Soulpepper’s ‘Spring Awakening’ marks a riveting new era for the Toronto company - Toronto Star

Artistic director Paolo Santalucia's production is a searing exploration of sexual repression and anguish in a society not too distant from our own. 

Diego Matamoros as Professor Knochenbrüch with the cast of Soulpepper’s “Spring Awakening.” 

The Paolo Santalucia era at Soulpepper has begun.

And it’s off to an auspicious start with “Spring Awakening,” which opened Thursday at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts’ Baillie Theatre and marks the new artistic director’s debut production, kicking off the company’s 2026-27 season.

It’s a riveting adaptation and staging of the seminal German tragedy of the same name that not only makes a statement but also serves as a glistening showpiece for Santalucia and his company, offering a glimpse of what may be to come under his tenure. 

It’s also a production that plays right into Santalucia’s strengths, both as a playwright and a director, demonstrating his skill at melding text and direction and his ability to conjure ravishing, almost filmic visual moments that fill the Baillie stage, all while never losing sight of the story’s most intimate moments.