A new theatre company is launching in Toronto — and it wants audiences to help develop the next great Canadian play

A new professional theatre company is set to launch in Toronto next year with the hope of offering an artistic experience unlike any other. Audiences who attend a performance at the Vault Creation Lab won’t merely watch a play; they’ll also help develop it. 
The theatre, focused on new play development, will operate as a sister company to the Coal Mine Theatre, the acclaimed indie organization known for its intimate productions of international works. Headed by Coal Mine co-founder Diana Bentley, the Vault is expected to present four world premiere plays in its inaugural season, beginning in March. 
Its arrival on the scene signifies a boon for the city’s independent theatre sector, coming amid a wave of closures, and as development opportunities for new works and emerging artists faded during the pandemic. 
The Vault is believed to be the first company of its kind in the city, and Bentley said she hopes the experimental playhouse will fill a void in the city’s artistic landscape. 
“We need a space where we can really listen to an audience while something is being created and then, in that energetic exchange, understand whether we’re meeting the intention of the work,” Bentley told the Star. 
Though all the new plays will be presented in full, each of these “labs” will differ based on the developmental needs of the works. Some will be fully staged while others will be more akin to readings, Bentley said. She also stressed that audiences won’t watch the final product but a snapshot of a work in progress, with the productions evolving over their two- to three-week runs. 
At the end of each show, patrons will be invited to provide feedback. It could be in the form of a survey or a post-performance talkback. The purpose of opening up this creative process to the public, said Bentley, is to foster a collaborative forum for both artists and audiences. The ultimate goal: to help develop the next great Canadian play. 
“I feel like audiences are yearning to show up in a different way,” said Bentley, who will be the company’s artistic director. “I’m really curious about whether a place like this could serve a specific group of people who are looking to connect with art in that way.”
The Vault’s first production will be Michael Ross Albert’s “A Little Closer,” a humorous four-person play, directed by Bentley, that follows the life of a professional cuddler and explores themes of connection and intimacy. The other three plays in The Vault’s inaugural season will be announced in January. 
The new company will operate out of the same building as Coal Mine Theatre at Danforth and Woodbine avenues. The Vault will occupy the main floor of the site, in a space that will seat 40 to 50 audience members, while the Coal Mine will remain in the basement. The hope, said Bentley, is that plays developed at the Vault will eventually be programmed in the Coal Mine’s main season. 
The Vault was established after the Coal Mine recently took over the entirety of 2076 Woodbine Ave. The indie company had only occupied the basement, which it subleased from the building’s tenant. But after that tenant filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, severing the Coal Mine’s sublease, the theatre signed a new agreement with the building’s owner for the whole site. 
Bentley’s new position at the Vault comes after she announced she was leaving the Coal Mine earlier this year. Her husband, Ted Dykstra, with whom she founded the company in 2015, continues to lead the indie theatre.