As I speak to Molly Thom, one of the longest-serving members of Toronto’s all-woman Alumnae Theatre Company, a fire alarm goes off every 20 minutes. At first, the noise is a nuisance, but before long, I come to think of the shrill sound as being kind of funny, full of irony and coincidence.
But there was one last catch: In 1978, patrons confused Second City’s new location and restaurant at another firehall down the street with the Firehall Theatre. It became such a box-office bother that the troupe renamed itself The Alumnae Theatre. Since then, Alumnae hasn’t moved an inch. Not only has it become the longest-running theatre company in the city, but it’s now the longest-running theatre company run by women in North America.
All of Alumnae’s members are volunteers. The company itself is non-profit, its funds sourced entirely from donations, ticket sales and room rentals. Even in its earliest years, when Alumnae didn’t have a home and performed out of U of T’s Hart House, all profits were used to fund the war effort and other campus initiatives. It wasn’t the women’s expectation that they would end up building and growing a full-fledged theatre company fostering award-winning talent.
But in recent years, packed houses have become rare. When I attended the last show of the theatre’s most recent season, only half the seats were taken, most of them by friends or family of the company. And the actors taking the spotlight aren’t the marquee names that other theatre companies in the city can bring in. Alumnae recognizes that they’re unlikely to compete with those organizations in terms of draw, and so they’ve refocused on cultivating fresh talent.
While the oldest member is in her 90s, the youngest, Nicole Entin, is just 16 and will next be assistant-directing a Sarah Ruhl play. That opportunity to take on any role with any resumé has led to many members starting their own production companies, and/or becoming full-time actors and writers. A 2018 Ontario Arts Council review of the Canadian theatre scene revealed that 70 per cent of the roles of artistic director, director and playwright — “the triumvirate of power” as described by researcher Rebecca Burton — are taken by men. Women typically occupy roles in costume design, assistant direction and general management, and comprise only a third of the country’s artistic directors.