Gertrude and Alice
September 15 - October 7
The lives, love, and legacy of Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas.
Visiting the audience in the present day, Gertrude and Alice come to find out how history has treated them. The couple recounts stories of their 40-year marriage, of meetings with iconic artists and writers, and of Alice’s overwhelming, consuming devotion to Gertrude’s genius. Before they leave, they want to find out what has become of their artistic and cultural influence, and how their lives and work are – or are not – remembered.
One of the most significant and contentious female voices in the 20th century, Gertrude Stein rose to international notoriety with her memoir The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas. She influenced a generation of artists and writers, but her own work remains hotly debated for its controversial and sometimes contradictory statements. Her genius, however, was unquestioned by her partner Alice B Toklas, who dedicated her life to supporting the work of the woman she loved.
Nominated for three Dora Awards and recently published by Playwrights Canada Press, the beloved story of Gertrude and Alice returns to the Buddies stage with a new production design from celebrated visual artist Sherri Hay. As our queer heroes chart their influence and legacy in their own artistic moment, the 21st century art installation in which they find themselves evolves at an almost-imperceptible yet constant pace, creating a stunning visual metaphor for the questions the play explores.
Gertrude and Alice was originally developed through the Buddies Residency Program, sponsored by BMO Financial Group. buddiesinbadtimes.com/residency
photo of Evalyn Parry + Anna Chatterton by Tanja-Tiziana
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photos by Jeremy Mimnagh.
Set by Sherri Hay. Lighting by Michelle Ramsay. Costumes by Ming Wong.
“Their still-potent chemistry is a delight; few artists are able to blend material that’s slyly comic and warmly heartfelt in such a delicate yet sure fashion.”
-Now Magazine (read article)
“Parry and Chatterton make us thankful for the arrival of these two legendary women”
-Toronto Star (read article)
“incredibly compelling… a picture of a complicated but devoted couple that had tears streaming down my face”
-My Entertainment World (read article)
“comprehensible, comic, and on one occasion erotic… a triumph”
-My Gay Toronto (read article)
“charming… it’s the heart of the piece that hits you”
-Globe and Mail (read article)
“A love letter to the lives of Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas in a subtle, elegant, deeply felt production”
-Lynn Slotkin (read article)
a Buddies in Bad Times Theatre production
GERTRUDE AND ALICE
conceived + created by THE INDEPENDENT AUNTIES
directed + dramaturged by KARIN RANDOJA
written + performed by ANNA CHATTERTON + EVALYN PARRY
with additional text by GERTRUDE STEIN + ALICE B TOKLAS
set design SHERRI HAY
lighting design MICHELLE RAMSAY
costume design MING WONG
composition KARIN RANDOJA
sound design ALEDA DEROCHE
stage management CHRISTINA CICKO
SEPTEMBER 15 – OCTOBER 7, 2018
Saturday, September 15 // 8:00 PM (preview)
Sunday, September 16 // 8:00 PM (preview)
Tuesday, September 18 // 8:00 PM (preview)
Wednesday, September 19 // 8:00 PM (preview)
Thursday, September 20 // 8:00 PM (opening night)
Friday, September 21 // 8:00 PM
Saturday, September 22 // 8:00 PM
Sunday, September 23 // 2:30 PM
Tuesday, September 25 // 8:00 PM
Wednesday, September 26 // 8:00 PM
Thursday, September 27 // 8:00 PM – talkback moderated by Tara Goldstein
Friday, September 28 // 8:00 PM
Saturday, September 29 // 8:00 PM
Sunday, September 30 // 2:30 PM (Relaxed Performance) – followed by the Gertrude on Gertrude on Gertrude salon
Tuesday, October 2 // 8:00 PM
Wednesday, October 3 // 8:00 PM (Deaf-interpreted Performance in ASL)
Thursday, October 4 // 8:00 PM – talkback moderated by Jessica Lewis
Friday, October 5 // 8:00 PM
Saturday, October 6 // 8:00 PM
Sunday, October 7 // 2:30 PM
We are offering a relaxed performance and an ASL-interpreted performance for Gertrude and Alice.
Relaxed Performance
Relaxed Performances are designed to welcome audience members who will benefit from a more relaxed performance environment, such as folks on the Autism Spectrum or who live with Tourettes, delayed learning, or diverse abilities.
Sunday, September 30 – 2:30PM
Use the code “RP10” at checkout to access $10 tickets for the relaxed performance.
View the visual story for Gertrude and Alice.
View the visual story for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Deaf-interpreted Performance in ASL
Wednesday, October 3 – 8PM
Use the code “ASL10” at checkout to access $10 tickets to the ASL-interpreted performance.
When we began to talk about bringing Gertrude and Alice back to the Buddies stage, I felt it was an opportunity – a rare and wonderful opportunity – to continue the creative process, rather than simply reproduce what had been done the last time.
Inspired by Gertrude’s artistic commitment to contemporaneity and her emphatic insistence on art as an expression of the present and the future, for this new production we invited contemporary artist Sherri Hay to interpret the physical, visual world of the play from a new point of view.
Gertrude Stein and her wife Alice B Toklas were Americans living in Paris in the early 20th century who became influential figures in the birth of modernism. Their collection of modern art – early works of many painters including Picasso, Matisse and Gauguin, who were to become the defining artists of their generation – was what first made Gertrude and Alice famous as tastemakers at the centre of an avant garde art. But Gertrude was also a prolific writer, obsessed with capturing the essence of the rapidly changing times she lived in through words and formal literary experiment. Influenced by the paintings and painters she loved, she strove to do the same thing with language and literature.
The play is set in “the continuous present”, a concept that Gertrude wrote and spoke about extensively in relationship to the creative /artistic process. Gertrude also famously referred to plays as “landscapes”. It seemed only fitting that the design of this play – a meditation on art, time, love and influence – should be put into the hands of a wildly original, contemporary artist of our own time.
Read the full post on the blog.
WAYS TO SAVE
Whether you want to see just one show or keep coming back for more, Buddies has affordable ticket options that are right for you. Many shows have Pay What You Can ticket options where you pick whatever price works for you, and you can save even more when you sign up for Buddies Rewards.
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TICKET PRICES
Previews $20
Tu_W $35
Th_F_Sa $40
Su $35
Previews $20
Tu_W $30
Th_F_Sa $35
Su $30
Pay What You Can
Buddies believes that everyone should be able to see our shows, which is why we’re expanding our Pay What You Can ticket program for our 40th Anniversary Season. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday a block of tickets will go on sale at noon for that day’s performance, and you pick the price. Whatever fits your budget, that’s what the ticket costs. Pay What You Can tickets are available until 7:00pm on weekdays and 2:30pm on Sundays, or until they sell out – whichever comes first.
Tickets are generally only available in-person at our box office, and we recommend getting here early for more popular shows as these tickets can sell fast. However, if getting down here in the middle of the day presents a barrier – accessible transportation, childcare, etc – simply call the box office at 416-975-8555 and we’ll reserve a Pay What You Can ticket for you that you can purchase when you arrive to see the show.
For more information, including Group Rates and Rush Ticket policies, click here.