2 years of training | 2 students every two years
PROCESS / RESEARCH / CONCEPTUALIZATION/ COMMUNICATION/ LEADERSHIP
NTS’s training for directors is rigorous and immersive. It supports individual growth through exposure to a diversity of professional forms and theatre styles, and a thorough examination of current theatre practices. Throughout their time at NTS, students will develop an intimate rapport with Canadian and Quebecois theatre artists. Students in the English Section will also work closely with students from Mise-en-scène, the School’s French directors’ training program on select projects. While the working language for the program is English, some basic French is encouraged and supported by the School.
In collaboration with the French section's Mise en scène program.
Angelica Schwartz (Directing, Winnipeg, MB) with Savion Roach (Acting, Scarborough, ON) during rehearsal for the 15-minute play project.
Carly Chamberlain (Directing, 2016) during rehearsal
Judy Wensel (Directing, 2018, Regina, SK) with a professional actor, in rehearsal for her end-of-year project.
Harrison Thomas (Directing, 2018) in the lighting laboratory of the main campus of the School
APPLICATION FORM
Fill out the online application form and pay the registration fee before January 31. We’ll be in touch to let you know about the next steps.
DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED
Once the application has been submitted, candidates are subsequently required to submit a portfolio that will include:
Details are communicated to candidates shortly after the admission deadline.
INTERVIEW
After consideration of these submissions, selected candidates will be invited to attend a workshop in Montreal which will include an interview.
NTS offers highly individualized training. As such, the curriculum is subject to change, following the latest development in technology, new artistic practices, and the needs of the unique group of artists making up each class. Our training is always practical, supported by the 20 student shows created each year.
Moving between theoretical work and hands-on application, students solidify their foundations, deepen their self-awareness, develop their personal practice, and experiment with form.
Along with classes and workshop, the second year is dedicated to the realisation of two productions: the first, of the directors' choosing, is supported by professional mentors and collaborators; the other sees the students directing productions of the graduating playwrights’ work for the New Word Festival, featuring all-student casts, and design and production teams.
- Matjash Mrozewski, Associate Director of the Directing program and Residencies
Read the bio
The director of the Directing program is Alisa Palmer.
Our students are taught and mentored by working professional artists who have their finger on the pulse of the artistic community.
They share a wealth of theatre experience from across Canada and around the world. NTS has an overall ratio of two instructors per student. Our group of teaching artists varies each year according to student needs.
Sarah Garton Stanley
Director and dramaturg
Sarah received the 2016 Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas’ Elliot Hayes Award for her focus on the Indigenous body of performance work in Canada.
Brendan Healy (Directing, 2005)
His shows have garnered multiple Dora Mavor Moore Awards and he is a recipient of the Ken McDougall and the Pauline McGibbon awards for directing. Between 2009 and 2015, Brendan was the Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Ravi Jain
Actor and award-winning director whose work has been produced extensively around the world. Over the past six years, as artistic director and founder of his international theatre company Why Not Theatre, Ravi has created over 14 productions, performing in 15 different cities on 4 continents.
Read the Frequently Asked Questions
CONTACT OUR REGISTRATION OFFICE
514-842-7954, ext. 134
Book a tour of the School, it's free!
Because physical distance shouldn’t mean total isolation, the National Theatre School of Canada (NTS) is allocating $60,000 in support of emerging artists (as 80 grants of $750). These funds will be granted to theatre artists in training, or artists who have completed a theatre training program within the past five years, to present a piece of art online.
Apply online: https://ent-nts.ca/en/art-apart
Please note that the School's activities are suspended until May 1st. Subscribe to the newsletter to find out about the latest developments regarding the crisis.