and is the...
    
    

• 1982/1983
  • The Wolf Boy by Brad Fraser
  • Clay by Lawrence Jeffery

• 1983/1984
  • Children of the Night by Paul Ledoux
  • Checkin’ Out by Kelly Rebar

• 1984/1985
  • Sex Tips for Modern Girls A collective creation
  • White Biting Dog by Judith Thompson

• 1985/1986
  • Going Down for the Count by Peter Eliot Weiss
  • El Crocodor A collective creation
  • Nancy Prew: Clue in the Fast Lane

• 1986/1987
  • Life Skills by David King
  • Farther West by Roy Surette

• 1987/1988
  • Red Channels by Jennifer Martin & Leslie Mildiner
  • Zaydok by Dennis Foon
  • Three Penny Opera by Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill
    Kurt Weill
    Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
    
    

• 1988/1989
  • Bones by Peter Anderson
  • Toronto, Mississippi by Joan MacLeod
  • Jewel by Joan Macleod
  • Lost Souls & Missing Persons by Sally Clark

• 1989/1990
  • Where is Kabuki? by Don Druik
  • Homework & Curtains by John Lazarus
  • Local Colour by David King

• 1990/1991
  • The Invisible Detective by Peter Eliot Weiss with song by Ken MacDonald and Morris Panych
    Morris Panych
    Stephen Morris Panych is a Canadian playwright, director and actor.Morris Panych was born in Calgary and grew up in Edmonton. He studied at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, and the University of British Columbia...
    
    
  • Unidentified Human Remains & The True Nature of Love by Brad Fraser

• 1991/1992
  • Lion in the Streets by Judith Thompson
  • A Map of Senses by Gordon Amstrong

• 1992/1993
  • The Number 14 A collective creation
  • The Hope Slide by Joan MacLeod
  • Iceberg Lettuce by Katherine Schlemmer

• 1993/1994
  • Whale Riding Weather by Bryden MacDonald
  • Lilies by Michel Marc Bouchard
  • WAK! by Sheri-D Wilson and Savannah Walling

• 1994/1995
  • The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt
  • The Erotic Art Show by Kathryn Allison

• 1995/1996
  • When We Were Singing by Dorothy Dittrich
  • The Orphan Muses by Michel Marc Bouchard

• 1996/1997
  • Sex in Heaven by Gordon Armstrong
  • Sled by Judith Thompson
  • Boy Wonder (In partnership with Ballet British Columbia and Vancouver New Music)

• 1997/1998
  • The Weekend Healer by Bryden MacDonald
  • Grace by Michael Lewis MacLennan

• 1998/1999
  • The Good Person of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht, Marguerite Steffin and Ruth Berlau
  • Passion by Conrad Alexandrowicz
  • Cherry Docs by David Gow

• 1999/2000
  • It’s All True by Jason Sherman
  • Je me souviens by Lorena Gale
  • 15 Seconds by François Archambault

• 2000/2001
  • Kilt by Jonathan Wilson
  • Kicked by Michael Healey
  • Unity(1918) by Kevin Kerr
    Kevin Kerr
    Kevin Kerr is a Canadian playwright, actor, director and founding member of Electric Company Theatre. From 2007 to 2010, he was Lee Playwright in Residence at University of Alberta....
    
    

• 2001/2002
  • Sucker Falls by Drew Hayden Taylor
  • Emphysema by Janet Munsil
  • Hosanna by Michel Tremblay

• 2002/2003
  • Lisa Lisa by Rick Dobran
  • Apple by Vern Thiessen
  • The Family Way by Kathleen Oliver

• 2003/2004
  • Unity(1918) by Kevin Kerr
  • The League of Nathans by Jason Sherman

• 2004/2005
  • Strawberries in January by Evelyne de la Chenelière
  • The Trigger by Carmen Aguirre

• 2005/2006
  • Little Mercy’s First Murder Book & lyrics by Morwyn Brebner, music by Jay Turvey and Paul Sportelli
  • Prodigal Son by Shawn Macdonald

• 2006/2007
  • Life After God by Michael Lewis MacLennan
  • Hippies and Bolsheviks by Amiel Gladstone
    Amiel Gladstone
    Amiel Gladstone is a Canadian playwright and director. A graduate of the University of Victoria, Gladstone is a founder of Theatre Skam, an alternative theatre company in Victoria, BC and is the former Artistic Associate at Caravan Farm Theatre and the Belfry Theatre...
    
    

• 2007/2008
  • How It Works by Daniel MacIvor
  • The Dissemblers by Jason Bryden
  • Tideline by Wajdi Mouawad, translated by Shelley Tepperman

• 2008/2009
  • Age of Arousal by Linda Griffiths
    Linda Griffiths
    Linda Griffiths is a Canadian actor and playwright.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Griffiths studied at Dawson College, the National Theatre School for one year, and McGill University....
    
    
  • East of Berlin by by Hannah Moscovitch
  • Influence by Janet Munsil
  • Palace of the End by Judith Thompson

• 2009/2010
  • Any Night by Daniel Arnold, Medina Hahn and Ron Jenkins
  • Demon Night by Shawn Macdonald
  • Herr Beckmann's People by Sally Stubbs

• 2010/2011
  • Mimi (Or A Prisoner's Comedy Lyrics and music by Allen Cole, book and lyrics by Melody A. Johnson and Rick Roberts
  • Hard Core Logo: Live Adaptation by Michael Scholar, Jr., based on the book by Michael Turner
    Michael Turner (musician)
    For other people named Michael Turner, see Michael Turner.Michael Turner is a musician, and writer of poetry, prose and opera librettos....
    
    , film by Bruce McDonald, and screenplay by Noel S. Baker. Original Music by Joe Keithley
    Joe Keithley
    Joey "Shithead" Keithley is a punk musician with the band D.O.A.. He was raised in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and attended Burnaby North Secondary. At age 11, he began playing drums. He would later take up the guitar and vocals. He owns and operates his own record company, Sudden Death...
    
    , lyrics by Michael Turner
  • Love Songs By Ana Sokolovic