Touchstone Theatre opens season with Vascular Necrosis, a queer zombie love story
Jordyn Wood's world-premiere dark comedy explores mental health and second chances through zombie mythology, running October 7–18 on Granville Island.
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Touchstone Theatre is kicking off its 2026–27 season with Vascular Necrosis, a world-premiere dark comedy by Vancouver playwright Jordyn Wood that uses zombie mythology and queer romance to explore depression, trauma, disability, and belonging.
The play follows Penelope, who died by suicide five years ago and returns from the grave with a complication: she's now a flesh-eating zombie. With the help of medication called "de-necrotizers" that keep her zombie impulses under control, Penelope gets another shot at joining the living. What unfolds is less apocalyptic horror and more a complicated second chance at life.
Wood uses the genre framework to examine whether people still belong in worlds that have changed around them, threading questions of hope and mental health through the piece. "At its core, Vascular Necrosis invites audiences into a conversation about life itself: why we are here, and why we might choose to stay or not to stay," said Touchstone Theatre artistic director Lois Anderson. "Jordyn Wood has crafted a queer zombie love story at a moment of great precarity for the human species. With extraordinary emotional depth and humour, the piece considers hope and mental health in a time of global trauma."
Vascular Necrosis arrives through Touchstone's Flying Start program, a two-year incubator for early-career playwrights that guides new work through development, workshops, and eventually full professional production. Wood was selected for the program with this piece, which has previously appeared in staged-reading form. Wood, a Vancouver-based theatre artist, frequently filters lived experience through science fiction and horror, with work informed by queerness, chronic illness, and mental health disability.
Vascular Necrosis runs October 7–18 at The NEST on Granville Island. Tickets are $20 and up, available through the theatre's website.
The details
When does Vascular Necrosis run?
Vascular Necrosis runs October 7–18, 2026 at The NEST on Granville Island.
Who wrote Vascular Necrosis?
Jordyn Wood, a Vancouver-based theatre artist, wrote Vascular Necrosis as a world-premiere play.
How much are tickets?
Tickets to Vascular Necrosis are $20 and up, available through Touchstone Theatre's website.
What is Vascular Necrosis about?
Vascular Necrosis is a dark comedy that follows Penelope, who died by suicide five years ago and returns as a flesh-eating zombie. Using zombie mythology and queer romance, the play explores depression, trauma, disability, and belonging, examining whether people still belong in worlds that have changed around them.
