THEATRE PREVIEW

OCTOBER 2025 | Volume 256

 

Western Gold Theatre in partnership with Touchstone Theatre and in association with United Players of Vancouver presents

GERTRUDE AND ALICE

By Anna Chatterton, Evalyn Parry and Karin Randoja

Directed by Lois Anderson

Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas visit PAL Studio Theatre to recount their forty-year relationship; their famous salons where the who's who of artists gathered, including expatriate writers Ernest Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson and Ezra Pound; and Alice's devotion to Gertrude's genius.

They survived in Paris in WW2. Now they want to find out how their lives are – or are not – remembered.

Nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award (2018)

CAST
Tanja Dixon-Warren: Gertrude Stein
Kelsi James: Alice B Toklas

CREATIVE TEAM
Lois Anderson: Director | Julia Lank: Sound Designer | Ben Paul: Lighting Designer|
Andy Sandberg: Stage Manager | Sheila White: Costume Designer | Cecilia Vadala: Set/Props Designer

November 6-23, 2025
PAL STUDIO THEATRE, 8th Floor, 581 Cardero Street, Vancouver BC
Performance times: Evenings: Wed-Sat at 7:30pm | Matinees: Thurs, Sat, Sun (starting Nov 8) at 2:00pm
Opening and Closing Performances Sponsored by: Chartwell Retirement
Tickets: Preview $30 | Matinees $35 | Evening Performances $40
Ticket link: https://westerngoldtheatre.tickit.ca/events/27523
Info: https://westerngoldtheatre.org/

Additional Gertrude and Alice events to note:
Friday, November 14 – Playwright Anna Chatterton joins the Optional Act 2 Artist Salon after the show.
Saturday, November 15, 10:30am – 12:30pm – Embodied Playmaking Workshop with Anna Chatterton
In a workshop geared to playwrights and theatre makers, playwright and creator Anna Chatterton offers an entry point into creating original work. (see https://westerngoldtheatre.org/on-stage/#gertrude for a full description).PAL Studio Theatre. Pay What You Choose (Suggested $30)

Playwrights'/Creators' Notes
"Is there repetition, or is there insistence? I am inclined to believe there is no such thing as repetition."  - Gertrude Stein

We are absolutely delighted that Gertrude and Alice return to Vancouver in this fine production. As writer/creators, we originally wrote these roles to perform them (in the 2016 premiere at Buddies directed by Karin Randoja, Evalyn played Gertrude and Anna played Alice). But as much as we loved playing these characters, it brings us even more pleasure to witness other artists bringing them to life, again.

Through the long research and creation process of this script, we strove to balance experiments in text and style with narrative and emotional truth. Though Stein became famous (in her sixties) for her accessible, funny and populist work The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas, her true passion was her highly experimental writing practice. We wanted the play to embody the challenges, as well as the riddles and the fun that her work presents, in both its form and content.

Poet and Stein scholar Joan Retallack asks, "How does one develop a contemporary aesthetic, a way of being an artist who connects with the unprecedented character of one's times? [Stein's] starting principle was that we must meet the contemporary moment on its terms— not in ignorance of history but in informed composition of it. Is there any aspect of one's work that poses greater difficulty?"

Before this play ends— and the characters depart from whence they came— we ask: can a life lived fully, with attentiveness to the present moment, be enough? Can the experience of being witnessed and heard by a contemporary audience grant Gertrude and Alice some closure and resolution about their legacy, the meaning of their lives and work?

As contemporary creators— as writers, artists, women, secular Jews, lesbians, queers, outsiders ourselves— we believe Gertrude and Alice have something real and relevant to share with us now. Just as Stein strove to record and express the "continuous present" in her writing, so we strive to do the same thing with this play, in our own time: using these historical characters to unpack and articulate this very moment in which we are alive.

We hope Gertrude and Alice will inspire you, as they have inspired us.

~ Evalyn Parry, Anna Chatterton & Karin Randoja (The Independent Aunties)

Director's Notes (Lois Anderson)
The act of creation is about listening and looking, really looking, really seeing and capturing what you are seeing inside the continuous present.

Stein's writing has always felt impenetrable to me. I knew that in staging Gertrude and Alice we would encounter Stein's manifesto, and that we would put the bones onto a deeply domestic love story. But I didn't expect to fall for her writing. Slowly, through the rehearsal process, I began to hear the rhythm and wit of Stein's text spoken aloud. I began to hear the clarion call she sent up for art to reflect the present/current/contemporary moment in history that the artist finds themselves in.

I am thrilled to be re-mounting our 2024 production of Gertrude and Alice by Canadian playwrights Evalyn Parry, Anna Chatterton and Karin Randoja. Thrilled to re-encounter Stein's manifesto "Art is not an escape. There is no escape." Thrilled to re-visit the love story between these two artists portrayed so deliciously by Tanja Dixon-Warren and Kelsi James.
~ Lois Anderson

Artistic Director's Notes (Tanja Dixon-Warren)
This is a treat! For me personally, and I hope for you also.

Nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award (2018), Anna Chatterton, Evalyn Parry, and Karin Randoja have fashioned a wonderful, joyous and exhilarating work—a perfect fit for WGT.

Their telling of a long-term lesbian relationship examines traditional gender roles, with two vibrant women at the centre. Thematically, it explores liberation, resilience, personal agency while facing heartbreak and adversity in a rapidly changing world; then looking forward and embracing new possibilities. It asks us to think about mortality and be mindful of what we leave behind. It is a brilliant meditation of being women, writers, art advocators, and passionate lovers of life and each other. At its heart, it celebrates big love. This is my jam.
WGT artists and audiences love words! Based on Stein and Toklas's own books, lectures, and letters, Gertrude and Alice is rich, complex, poetic, and fluid. It plays with tense, imagery, and repetition. It is also resoundingly funny while being deeply moving. It is one of the most wonderful pieces I have ever worked on. It's a mammoth undertaking and a mountain we happily climb.

Presenting the collaborative work of three of Canada's most innovative playwrights is an honour. Performing in it alongside the glorious Kelsi James is beyond! Led by Lois Anderson, the creative company of Gertrude and Alice is stellar. They are the ones who make dreams happen.

I am thrilled that United Players supported my desire to take this beautiful play and their original Vancouver production one step further. I am equally thrilled that Touchstone Theatre has come on board to help us see it to fruition. Co-presenting with other organizations is necessary. It is a concrete way to share resources, build community, and ensure we continue to create the meaningful, high-caliber work we are so proud to be doing.

For me, theatre is a conversation and a dance; a conversation that begins with the playwright, moves to the rehearsal hall with directors, actors, designers, stage management, and crew and then, most importantly, is fully realized as a dance when you, the audience, join us. That's when the magic happens!

A big and important part of this production is the on-going conversation/dance with you, so I encourage you to join us after each performance for a nightly 'salon' (aka optional Act 2) with the creative team.

 

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