Introducing the 2007 Soulpepper Season

 The season starts with a Soulpepper first: a musical comedy marking Soulpepper's initial foray into the work of one of the truly seminal writers in the history of Western
theatre, Bertolt Brecht. The Threepenny Opera begins performances on January 24.

The company will present its first production of a play by the most important female playwright of the 20th century British stage, Caryl Churchill. Top Girls begins performances on June 26, 2007.

Soulpepper also presents the Toronto premiere of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece by the  Armenian American playwright and provocateur William Saroyan, The Time of Your Life. Albert Schultz remarks: "I was lucky enough to see a production of this gorgeous play in Chicago some years ago, and it remains one of the two or three great experiences of my theatre-going life."

Once again this coming new season, Soulpepper offerings continue to be international in scope, taking the audience to Norway, Germany, Russia, Great Britain and America. And for the first time, Soulpepper takes pride in exploring Canada's own classics with Toronto's first revival of David
French's searing family drama Leaving Home (1972), which explores the emotional landscape of a Newfoundland family transplanted to Toronto.

Soulpepper will return to playwrights with whom the company has enjoyed rewarding journeys in the past: Anton Chekhov, Noel Coward, Henrik Ibsen, Thornton Wilder and Freidrich von Schiller, whose Don Carlos launched the company in 1998.

A remarkable troupe of artists has been assembled to share these stories. Most of the faces are familiar from seasons past, with the exception of members of the Soulpepper Academy: 10 young artists who remain with the company for a two-year stint. The new season has also been chosen with them in mind.

The major sponsors of the 2007 Soulpepper season are Scotiabank Group and Sun Life Financial.

The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht Music by Kurt Weill
German translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann
English translation by Robert MacDonald
Germany, 1928
January 24 – March 10
The Threepenny Opera is one of the greatest musical comedies of the 20th century. Bertolt Brecht's cutting, sexy,
and political imagining of "Mack the Knife" and his underworld cohorts is intoxicatingly complemented by
Kurt Weill's edgy, jazzy and sublime musical score.
Directed by Tim Albery and featuring Albert Schultz as Macheath, Patricia O'Callaghan as Polly and members
of the Soulpepper Academy making their first appearance of the season.
Production Sponsor: Gretchen and Donald Ross

John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen
Adapted by Theatre Columbus
Norway, 1884
March 28 – April 21
John Gabriel Borkman is a late period masterpiece by the Norwegian genius Henrik Ibsen. Gothic and shockingly
human, dramatic and fiercely funny, this provocative and highly theatrical adaptation is a collaboration
between Soulpepper and Theatre Columbus, a renowned Canadian ensemble devoted to creating new works.
Directed by Theatre Columbus' Leah Cherniak and featuring Nancy Palk, Martha Ross and Michael Simpson.

Leaving Home by David French
Canada, 1972
April 30 – June 16
David French's humorous, heartrending play represents the first installment of his seminal and very personal
Mercer Family Saga. Set in Toronto, Leaving Home explores physical and spiritual dislocation in a tale of
unrequited love between a father and a son. This astonishing play was instrumental in the establishment of
Canadian home-grown drama when it triumphantly premiered in 1972.
Ted Dykstra directs the cast featuring Oliver Dennis, Jeff Lillico, Jane Spidell, Martha MacIsaac and,
performing for the first time with the company, Diane D'Aquila and Kenneth Welsh.
Production Sponsor: CIBC World Markets

Our Town by Thornton Wilder
USA, 1938
May 19 – August 9
Dora Award, Best Production, 2005
"A joyous celebration of what an acting company can do, filled with moments of pure theatre you'll never
forget." – Toronto Star
Soulpepper is thrilled to remount our celebrated production of Thornton Wilder's 1938 masterpiece. Directed
by Joseph Ziegler, this gentle, humorous and poetic theatrical meditation provides us with a much-needed
reminder of how brief life is and how we must celebrate its blessings while we can.
Production Sponsor: Polar Securities

Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
United Kingdom, 1982
June 26 – August 4
Caryl Churchill is the most important female playwright of the British stage. Top Girls, considered by many to
be Churchill's defining achievement, is both a delightful comedy peppered with some of history's most
compelling women, and a scorching political examination of the role of women in contemporary society.
Directed by Alisa Palmer and featuring Diana Donnelly, Megan Follows, Kelli Fox, Ann-Marie MacDonald,
Cara Pifko, Liisa Repo-Martell and Robyn Stevan.

The Time of Your Life by William Saroyan
United States, 1939
July 4 – August 11
The Time of Your Life is a nostalgic and open-eyed love letter to an America-that-might-have-been by the
novelist, playwright and provocateur William Saroyan. Directed by Albert Schultz, the play is set in a San
Francisco honky-tonk saloon at the end of the 1930s. This play mixes laughter, pain, music, race, ambition,
violence, love and compassion into an intoxicating cocktail of redemption and hope.
Directed by Albert Schultz and features veteran Soulpepper actors along with members of the Academy.
Production Sponsor: Herzig Eye Institute

Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov
Version by Nicolas Billon with László Marton
Russia, 1901
August 30 – September 29
Soulpepper continues its relationship with Chekhov under the direction of Hungarian master László Marton
(Platonov, Uncle Vanya). Three Sisters – Chekhov's crowning dramatic achievement – speaks profoundly to all of us who have ever loved or longed for that which can't be grasped.
Directed by László Marton and featuring veteran company members along with members of the Soulpepper
Academy.
Production Sponsor: MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier Inc.

Mary Stuart by Fredrich Schiller
Version by Peter Oswald
Germany, 1800
September 7 - October 13
Mary Stuart is one of the truly gigantic achievements of the European stage. The play is set in Elizabethan
England where passions of the flesh, the spirit, and the state are focused on the ill-fated relationship
between two cousin/queens. At the centre of Mary Stuart is an invented and unforgettable showdown
between the Virgin Queen and her arch-rival, Mary Queen of Scots.
Directed by Joseph Ziegler and featuring Stuart Hughes, Susan Coyne and Nancy Palk.

Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward
United Kingdom, 1941
November 7 – December 15
Full of Noel Coward's customary hilarity, this play mixes marriage, desire, jealousy and grief with a powerful
dose of the occult. Full of delightful characters including an inept maid, a wacky clairvoyant and a very naughty
ghost, Blithe Spirit is a delicious evening of surprise and laughter.
Directed by Morris Panych featuring Fiona Reid, Brenda Robins, Nancy Palk, and Joseph Ziegler.
Production Sponsor: Cadbury Adams

Soulpepper Theatre Company performs year round at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, located in
Toronto's Distillery Historic District at the northeast corner of the site (Mill and Cherry Streets) at 55 Mill
Street, Building 49.

Subscriptions go on sale Tuesday, October 24, and single tickets on Monday, December 4. They may be
purchased from the Young Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office by calling 416.866.8666. Visit the
Soulpepper website at www.soulpepper.ca for season information.

Soulpepper Theatre Company is an artist-founded, classical repertory theatre company with a three-tiered
mandate: to present the world's theatrical masterpieces in vital Canadian interpretations; to provide classical
training to a new generation of theatre artists; and to provide access and mentorship programs for young
people using theatre as the vehicle.

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