Toronto's theatre season used to be pretty quiet in the summer months. Big theatres ran their productions in the fall and spring, and the summertime belonged to out-of-town festivals, leaving little for the downtown community. Seeing an opportunity to fill that gap, 12 local actors, writers, and directors, under the leadership of Albert Schultz, launched Soulpepper Theatre Company, which ran four or five plays at Harbourfront. Soulpepper began with three mandates: performing classic plays, offering youth outreach, and providing artist training.
Today, in their home in the Distillery District, Soulpepper has grown into Toronto's largest artistic enterprise, expanding on all three aspects of their mandate exponentially. Where they once ran a handful of summertime productions, the now run all year round, with over 800 events each year. Soulpepper is the one of the largest employers in Canadian theatre, employing over 215 theatre artists. The company offers a paid two-year full time residency through the Soulpepper Academy, and their free youth outreach and education programs reach over 8,500 aspiring artists every year, including the six-week paid summer program, the City Youth Academy.
