Calgary theatre community talks consent in wake of #MeToo movement

Calgary's tight-knit theatre community is looking for new ways to talk about consent and boundaries while performing intimate scenes, after four women filed lawsuits accusing a prominent Toronto actor and artistic director of sexual battery and harassment.

Albert Schultz announced Wednesday that he's taking a leave of absence as artistic director of Toronto'sSoulpepper Theatre Company, after lawsuits detailed allegations dating back to 2010 that describe Schultz as a "serial sexual predator."

The women's accusations were the latest in the flood of voices that make up the #MeToo movement, which took off in the wake of sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

The women told CBC that for years they did not speak out about the harassment out of fear of reprisal, due to Schultz's prominent position in the small Canadian theatre world.

Calgary theatre director Simon Mallettsaid performers need a safe outlet within their organizations.

"You have an inherent power structure that can be manipulated," he said in an interview with CBC News.

"Who do you talk to when the person in charge is the one abusing that power situation, because he's in charge of everyone else there as well?"

In 2015, the Canadian Actors' Equity Association (a professional association that represents artists working in theatre) released a survey on workplace safety and harassment.

Out of the 1,043 CAEA members that responded, 50 per cent of women and 37 per cent of men reported being the target of toxic workplace behaviour and those were only the people who felt comfortable enough to report their experiences, Mallett said.

The survey's findings led to the creation of Not in Our Space!, a national anti-harassment campaign intended to target abusive behaviour in the theatre.

'The elephant in the room'

"It's trying to really name the elephant in the room and bring attention and awareness to it and start to give people pathways to cut off that kind of behaviour when they see it and really challenge it," Mallet said.

Approximately two-thirds of respondents said they had experienced harassment during the process of rehearsing scenes.

Mallettsaid while rehearsing, performers are often at their most vulnerable.

"When any of those things are taken advantage of and are led into a place that is not respectful and not true to the work and is being done for ulterior motives, that's when we can certainly get into a lot of trouble," he said.

We have to navigate physicality and intimacy in ways that aren't really a part of most people's jobs.- Ellen Close

Another issue can be that in theatre, saying "no" can feel like a dirty word, according to Ellen Close, artistic director of Calgary theatre company Downstage.

She explained that artistic risk often means pushing past boundaries, so turning down an advance can feel loaded, either due to internal or external pressures.

"We have to navigate physicality and intimacy in ways that aren't really a part of most people's jobs," Close said.

In November, Downstage hosted two "Intimacy for the Stage" workshops to teach artists the tools to create scenes that also respect boundaries and seek consent, and teach bystanders how to identify and challenge problem behaviour.

The first was targeted toward performers, the second toward directors, coaches and choreographers.

"There was a real appetite in the room to learn ways to talk about these very tricky things," she said.

Mallett said he hopes that the culture is beginning to shift away from victim blaming and toward the creation of a new culture.

"There's so little to gain for people coming forward about these experiences and so much to lose," he said.

"I think what we're seeing now is a paradigm shift towards supporting the survivors more so than the perpetrators and I think that's the really significant step forward that needs to be made to take the work happening to the next level."

• MORE CALGARY NEWS | Woman and teens charged with human trafficking, sexual assault
• MORE CALGARY NEWS |Controversial former judge Robin Camp's 'lack of sensitivity' shouldn't keep him from practising law: lawyer