Soulpepper Theatre Company’s first production of 2018 is set to hit the stage next Wednesday, but the spotlight will be on the company’s board of directors as they respond to “a wake-up call” following sexual abuse allegations against former artistic director and co-founder Albert Schultz.

The Soulpepper box office is still open for prospective buyers and subscribers, and so far, current ticket holders can expect future performances to run according to schedule.

Schultz was the director on Amadeus, a play about musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart slated to begin its 2018 run on Jan. 10. Schultz’s name and biography have been scrubbed from Soulpepper’s website, with an assistant director listed on the production.

Alan Dilworth has assumed the role as artistic director after Schultz’s resignation Thursday, one day after the company’s board of directors announced an investigation into sexual abuse and harassment allegations by four artists, Diana Bentley, Kristin Booth, Patricia Fagan and Hannah Miller.

Though there is turbulence behind the curtain, there is also pressure on what happens in the company’s boardroom as it navigates Soulpepper’s uncertain future, said Alison Kemper, an assistant professor at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management.

“They have a situation where their chief artistic director is married to their executive director, which is a highly unusual situation. So they have to figure out how to disentangle the mess that creates,” she said of Schultz’s wife, Leslie Lester.

Lester has voluntarily stepped down from her position during the investigation of her husband, the board said in a statement.

Soulpepper’s board of directors has a better chance at restoring faith in the company if an independent entity is hired to investigate, Kemper adds.

“It can’t just be a board member’s brother-in-law in a nice law firm, it’s got to be somebody that students, and volunteers, and donors . . . all can agree on,” said Kemper, a researcher in corporate governance issues who has also worked as a non-profit leader.

Soulpepper did not respond to the Star’s request about who has been selected to conduct the investigation.

Beyond choosing the investigator and being transparent about the process, Kemper said that the board has other “structural” issues to resolve which can affect operations.

It’s unclear whether the company will allow four other actors who resigned in a show of solidarity with the women — Ted Dykstra, Stuart Hughes, Michelle Monteith, and Rick Roberts — to return.

“Our primary concern is to stay focused on standing with the women who came forward this week, as they continue their battle with the ongoing litigation,” the actors said in a statement Friday.

A representative of the actors said there are “a couple of internal questions that need to be answered” before they are able to discuss the status of their affiliation with the company.

Schultz and Soulpepper were served with multimillion-dollar civil lawsuits earlier this week by four women who claim the 54-year-old sexually abused and harassed them in they all characterized as “Soulpepper’s best known secret.”

The allegations include slaps on the buttocks, pushing his sometimes erect penis against a plaintiff, and remarks and innuendos about their bodies, clothing and sex.

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

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

Tatha Swann, co-counsel to the four women, said they expect the lawsuits will result in some turbulence to Soulpepper’s operations.

“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,” Swann said during a Thursday morning press conference, appearing alongside co-counsel Alexi Wood, the four plaintiffs, and four actors who had resigned.

The plaintiffs, actresses are seeking a total of $4.25 million in damages from Soulpepper, and $3.6 million from Schultz.

Founded in 1998, Soulpepper is one of Canada’s most prestigious stages and paid training programs, with a notable annual budget of $12 million to run its year-round shows.

The company has received $2,975,000 worth of grant funding from the Canada Council for the Arts since 1999. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, Soulpepper was awarded $185,850 in total through audience development and multi-year operational grants.

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“Following the wave of reports and allegations about harassment in the cultural sector and beyond, we are currently reviewing our existing funding policies to ensure that recipient organizations promote healthy and harassment-free work environments,” said Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly in a post to Twitter.

It’s unclear how the lawsuits could financially affect Soulpepper’s operations, said Ryerson’s Kemper.

“It would be extremely important for them to have conducted their business with diligence if they want to trigger any kind of third party insurance,” she said.

Retaining board members and attracting new ones will also likely be affected by the situation, as “people aren’t on boards by and large to deal with horrible situations. They want to maintain or increase successful track records. So this is a sudden reversal and will be quite tough on the board.”

Distinguished board members include Rogers Communications Inc. chief executive officer Joe Natale and Nancy McCain, wife of federal finance Minister Bill Morneau.

Soulpepper’s situation can serve “as a wake-up call for other boards,” said Suanne Miedema, founder and president of Miedema’s Board Consulting.

Miedema works with non-profit boards to improve their governance through board policy manuals, and said board members have a fiduciary duty to care for the organization, and by extension, its employees.

“Another aspect of the duty of care is to manage risk which includes trying to foresee and plan for any risks that could put the organization’s financial future at stake,” she said in an email.

Though events like this can be difficult to predict, Miedema said a leading practise for boards is to have policies that set out expectations for the executive director, and a legally-reviewed employee handbook covering all legislated obligations, including workplace harassment and violence.

She also recommends having a whistleblower policy in place for reporting abuse and harassment.

The status of Schultz’s other stage affiliations, including through theatre programs at colleges and universities in the GTA, is also in question.

Ryerson University did not respond to the Star’s request about whether Shultz will retain his seat on the advisory council of the arts and contemporary studies department.

Humber’s School of Creative and Performing Arts, where Schultz first met some of the plaintiffs who went on to work at Soulpepper, does not have a formal affiliation with him.

However, the college said he participated in advisory meetings and met with faculty and students to talk about Soulpepper in the past.

York University, where Shultz studied in the early 1980s, said it has no relationship or affiliation with Albert Schultz.

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