By Alumnae Theatre –
In former Firehall #4, in the heart of Toronto’s Downtown East, is the oldest women-run theatre company in North America and Canada’s longest-running theatre group. The Alumnae Theatre provides a welcoming and supportive space for women to develop their skills in all areas of theatre creation and production, while offering a unique space for theatre lovers to experience great (and financially accessible) theatre.
For 106 years, Alumnae Theatre has given opportunities to an underrepresented population in the theatre industry: women. While all theatre artists and technicians can volunteer, only people who identify as women are eligible to become Alumnae members.
With 80 presentations and over a dozen rentals to other arts groups per year, an estimated 20,000 people participate in making art at Alumnae Theatre annually.
Back in 1918, a group of brash and inspiring women graduates of the University of Toronto founded the University Alumnae Dramatic Club at a time when Torontonians had little opportunity to see theatre. The club has staged premieres of such plays as Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Ionesco’s The Lesson, Pinter’s The Caretaker and Vaclav Havel’s Largo Desolato.
For its first 30 years, the University Alumnae Dramatic Club performed at the university’s Hart House Theatre. Starting in 1957, the club had a series of its own homes – a coach house on Huntley Street, a garage on Bedford Road, a converted synagogue on Cecil Street, and a church on Maplewood Avenue.
As alternative theatres began to populate the GTA in the late 1960s, leading contemporary theatre artists honed their skills at Alumnae, including R.H. Thompson, Mallory Gilbert, Sue Miner, John VanBurek and Diane Polley.
In 1971, Firehall #4 on Berkeley Street at Adelaide Street closed and the building was slated for demolition. But a small group of intrepid Alumnae members searching for a new space came to its rescue. Renovated and restored, this beautiful and historic building contains a fully equipped wardrobe, rehearsal, backstage and lobby space.
In its 2024 season of three plays and two festivals, the company presented a highly acclaimed production of Canadian playwright George F. Walker’s Better Living.
Up next is Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children, running from March 8 to 23. This dark dramedy originally premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London and made its North American debut on Broadway, earning two Tony Award nominations, including best play. The Guardian ranked it third on its list of the greatest theatrical works since 2000.
The Children tells the story of Hazel and Robin, retired nuclear physicists residing in a remote coastal village grappling with a nuclear power station disaster. Their tranquil existence is disrupted when Rose, a fellow physicist they haven’t seen in 38 years, unexpectedly reappears. The play draws inspiration from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
The Children is urgent. It touches on one of the most important issues today: how do we protect a threatened world for the next generation? You can witness this intimate production at Alumnae’s Studio Theatre for $25.
Heading into spring, Alumnae Theatre will present its 36th New Ideas Festival from April 24 to May 5. The festival is Alumnae’s annual showcase of new and experimental one-act plays, with bold premieres from both emerging and established theatre artists.
For tickets, more information or to volunteer, visit:
alumnaetheatre.com
