Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Soulpepper Theatre Company
Toronto, Ontario , company founded as an actors' theatre in 1997. Its founding members were Martha Burns , Susan Coyne, Ted Dykstra , Michael Hanrahan, Stuart Hughes , Diana Leblanc , Diego Metamoros, Nancy Palk, Albert Schultz (its present Artistic Director), William Webster and Joseph Ziegler. It has three resident directors, Leblanc, Matamoros, Palk.
In its first season in 1998 at Harbourfront Centre, it presented Schiller's Don Carlos (starring Brent Carver ) and a modern reading of Molière 's The Misanthrope (starring Schultz) (both directed by Robin Phillips ) to generally positive reviews. In its second season it presented Williams' A Streetcar Names Desire (and toured the production to the Saidye Bronfman Centre ), Wilder's Our Town, Chekhov's Platonov, Beckett's Endgame and Molnar's The Play's The Thing. The company became the centre of a controversy when the nominations for the 1998-99 Dora Awards were announced and the company had been shut out.
The Soulpepper Theatre is a repertory company with a three-tiered mandate: to present history's great stories in vital Canadian interpretations; to train the next generation of theatre artists; and to enrich and inspire young people through mentorship and access.
It is also committed to developing emerging Canadian talent, and instruction and workshops are given throughout the season aimed at a variety of disciplines including design, directing and acting. In June 2006 it launched the Soulpepper Academy, a revolutionary two-year theatre-training program for mid-career artists, who will be paid for the duration. The program offers a unique combination of studio training, academic study and applied knowledge-apprenticeship training with the Soulpepper main stage company. Applicants are required to have a minimum of four years experience in a professional theatre company.
Its 2000 season included a co-production, with Ed Mirvish and David Mirvish of A Flea in Her Ear and The Mill on the Floss at duMaurier World Stage. In June, 2000 the company's production of Endgame won several Dora Awards. In 2001 the production of Platonov received two Doras. Its 2004 production of Waiting for Godot imaginatively cast William Hutt as Vladimir. For the production of David French 's classic Canadian play, Leaving Home (dir. Ted Dykstra), Jane Spidell was awarded a Dora for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role.
Soulpepper continues to feature "classic" Canadian plays with productions of John Gray 's Billy Bishop Goes to War (with the original cast of John Gray and Eric Peterson (2009, dir Ted Dykstra), John Murrell 's Waiting for the Parade (2010, dir. Joseph Ziegler), and Sharon Pollock 's Doc (2010, dir. Diana Leblanc, with RH Thomson as Doc).
Soulpepper Theatre is located in the restored Distillery Historic District in the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. It launched its first winter season in January 2006, expanding to a nine-show, year-round schedule.
website: www.soulpepper.ca
Profile by Anne Nothof, Athabasca University
Last updated 2010-07-16
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