The Marriage of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
Written and directed by Edward Einhorn
A marriage farce in which four actors play over thirty characters. Identities are merged and submerged. Written in a style that echoes Stein’s work, this is a comic fantasy with serious intent.
Performed in New York, London, and the Edinburgh Fringe
EDINBURGH FRINGE PRODUCTION:
July 30 - August 25 2025
At Gilded Balloon
in Patter House - The Dram
1pm
With: Barsha, Jenny Lee Mitchell, Grant Neale, Alyssa Simon
Choreography: Patrice Miller; Costume Design: Ramona Ponce; Sound Design: Mark Bruckner; Set Design: Tom Lee; Set Construction: Geert Rigters; Rehearsal SM: Berit Johnson
NEW YORK PRODUCTION:
May 10 - 28 2017
At HERE Arts Center
145 6th Ave
With: Jan Leslie Harding, Mia Katigbak, Grant Neale, Alyssa Simon
Set Designers: Justin & Christopher Swader; Costume Designer: Ramona Ponce; Lighting Designer : Mary Ellen Stebbins; Sound Designer: Mark Bruckner; Stage Manager: Berit Johnson; Assistant Director: Becca Silbert; Production Manager: Corinne Woods; Wardrobe: Tristen Dossett; Production Assistants: Victoria Giambalvo, Delia Kemph, Eloy Rosario, Lauren Winnenberg
LONDON PRODUCTION:
March 17 - April 16 2022
At Jermyn Street Theatre
READ MORE ABOUT THAT PRODUCTION HERE
Art by Carolin Raship
Reviews
5 STARS “An unmissable delight… But slapstick charades and absurdist dialogue aside: something more profound and existential thrums beneath the surface of this play, a thing which is continually, rivetingly, pretending to be something else." [Edinburgh Fringe production]
— Eliana Jordan,
Jewish Chronicle
4 STARS “It’s quite a powerful 90 mins of straight-through theatre because it has layers. Although The Marriage of Alice B Toklas by Gertrude Stein is very funny, not least because there’s an element of theatre sending itself up, it’s also a rueful reflection on gay marriage. That sits alongside an exploration of the nature of genius – with a sideways glance at the predicament of Jews during the lifetime of these women. It’s a celebration of lifelong love too and that’s always satisfying.” [London production]
— Susan Elkin,
Sardines
CRITIC’S PICK “Einhorn gives Stein, and often Toklas, dialogue that circles and careens before crash landing in unknown territory...As brilliantly phrased by Ms. Simon, [Toklas'] gnomic utterances take on as much emotional depth as Stein's manner of speaking denies them, and surprises us in revealing the cost beneath the camp....He is interested in borrowing Stein's compulsively reiterative prose style for its intrinsic delight. To that extent, this 'Marriage' is a silly aural pleasure...What makes the insight fresh in Mr. Einhorn's play, is the absurdist language in which it's told. And what makes it painful is the understanding that in every marriage, someone is the genius, someone not." [NY production]