theatre

Does anyone know the Soulpepper Theatre Company of Toronto? I have links and info online, I'm wondering if anyone has personal experience.

I love theatre. I've been seeing theatre literally all my life. My parents, who were big Broadway theatre-goers when they were younger, took us on a regular basis. Special gifts for graduations or other milestones often involved tickets to a Broadway show.

In college - university, I think I'm supposed to say - I started working with a professional company in Philadelphia, learning the subscription marketing business, and after I graduated, I went into theatre administration. I worked for two well-known off-Broadway companies in New York. I met great people, learned a lot, saw tons of theatre, lived on poverty wages, and wondered when I would write a novel.

Unlike most of the people I worked with, I wasn't driven by a serious Theatre Bug, hadn't been doing theatre since I was 10 years old, wasn't living my lifelong dream. I was doing something rewarding and interesting, but only one of the many career possibilities I had kicked around. Mainly I was avoiding going to law school, which was the paternal plan for my life.

My last theatre position was a nightmare, and it gave me the incentive I needed. I ditched the career altogether, found a few ways to support myself that were not creative or mentally demanding, bought a new typewriter (yes, I am old!), and started to write a book.

Around this time, I met Allan, and his non-career-oriented perspective on life helped me find the courage to do what I wanted. (Being a nanny and a freelance proofreader weren't considered appropriate career choices for Ivy League graduates. Whatever.) Allan was also a writer who currently wasn't writing, and we helped each other find the writer within.

My time in the off-Broadway theatre also coincided with the very beginning of the AIDS epidemic. By this timing quirk, I was touched by the crisis very early on. Vast numbers of people I knew from that time are gone, including two very dear friends.

Fast-forward to my post-theatre life, which is to say the last 20 years. I still love theatre. Seeing plays has always been a part of our lives, although I never became a fanatical theatre-goer, a common type in New York City. We've occasionally gotten season subscriptions, which can be a great way to put more art in your life and ensure a certain amount of interesting evenings out each year. (As a former theatre marketing director, I am compelled to note that subscribers are the lifeblood of nonprofit companies.)

In yesterday's Globe And Mail there was a brochure from Soulpepper. They're a repertory company, meaning they employ a troupe of actors from whom each play is cast - a true theatre company, not a star-based system. They have a space in Toronto's Distillery District, which I haven't seen yet, but very much want to. So I'm thinking of jumping into the arts scene in Toronto with a season subscription to Soulpepper.