Albert Schultz, a theatre icon and the face of Toronto’s prestigious Soulpepper Theatre Company, has resigned from the organization he helped to co-found, the board of directors said in a statement Thursday.

The announcement comes just hours after four women who are suing Schultz appeared at a press conference, detailing how a “culture shift” is behind their newfound voice in coming forward with allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against him and the company.

“While this has been a tremendously difficult chapter in Soulpepper’s history, today’s decision ensures the organization is able to move forward with confidence and remain a leading Canadian theatre company,” the statement said.

Actresses Diana Bentley, Kristin Booth, Patricia Fagan and Hannah Miller, launched four separate civil claims on Tuesday. The women are seeking a total of $4.25 million in damages from Soulpepper, and $3.6 million from Schultz for what they described as a pattern of sexual harassment.

“These women, who were all in their early 20s when they met him, were taught from Day 1 to understand that in order to succeed — not just in Soulpepper, but in Canadian theatre more broadly — they would have to suffer in silence,” said co-counsel Alexi Wood.

“There is fortunately a culture shift that has happened, that is allowing and giving women a voice and some empowerment to come forward to discuss systemic abuse that exists,” she said.





In all four claims, the women allege being victimized by a “serial sexual predator” and suffering harassment and assault in what all plaintiffs characterized as “Soulpepper’s best known secret.”

Slaps on the buttocks, sexual touching, unwanted embraces and remarks and innuendos about their bodies, clothing and sex are catalogued in the women’s allegations, dating back to two years after Soulpepper opened its doors in 1998.

The claims have not been proven in court. Soulpepper and Schultz have not yet filed a statement of defence.

“These claims make serious allegations against me which I do not take lightly,” Schultz said in a statement Wednesday. “I intend to vehemently defend myself.”

The lawsuits come just months after Soulpepper severed ties with guest artist Laszlo Marton following sexual harassment allegations.

Kristin Booth, a Gemini Award-winning actress, said her decision to come forward was sparked by seeing Soulpepper’s statement on sexual harassment and their policies in an October Toronto Star article after Marton’s departure.

“(In) my time at Soulpepper, I never once saw a policy on sexual harassment,” she said. “Knowing the culture there, the hypocrisy of that statement was what motivated me to come forward so that this does not happen to one other young woman coming into that company.”

In her statement of claim, Booth detailed instances in which Schultz kissed her on the lips “under the pretense of greeting her.” Greetings would also include almost daily hugs where he pushed his sometimes erect penis against her body.

Though coming forward with the allegations was a very difficult decision, Booth said “there is a window open for women like myself” to discuss sexual abuse in the entertainment world.

The women decided to band together in the action following a discussion during Thanksgiving hosted by Fagan.

“We started talking about the culture of theatre and the industry . . . and what actually happened at Soulpepper over the years,” said Fagan, who had worked for the company for 12 seasons before leaving in 2015.

“It was an absolute revelation for me, and I could see it for them as well, how much it immediately started to help them to unload the burden of having had a traumatic experience.”

A 2015 survey by the Canadian Actors Equity Association about harassment and bullying in the workplace said that nearly 50 per cent of respondents had been on the receiving end of inappropriate behaviour, and nearly 50 per cent had been a witness. Men and women reported incidents of bullying at the same frequency, but experiences with sexual harassment were twice as high for women.

In response, an anti-harassment campaign called “Not in OUR Space” began, which has included a review and overhaul of their internal policies, bylaws and disciplinary processes. A Respectful Workplace Policy was last amended in spring 2017, and the next phase of their work will extend to theatre schools.

“They are not obligated to put up with inappropriate behaviour in the workplace,” executive director Arden Ryshpan told the Star, adding that educating students, a “vulnerable” population, was an important step in addressing the issue.

A gathering of people in theatre, dance, opera and music is planned for mid-January to discuss an industry wide response to issues of sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying and violence, according to a statement from the association.

Ryshpan said that artists are often required to perform scenes of intimacy, which are not limited to nudity or sexuality.

“There may be some profound emotional scenes that people are performing in, and that requires a level of openness and vulnerability. And that is different, I think, than your average workplace. Normally people aren’t asked to go to that level of emotional depth when they’re sitting behind a desk.”

Plaintiff Hannah Miller echoed that an actor’s training asks them to be “open and vulnerable, and to delve into passion.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“There is a sanctity of the theatre that is being violated,” Miller said, her eyes welling, “so the implication we are ruining something is maybe why it’s so hard (to come forward).”

Some people may exploit “that grey area where the arts exist,” said Kim Renders, one of the founding members of Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre, who spoke to the Star about inappropriate behaviour in the theatre industry and has no involvement with this case.

“I have worked with a lot of really respectful men. And I have played lovers of really great men. And it never went to that place.”

“One thing you can do is ask permission if you’re going to be physical with somebody,” she said. “Absolutely, as an actor myself, I would dive 110 per cent into whatever the reality of a scene is . . . but in a rehearsal process, there are ways of making it feel comfortable for everybody.”

She listed possible questions: Are you OK? Are you comfortable? Can we move forward?

Related story:

Soulpepper Theatre’s Albert Schultz steps down amid lawsuits from 4 actresses alleging sexual assault

Miller claimed that during a teaching session Schultz told a “cautionary tale” about making sexual harassment complaints about him. In his story, he allegedly described to her and her classmates how he hid inside the women’s dressing room while an actress was changing.

Wood, one of the women’s two lawyers, said a complaint was brought to the board of Soulpepper regarding that incident and Schultz was neither reprimanded nor disciplined.

Four members of the company, including two who co-founded it with Schultz, said Thursday morning they were resigning from the company as long as Schultz had any role with the organization.

Ted Dykstra, Stuart Hughes, Michelle Monteith and Rick Roberts appeared alongside the women at Thursday’s news conference.

Dykstra said the group was supporting the women in what he called “the iceberg rather than the whole story.” He and his wife, plaintiff Diane Bentley, started their own theatre company after she left Soulpepper.

Dykstra and Hughes were founding members of Soulpepper along with Schultz.

Schultz was previously instructed by Soulpepper’s board of directors to step down from his roles, which he characterized as a leave of absence before resigning.

Associate artistic director Alan Dilworth will assume Schultz’s role. Schultz’s wife, executive director Leslie Lester, has also volunteered to take a leave of absence, a statement from Soulpepper said on Wednesday.

An open letter addressed to Soulpepper’s board of directors had been circulating in the theatre community, with the signees pledging not to work for Soulpepper “in any capacity” as long as Schultz stayed artistic director.

“We believe all of the allegations to be true, and that the behaviour attributed to Mr. Schultz cannot be tolerated or, sadly, undone,” said the letter, signed by actors including Oyin Oladejo and Grace Lynn Kung.

With the departure of four major actors, Schultz, Lester, and potential others, Soulpepper may face turbulent weeks ahead.

“We expect to see impacts on the operations. There are actors resigning. There’s going to be a huge impact on production, and I think this is something that has to happen in order to send a message,” said co-counsel Swann.

Swann said the women hope to see Soulpepper do an “internal cleaning” of the company, putting enforceable abuse and harassment policies in place to prevent future incidents.