Before boarding the bus for our trip to Stratford, I was nervous about what awaited me.
A little context: in the eighth grade I was absolutely certain that one day I was going to become an actor. So certain in fact, that I applied to Stratford’s Queen’s Company Program to “network” and “develop my craft”.

When I got there, things quickly tumbled downhill. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Stratford put together one heck of a program—it’s just, among all the voice exercises, physical warm ups, summer romances, and Shakespeare monologues, I found myself feeling totally out of place, and was eventually hit by a glaring moment of truth: I am not an actor.

Now it’s been a while since the eighth grade for me, and since then I walked into design by accident and fell completely in love with it over the course of my first year at NTS. But for whatever reason, as the hour hit 2 o’clock and we filed onto our buses and took what would be our seats for the following eight hours, I felt butterflies… They didn’t last long, however… How could they around the francophone design and production students, who filled the time with lively discussion about circus projects, French plays, Romher, Pulp Fiction, mayonnaise and tomato sandwiches, and a terrific game of “si il/elle etait un(e)…”

Along the way we made a pit stop at the Big Apple to buy ciders and talk to donkeys, before reluctantly re-boarding for the last stretch of the ride.

By the time we got to Shakespeare, Ontario it was pitch black and we all needed to pee.
As soon as we walked into our room Joline pulled out five Korean Sheet Masks, to everyone’s giddy surprise. And as we smoothed on the gooey sheets that promised us radiant and soft-as-a-baby’s-bum skin, I realized something very important, and that was: if you want to bond with someone, apply face masks together.

The next morning, we groaned as the 7AM alarm went off. Back on the bus, but not for long before we made it to dear old Stratford for a jam-packed day of incredible talks, and two very interesting shows. The first one we saw was the much-anticipated Coriolanus which awed the audience with its magical and cinematic set design, and we ended the day with Julius Caesar.

The next morning we began with a tour. As we strolled through the prop shop and costume warehouse, I felt at ease. I was excited to learn about what was used to build props, and to discuss why they used certain fabrics for certain costumes. Visiting the fabric room was like walking into a fairy tale. As we watched The Tempest and Paradise Lost, I was able to spot design choices. The crow in The Tempest blew my mind!!! And for a moment, walking along the pond as I had a few years ago, now listening to my friends discussing what they liked and didn’t about the theatre they had seen, I noticed that I wasn’t miserable like I had been. In fact, I was having a lot of fun!

When we boarded the bus back, I no longer felt butterflies. It sounds cheesy, but while watching the passing fields glowing golden in the sun, I had a thought… In the same place I had learned all those years ago that I was not to become an actor, I realized this time around that I am completely proud to be becoming a designer. And I am so grateful for that thought. Thank you Stratford, thank you Ada Slaight, thank you NTS.

Alexandra Lord (Set and Costume Design, 2015, Toronto) is making sartorial dreams come true in an eco-friendly way and showing us that theatre skills are life skills.

Alexandra decided to use her micro-grant to expand a project she started while she was studying at NTS. First, she invited people online to organize their closet into three categories: clothes that are worn out, clothes that you always wear and clothes you never wear. Everyone who participated was entered into a draw to win a custom piece of clothing.

Toronto-based actor and playwright Kanika Ambrose was selected as the winner. She won a free wardrobe consultation, where Alexandra suggested new ways to style the clothes that Kanika never wears, based on Kanika’s style and preferences. The items where this didn’t seem possible, they set aside as potential materials for a repurposed piece.

Then, Alexandra and her assistant Beatriz Arevalo got to work. They created a pattern from Kanika’s favourite blouse, using the floral fabric from a dress that didn’t fit well. The shell buttons under the necktie and on the sleeves were salvaged from another blouse that was never worn.

For the final look, the brand-new repurposed blouse was paired with a handmade skirt from Kanika’s mom and some funky flower earrings.

And so, a piece of clothing that was never worn becomes a new favourite piece!

“The design skills for theatre that the school teaches can be applied in a wide range of ways to a variety of projects. I am particularly interested in how the sustainable practices that we often use in theatre can be applied to our daily lives.”
–Alexandra Lord (Set and Costume Design, 2015, Toronto)

Our graduates work not only in theatre, but also in dance, opera, the circus arts, film, and television. Apply before January 31!

Photographer and assistant to Alexandra: Beatriz Arevalo

NTS is pleased to announce that Stéphane Longpré will be the next director of the National Theater School’s Set and Costume Design Program. Stéphane will assume his functions on August 1, 2018. He will succeed François St-Aubin.

It is with great enthusiasm, as well as a sense of the responsibility resting on my shoulders, that I have joined the National Theatre School of Canada (NTS). NTS made me who I am today, not only as an artist, but also as a human being. It’s where I discovered theatre. It’s where I met artists involved in their community. It’s where I found purpose.

I have watched the Set and Costume Design program evolve over the past 20 years, first as a student, then as an instructor. In my view, it’s a training program that is unique in Canada, notably because of its bilingual nature and its social and cultural diversity, all of which brings it an incomparable richness. The imperative of openness to others is, I feel, central to the teaching philosophy at NTS: to be confronted with different perspectives and approaches to feed your identity as an artist and find your own creative path or voice. This is precisely what fosters fertile dialogue between artists, but also between people.

My priority is to build a training program for students who are able to create and to dream, to whom we will offer the tools to give those ideas concrete forms. To accomplish this, we must create a synergy between the reflective, creative, and technical aspects of scenographic practice, so that each facet feeds the others. In this spirit, the Set and Costume Design program at NTS must be anchored in the concrete realities of the cultural sector today. Professionals today work in a different way and in different conditions than in the past, and it follows that training has to adapt to current realities.

And so I believe that, by the end of their NTS training, students need to have acquired an artistic vision and technical competencies that will serve them not only in the theatrical context, but also in a wide variety of creative and artistic fields. It is essential that students familiarize themselves with new technologies, and learn to use them with sensitivity. It seems to me equally important to strengthen the collaborative ties between Set and Costume Design and the other NTS sections, in order to improve the experience that students have during internal productions as well as to prepare them for their integration into the cultural and artistic sector

Finally, it is absolutely essential that despite the rigours of performance, there is a genuine space for experimentation within this program. Indeed, I firmly believe that mistakes are an important part of the journey to becoming a professional set and costume designer: they need to be seen as a unique opportunity for learning.

Watch our Theatre MomeNTS video Burning Fabric with the Set & Costume Design teacher James Lavoie.