Stage savvy

>> Teachers, students and famous grads celebrate as the National Theatre School turns 40

by AMY BARRATT

"It is a great joy for me," says Jean-Pierre Ronfard, "to encounter former students as colleagues in the field."

Having been associated with the National Theatre School/Ecole National de Théâtre for four decades now, Ronfard gets to enjoy these encounters quite frequently.

"The School," as it is affectionately known in theatre circles, first opened its doors in November, 1960 and ever since, has been turning out actors, designers, technicians, playwrights and directors who go on to make their mark in Canadian and Québécois theatre, film and television.

Hundreds of them have been invited back this week to help celebrate the School's 40th anniversary. Festivities begin tomorrow with a presentation of the 10th annual Gascon-Thomas award to actor Kenneth Welsh and director/writer Jean-Pierre Ronfard.

Ronfard has been involved in the life of the School since its inception. As a young man, newly arrived in Quebec from his native France, he was named the first artistic director of the French acting program (henceforward referred to as Interprétation, to distinguish it from the English acting side). He went on to found the Nouveau Théâtre Experimental and to work with most of the major Montreal theatre companies. But through it all, teaching at the School has remained a labour of love. It has also become a family affair, with his daughter Alice, a respected director in her own right, currently on the faculty.

Asked to direct something in honour of the 40th, Ronfard went one step further, writing a play specifically for this year's graduating class. Des Dieux et des hommes: Héraklès et autres mythes, went up Tuesday evening at the Monument-National.

Faces, famous and infamous

NTS/ENT alumni include actress-turned-author Ann-Marie MacDonald, playwright Judith Thompson; Stratford veterans like Martha Henry, Richard Donat, Lucy Peacock and Colm Feore; Québécois vedettes like Louise Forestier, Sylvie Drapeau and Pierre Lebeau; and designers from Michael Eagan to Eo Sharp. Students come from all over Canada and abroad. American stage and screen actress Blair Brown even attended NTS in the late '60s.

Like anyone else, the School has its off-days: it is also responsible for Luba Goy and Roy Dupuis ('69 and '86 grads, respectively).

Not that Goy and Dupuis haven't done well for themselves--a tricky task for any Canadian actor--but there may be better advertisements out there for the quality of an NTS education than the Silly Cow and the Hoarse Whisperer.

In Montreal's French-language theatre scene, the school's influence is perhaps felt most strongly through the graduates who have gone on to become artistic directors of theatre companies. René Richard Cyr, a 1980 Interpretation graduate, is the current artistic director of Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui. Espace Go is headed by Ginette Noiseux (Décoration, 1980). Wajdi Mouawad (Interprétation, 1990) co-founded Théâtre O Parleur and is currently the artistic director of Théâtre de Quat'Sous.

How different the theatrical landscape would be today had there never been a NTS is impossible to say. Most of the people who studied there would have managed to find training elsewhere and would probably be working in the field. Ultimately, the School's contribution may have less to do with individual talents than with helping to create a style and a community.

Two schools in one

Reached in rehearsal for Des Dieux et des hommes, Ronfard spoke with love in his voice of this institution he has watched grow and change over four decades.

"I have met people through the School whom I would probably never have met," he mused. "It is the source of a whole series of connections in the artistic process that never would have been made otherwise."

When he has a play to cast, Ronfard says he will often turn to fellow faculty members for recommendations. From the sheer number of NTS graduates appearing in plays in town at any given time (see sidebar), it is clear that other artistic directors maintain ties with the School as well. NTS has done studies, Ronfard says, to determine whether graduates are finding work.

"Of course if you're an actor, you could always use more work," he says, "but all of our technicians find work and overall employment levels are very high."

Forty years ago, English Canada was still looking to England for new plays and to a great degree copying a British style. Francophones, likewise, were still looking across the pond to France for inspiration and direction. NTS/ENT has had a hand in changing that reality.

NTS/ENT founder Michel Saint-Denis envisioned a kind of institution that had not existed in Canada before. First of all, bilingualism was considered an essential element which would encourage cross-pollination between the styles of Molière and Shakespeare. Secondly, the founders of the school embraced a pedagogy for actors that emphasized physical training and improvisation. NTS/ENT was to be a uniquely Canadian institution fostering a Canadian style of theatre.

Over time, Ronfard admits, political transformations caused the concept of bilingualism to be replaced by "co-lingualism."

"It is not really one, but two schools sharing the same premises," he says. The English and French sides operate independently of one another. Yet, Ronfard believes, "this school has to be located in Montreal. Over the years, some have suggested moving the English side to Toronto, but that would be a terrible loss for everyone."

That's because, independent or not, there are chemical reactions between the English and French theatre communities, within the school and out into the field. The rest of Canada has gradually, over the years, become aware of a Quebec style of acting and it is largely English NTS students who have introduced elements of that style: physicality, emotionality, to other theatre scenes across the country. Nowhere is that interplay more evident than here in Montreal, where the two communities are finally beginning to interact.

Des Dieux et des hommes is in French, but for the first time in the school's history, it will be subtitled in English. This was a practical decision to ensure that returning alumni from both language groups could appreciate Ronfard's gift to the school. But who knows, if it's successful it could become standard procedure.

Anniversary festivities get underway tomorrow (Nov. 10) at noon, with an invitation-only reception and award presentation. The Gascon-Thomas Award, now in its 10th year, is always given to one francophone and one anglophone artist in recognition of a significant contribution to Canadian theatre. The award is named after the first directors of the school, Jean Gascon (French side) and Powys Thomas (English side). Both Ronfard and Kenneth Welsh are expected to address the assembled guests and students of the School. Friday night's performance of Ronfard's play is reserved for alumni. Celebrity-spotters will have to make do with the sidewalk in front of the Monument. :

Theatre news/views: Amytheatre@aol.com

Des Dieux et des hommes: Héraklès et autres mythes in the Monument-National's Salle Ludger-Duvernay (1182 St-Laurent), through Saturday, Nov. 11 at 8pm, and Sunday, Nov. 12 at 3pm, $5

Star gazing

>> Some NTS/ENT alumni to watch out for this season

by AMY BARRATT

Ardon Bess (Acting, 1968) stars in Driving Miss Daisy at the Centaur, until Dec. 3

Susan Coyne (Acting, 1984) stars in Betrayal at the Saidye Bronfman Centre Theatre, until Nov. 26.

La Ressurection de Lady Lester, which opened this week and continues to Dec. 2 at the Monument-National, is directed by Julie Vincent (Interprétation, 1978) and counts among its cast members: Geneviève Rochette (Interprétation, 1992), Mireille Naggar (Interprétation 1992) and Didier Lucien (Interprétation 1994).

Serge Postigo (Interprétation, 1993) stars in Grease, Allan Sandler's French-language production, which returns to try to repeat its success of summer '99. At Théâtre St-Denis Nov. 10-19.

David Boutin (Interprétation, 1996) plays the title role in Dom Juan at TNM until Dec. 3.

Le Colonel Oiseau, playing at Théâtre de Quat'Sous until Dec. 2, counts at least two NTS grads among its cast members: Patrice Coquereau (Interprétation, 1986) and Paul Savoie (Interprétation, 1970).

Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui is currently showing La Nostalgie du paradis, a new text by François Archambault (Ecriture dramatique, 1993). It's cast includes Interprétation grads: Claude Despins (1995), Steve Laplante (1996), Julie Ménard (1996), and Marie-Hélène Thibault (1994).

Being at home with Claude, by René-Daniel Dubois (Interprétation 1976), gets a new production at Espace Go starting Nov. 14 starring Dubois and Luc Chapdelaine (Interprétation 1999).

Chris Abraham (Directing, 1996) co-founded the Montreal Young Company last year, largely with a view to creating work for recent NTS grads. He will direct Rattigan's After the Dance at the Saidye in February-March.

This spring, Fernand Rainville (Interprétation/mise-en-scène, 1985) directs Trick or Treat at the Centaur.