Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre has introduced the appointment of arts chief and Soulpepper Academy alum Paolo Santalucia as the subsequent Creative Director. The announcement got here after a nation-wide seek for a brand new chief to take over from Weyni Mengesha’s groundbreaking seven-year tenure within the position.
Santalucia will step into the place on September 1, 2025, and can curate the corporate’s 2026/27 Season.
“Paolo is an award-winning director, performer and inventive chief, with deep roots at Soulpepper, and wealthy management expertise at Crow’s Theatre and The Howland Firm” mentioned Robin Cardozo, Chair of the Board of Administrators, in a press release. “His ardour for the performing arts, dedication to collaborative and inclusive management, and his deeply held private values shall be highly effective drivers for Soulpepper’s continued success.”
Paolo Santalucia
As a graduate of the Soulpepper Academy, Santalucia has been a part of Soulpepper household for greater than a decade. Predecessor Weyni Mengesha was additionally a Soulepepper Academy alumna.
“I’m deeply grateful and humbled by this appointment. It’s a rare honour to return to a spot that so powerfully formed my inventive life, and to serve an organization whose work has helped redefine what Canadian theatre means for my technology,” mentioned Paolo Santalucia.
Canadian actor and playwright Paolo Santalucia is a two-time Dora Award winner. He additionally received a Canadian Display screen Award as a part of the ensemble of the TV sequence Pillow Speak, and was shortlisted for the John Hirsch Award for Directing.
He has carried out in productions with distinguished corporations throughout North America, together with Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, The Grand, Manitoba Theatre for Younger Folks, Younger Folks’s Theatre, Chicago Broadway Playhouse, and the New York Metropolis Pershing Signature Centre.
Paolo is a co-founder and Creative Chief of the award-winning Howland Firm, and teaches classical efficiency on the College of Toronto.
“I consider theatre is an engine for constructing neighborhood — a lightning rod that offers individuals a stake within the place they name house. Soulpepper is precisely that: a galvanizing drive that evokes civic satisfaction and exemplifies the world-class work we’re able to creating right here. I’m proud to have been formed by it, proud to comply with Weyni’s transformative tenure, and profoundly excited to assist steward the subsequent chapter of this extraordinary establishment,” he provides.
Closing Ideas
Weyni Mengesha’s management was transformational for Soulpepper, and resulted in an organization that has continued a status for inventive excellence whereas remaining rooted locally.
“I’m so excited to enter into this subsequent chapter of Soulpepper’s evolution with Paolo. His infectious vitality, deep capability for listening and studying, and dedication to delivering what audiences are actually in search of will imply that our momentum as an organization will solely proceed to speed up.” mentioned Gideon Arthurs, Government Director of Soulpepper Theatre.
“Paolo is a part of the prolonged Soulpepper household and shall be a rare steward for a few years to come back.”
The Artistic Collaboration Initiative (CCI) is a vital a part of the corporate’s mandate going ahead, constructing and strengthening relationships with different Toronto theatre organizations, together with greater than 10 co-producing corporations, and multi-year strategic initiative with Crow’s Theatre.
Better of luck to Soulpepper and Paolo Santalucia as they start their new adventures.
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Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 a long time, and a artistic writing teacher for Ontariolearn.
