The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 27

The International News Weekly CANADA
05
January 05, 2018 | Toronto
4 women say Toronto theatre star
Albert Schultz groped them
The Canadian Press
TORONTO: When playwright
Erika Reesor heard
of the sexual assault and
harassment allegations
against Soulpepper Theatre
Company founding artistic
director Albert Schultz this
week, the only ethical decision
she could stand by was
to boycott.
"It's the only effective
way that we have to show
our support for women
coming forward. We have to
put it in action," she said.
"As an audience member,
I won't go see any shows
produced by Soulpepper,
and I don't mean just until
this court thing is resolved.
It is my intention to put my
money where my mouth is.
"And as an artist, I won't
myself work with them and
I won't encourage other artists
to work with them."
Reesor is among the
artists and patrons turning
their backs on Soulpepper
after four actresses filed
lawsuits against Schultz
and the Toronto-based theatre
company.
Patricia Fagan, Hannah
Miller, Kristin Booth
and Diana Bentley, who all
agreed to be named publicly
in the suits, allege the
54-year-old Schultz exposed
himself, groped them, and
otherwise sexually humiliated
them.
One of the women's lawyers,
Alexi Wood of St. Lawrence
Barristers LLP, said
in a statement that Soulpepper
did nothing to protect
the actresses from Schultz,
who is also an accomplished
stage and screen actor.
The allegations have not
been proven in court and
Schultz said he would defend
himself "vehemently."
On Thursday, four
Soulpepper artists — Ted
Dykstra, Stuart Hughes,
Michelle Monteith and Rick
Roberts — resigned, saying
they "support and stand"
with the four women.
They also said that until
Schultz has no role with
the company, they will not
work there. Schultz is on
what he called a "leave of
absence" pending an investigation
by Soulpepper's
board of directors.
"Soulpepper, as it is, is
not a safe environment,"
Miller said Thursday at a
news conference.
"It's certainly not for
an actor whose desire and
training leads them to be
open and vulnerable and
to delve into passion, and
there's a sanctity of the theatre
that is being violated."
Miller said she struggled
with the prospect of
Soulpepper's reputation being
damaged by her allegations,
but felt compelled to
speak out.
"The implication that
we are ruining something
is maybe the reason why it's
so hard (to speak out)," she
said.
Lawyer Tatha Swann of
Levitt LLP, who also represents
the four women suing
Schultz, said she expects
"there's going to be a huge
impact on production, and I
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think this is something that
has to happen in order to
send a message."
"What we hope to see is
that (Schultz) is removed
from his role and that Soulpepper
does an internal
cleaning, that they put in
policies that have teeth and
enforce them to make sure
this doesn't happen again,"
Swann said.
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