NTS is one of the few schools in the world that unites all the theatre arts under one roof. English- and French-speaking students study their respective theatrical traditions, learning in an atmosphere of respect for their cultures. NTS students acquire a strong base in traditional techniques, skills, and methods of learning that will serve them throughout their lives in and outside the theatre.
Theatre is anchored by traditions that are centuries old, but it is also constantly evolving. Training at the National Theatre School reflects this paradox. NTS students' mastery of classical techniques and traditions is complemented by their exposure to contemporary and experimental work.
In its selection of teachers and students, the NTS seeks out artists who demonstrate exceptional creativity, autonomy, talent, dedication, discipline, curiosity, sensitivity, generosity, integrity and vision. While all students share these qualities, the School does not aim to put a recognisable stamp on its graduates. Rather, its goal is to give them the tools and environment that will let them realise their full potential as unique, individual artists.
Theatre is a collaborative art. At the National Theatre School, students experience the interdependence of writing, acting, directing, design and production on a daily basis.
NTS students not only benefit from individualized training (there is a maximum of 14 students per class), but also from daily contact with creators active in shaping theatre across the country and abroad. During the school year, the School's approximately 160 students have direct, daily interactions with a constantly changing pool of close to 200 artists, including directors, producers, technicians, set, sound, lighting, and costume designers, playwrights, actors, choreographers, singers, stage managers, and voice coaches.
NTS teachers are working professionals, leaders in their disciplines who bring freshness and relevancy to their classes. This connection to the theatre community is part of the reason why NTS graduates enter their fields so successfully upon graduation.
Theatre: Acting, Playwriting, Directing, Scenography, and Technical Production.
Théâtre: Interprétation, Écriture dramatique, Mise en scène, Scénographie, et Production.
The Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Building houses rehearsal halls, classrooms (including converted spaces for voice, dance, movement, scenography and writing), the André Pagé Studio (a flexible studio space with a capacity of 150), a small costume shop, a sound studio, a lighting laboratory, a projection room, a computer room, a school supplies store, and a common space with refrigerators and microwaves that are accessible to students.
The School's Library, which is the largest and most comprehensive documentation centre for the theatre arts in the country, is also located in this building. Its open-stack collection includes French and English plays (in published or manuscript form) as well as volumes on many different subjects related to theatre: art, architecture, history, mythology, fashion, etc. The collection also includes extensive archives on plays, directors, playwrights, theatre companies and many other theatre-related fields.
The School also owns the Monument-National, a more than one-hundred-year-old building located in the heart of Montreal's downtown core that is devoted to the theatre arts. It contains four theatres: the Ludger-Duvernay Theatre (a classic proscenium hall seating 804), the du Maurier Theatre (a flexible studio space with seating for 125 to 180), the Hydro-Québec Café (a lobby and 100-seat theatre) and La Balustrade (a cabaret space seating 55). The Monument-National also contains workshops for set construction, costumes and properties shops, and a large rehearsal hall. It is there that most of the public performances of the graduating classes are produced and performed each year.
