INTO THE FIRE
Theatre veteran Emma Stenning named Soulpepper executive director following sex-misconduct scandal
TORONTO This isn’t the first time incoming Soulpepper Theatre Company executive director Emma Stenning has faced the fallout of a sexual-misconduct scandal that rocked the arts world.
The U.K.-based theatre veteran, whose hiring was announced Thursday, comes to Toronto by way of the Bristol Old Vic, where she served as the company’s chief executive for the past nine years. The present company there traces its origins back to 1946, when it was established as an offshoot of the esteemed Old Vic in London.
London’s Old Vic was thrust into the #MeToo spotlight in November after the theatre said it had received 20 allegations of inappropriate behaviour against its former artistic director Kevin Spacey.
While the theatre companies are separate, Stenning said the Bristol Old Vic worked closely with its London counterpart to develop a program in which staff members are trained as “guardians” to whom their colleagues can turn for confidential counsel about workplace concerns.
Across the pond, Soulpepper has shown a similar commitment to culture change in the face of a nowresolved legal battle over sexualmisconduct allegations against its former artistic director, Stenning said, and she plans to build on this progress.
“You’ve got to walk the talk ... Policies that sit on bits of paper in people’s drawers are no good,” Stenning said in a recent interview.
“We have to have an active culture of listening, of learning, of supporting each other. I hope to embody that, to lead from the front, just as I have in Bristol.”
Having overseen a 25-millionpound ($42-million) overhaul of the 18th-century theatre, Stenning said she felt her tenure at the Bristol Old Vic was coming to a natural close. And as she looks toward Soulpepper’s next chapter, Stenning said the theatre’s standing is not as “wobbly ” as one might think.
“My vision for the company is just to continue to work with the team on this process of stabilization, I suppose, and make sure that we are really ready to deliver a bold future.”
When she assumes her full executive duties this November, Stenning will work with Soulpepper’s yet-to-be-appointed artistic director to develop a five-year strategic plan for the theatre and review its training academy, which has been placed on a one-year hiatus.
Her predecessor in the position, Leslie Lester, left in January after four actresses filed separate lawsuits against Soulpepper and Lester’s husband, founding artistic director Albert Schultz, accusing him of sexual misconduct. Schultz also stepped down from his position and vowed to defend himself against the allegations.
Earlier this month, all parties said they had reached an out-ofcourt settlement, the terms of which have not been disclosed.
Vanessa Morgan, chair of Soulpepper’s board of directors, said in an email that all costs relating to the lawsuits will be accounted for in its 2018 financial statement and have not had a “material impact” on the non-profit theatre’s financial position or operations.
After reporting a $556,000 deficit for 2017, Soulpepper said in a March statement that the theatre was projecting further deficits this year due to “extraordinary” onetime costs and revenue reductions, as well as the loss of a planned funding increase from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Earlier this year the theatre launched a Transition Campaign that has since raised $825,000, a Soulpepper spokesperson said Wednesday. Stenning said with the strong support of donors she feels optimistic about the company’s financial future.
The theatre has maintained financial support from all three levels of government during its legal battle, which she sees as a vote of confidence in the steps Soulpepper has already taken to create a safer workplace, including providing crisis counsellors, setting up a whistleblower hotline and adopting a new code of conduct.