Touchstone Theatre
A Vancouver professional theatre company devoted to developing and presenting contemporary Canadian plays.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Touchstone Theatre is a professional theatre company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, founded in 1976 by graduates of the University of British Columbia theatre program. Its central purpose is to develop and present Canadian dramatic writing, with particular attention to contemporary stories, new theatrical forms, and cultural perspectives from newcomer, Indigenous, and settler communities. Rather than functioning primarily as a venue or commercial touring label, Touchstone operates as a producing and development organization: it commissions, workshops, premieres, and presents plays, often collaborating with writers, performers, directors, designers, and other arts organizations. The company’s work has generally fallen into three overlapping areas. It has premiered plays by British Columbia writers, mounted subsequent Canadian productions of significant plays first developed elsewhere, and produced works created through its own artistic-development process. This model has made Touchstone an important part of Vancouver’s theatre ecology and has helped advance the careers of Canadian playwrights and actors. Its repertoire has included new Canadian drama, adaptations, collective creations, musicals, intercultural work, and productions addressing political, social, historical, and personal subjects. A major strand of Touchstone’s development activity has been its playwright-support programming. The Playwright in Residence program, later known as Flying Start, provided sustained dramaturgical support and workshops over an extended period, with the goal of bringing a new play to production. The initiative contributed to the development of works such as Kevin Kerr’s Unity (1918), which received national recognition. Touchstone has also worked with the Playwrights Theatre Centre in supporting new writing. Touchstone has maintained significant partnerships within Vancouver and across Canada. In 2003 it joined with Rumble Productions to help establish the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, a Vancouver festival focused on international and contemporary performance. Since 2011, Touchstone and the Arts Club Theatre Company have produced the In Tune Conference, a biennial national event supporting the creation and advancement of Canadian musical theatre. The company’s artistic history includes leadership by Ian Fenwick, Gordon McCall, John Cooper, Katrina Dunn, and Roy Surette. Lois Anderson serves as artistic director and Libby Willoughby as general manager and producer. By its fortieth-anniversary 2015–2016 season, Touchstone reported 36 world premieres and work by 42 Canadian playwrights. Its productions had also accumulated substantial recognition through Vancouver’s Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards, with 106 nominations and 57 wins reported by the end of the 2013–2014 season. Touchstone remains positioned as a Canadian new-play company whose importance lies in artistic development, local cultural production, and the creation of opportunities for emerging and established theatre-makers.
History
Touchstone Theatre was established in Vancouver in 1976 by a group of theatre graduates from the University of British Columbia. From its beginning, the company developed an identity distinct from a conventional repertory presenter by emphasizing professional production, Canadian playwriting, and the creation of new work. Its early seasons combined international and Canadian material, collective creation, and contemporary drama, establishing a broad artistic base while the organization developed its focus on Canadian voices. Across the late 1970s and 1980s, Touchstone produced works by writers including Susan Musgrave, Michael Puttonen, Judith Thompson, Brad Fraser, Lawrence Jeffery, Kelly Rebar, John Murrell, and Joan MacLeod. The repertoire included premieres, Canadian plays receiving further production, adaptations, and devised work. This activity helped strengthen Vancouver’s position as a centre for new Canadian theatre and gave playwrights and performers opportunities to develop work for professional stages. The company’s programming model came to include three principal activities: premiering plays by British Columbia writers, producing important works that had originated elsewhere in Canada, and developing material internally. Touchstone also became known for nurturing artists over time rather than treating each production as an isolated event. Its productions included works by Indigenous and other underrepresented writers, politically engaged drama, queer theatre, intercultural projects, and musical or music-based experiments. During the 1990s, the company expanded its Canadian repertoire with productions such as The Number 14, The Hope Slide, Lilies, The Orphan Muses, and works by Michel Marc Bouchard, Judith Thompson, Gordon Armstrong, and others. Roy Surette served as artistic director before Katrina Dunn succeeded him at the beginning of the 1997–1998 season. Dunn created the Playwright in Residence program, through which Touchstone worked with writers over a sustained period using workshops and dramaturgy. The program later became Flying Start. One notable result was Kevin Kerr’s Unity (1918), a play that Touchstone developed and produced and that subsequently received a Governor General’s Literary Award. The company’s 2000s programming continued to combine established Canadian playwrights with newer voices. Productions included Unity (1918), Sucker Falls, Apple, The Trigger, Little Mercy’s First Murder, How It Works, Age of Arousal, East of Berlin, and Palace of the End. In 2003, Touchstone partnered with Rumble Productions to found the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver. The partnership connected Touchstone to a wider contemporary-performance network and contributed to the city’s annual international performing-arts profile. Touchstone also developed a sustained interest in musical theatre. Since 2011, it has partnered with the Arts Club Theatre Company on In Tune, a national conference held every two years to support Canadian musical creators and new musical projects. The company’s 2010 programming placed particular emphasis on female Canadian playwrights, and in that year Katrina Dunn received the Playwrights Guild of Canada Women’s Caucus Bra D’Or for supporting and promoting women’s writing. By the end of its 38th season in 2014, Touchstone reported 106 Jessie Award nominations and 57 wins. Its fortieth-anniversary season in 2015–2016 marked 36 world premieres and work by 42 Canadian playwrights. Later listed productions included The Road Forward, Late Company, and Jan Derbyshire’s Certified in 2019–2020. The company’s current leadership is identified as Lois Anderson, artistic director, and Libby Willoughby, general manager and producer. Its continuing role is that of a Vancouver-based professional company focused on Canadian stories, new-play development, and collaboration.
- 2015
Fortieth-anniversary season
[1]Anniversary materials cite 36 world premieres and work by 42 Canadian playwrights.
- 2011
In Tune partnership launches
[1]Touchstone begins producing the biennial In Tune Conference with the Arts Club Theatre Company to support Canadian musical theatre.
- 2010
Programming emphasizes female Canadian playwrights
[1]Touchstone dedicates particular attention to work by Canadian women playwrights; Katrina Dunn receives the Bra D’Or from the Playwrights Guild of Canada Women’s Caucus.
- 2003
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival partnership begins
[1]Touchstone and Rumble Productions establish the PuSh festival in Vancouver.
- 1997
Katrina Dunn becomes artistic director
[1]Dunn succeeds Roy Surette at the start of the 1997–1998 season and later establishes the Playwright in Residence program.
- 1976
Touchstone Theatre is founded
[1]A group of University of British Columbia theatre graduates establishes the professional company in Vancouver.
Products and positioning
A Vancouver-based professional theatre producer and new-work developer centered on contemporary Canadian playwriting and culturally diverse perspectives.
Stage productions · 1976
Professional theatre productions
Touchstone produces professional plays and musical or music-driven theatre for Vancouver audiences and, through partnerships and subsequent productions, wider Canadian audiences. Its repertoire combines new Canadian writing, later Canadian productions of significant works, adaptations, and collective creations. The company’s mandate emphasizes contemporary Canadian content, form, and cultural perspectives rather than a fixed genre or commercial formula.
Playwright development
Flying Start
Flying Start, previously called the Playwright in Residence program, is a sustained new-play development initiative. Touchstone works with a playwright over an extended period through workshops, dramaturgical feedback, and production planning. The program is designed to move a play from early development toward professional presentation and has been associated with the development of important Canadian works.
Musical-theatre development · 2011
In Tune Conference
In Tune is a biennial national conference produced by Touchstone in partnership with the Arts Club Theatre Company. It supports Canadian musical-theatre creators by providing a forum for development, exchange, and presentation of new musical projects.
Marketing campaigns
- 2011In Tune
Canada
Touchstone and the Arts Club Theatre Company created a national event focused on developing new Canadian musicals.
Outcome. The conference became a recurring biennial development platform for Canadian musical-theatre creators.
- 2003PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
Vancouver · Canada
Touchstone partnered with Rumble Productions to establish the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, expanding the company’s collaborative role within Vancouver’s contemporary performing-arts community.
Outcome. The partnership created a recurring Vancouver festival platform for international and contemporary performance.
Brand decisions
2011
Launch of the In Tune ConferenceStrategyBackground
Canadian musical theatre required dedicated development opportunities and national creative exchange.
Action taken
Touchstone began producing In Tune with the Arts Club Theatre Company as a biennial event for new Canadian musicals.
Aftermath
The initiative broadened Touchstone’s development work beyond straight plays into musical theatre.
2003
Partnership to establish the PuSh festivalOtherBackground
Vancouver’s contemporary performing-arts sector was developing stronger collaborative and international connections.
Action taken
Touchstone joined Rumble Productions in founding the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.
Aftermath
The partnership added a recurring international performing-arts festival to Vancouver’s cultural calendar.
1997
Creation of the Playwright in Residence programStrategyBackground
Touchstone sought to deepen its role in developing Canadian plays rather than limiting its work to finished productions.
Action taken
Under artistic director Katrina Dunn, the company established a long-term residency model involving workshops and dramaturgy leading toward production.
Aftermath
The program, later called Flying Start, contributed to the development of works including Kevin Kerr’s Unity (1918).
Recent events
- 2019
Touchstone presents Certified[1]
Product launch
Jan Derbyshire’s Certified was included in Touchstone Theatre’s 2019–2020 production chronology.
- 2015
Touchstone Theatre reaches its fortieth anniversary season[1]
Other
The company’s 2015–2016 anniversary materials highlighted a record of 36 world premieres and productions involving 42 Canadian playwrights.
- 2015
Touchstone and Arts Club continue In Tune musical-theatre partnership[1]
Other
The two Vancouver companies continued their biennial In Tune Conference, a national development event for new Canadian musicals.
Sources2 sources
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