Graduating students collaborate with leading international directors, headlined by Sir Gregory Doran directing Shakespeare’s Pericles, across five productions from October to May.

Montreal, QC – September 8, 2026 – The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS) unveils its 2026–2027 season of student productions, featuring the work of its graduating students. From fall 2026 through spring 2027, audiences are invited to discover the next generation of theatre artists from NTS’s professional training programs.

After three years of intensive training, graduating students in Acting, Playwriting, Set and Costume Design, and Production Design and Technical Arts will bring their skills together in five productions throughout the season, working alongside acclaimed professional artists from Canada and abroad.

Presented primarily at the Monument-National, NTS’s historic performance venue in downtown Montreal, these productions represent defining moments in the students’ training and offer audiences an opportunity to discover emerging artists as they prepare to enter the professional theatre community.

ENGLISH SECTION 2026–2027 SEASON

 Éric Carrière, from the show Pool (No Water), a play by Mark Ravenhill, directed by Rose Plotek and presented in February 2026.

The Parliament of the Birds opens the season

The English Section opens its season in October with The Parliament of the Birds by Guillermo Verdecchia, adapted from The Conference of the Birds by Farid Ud-din Attar and directed by Soheil Parsa.

Bringing together graduating students from across the English Section’s programs, the production will launch a season shaped by collaboration, exploration and encounters with artists whose work reaches across theatrical traditions and cultures.

The Parliament of the Birds, by Guillermo Verdecchia
Adapted from The Conference of the Birds by Farid Ud-din Attar
October 21–25, 2026
Studio Hydro-Québec, Monument-National
Directed by Soheil Parsa

Paradise Lost takes the Ludger-Duvernay stage

In December, the season continues with Erin Shields’ Paradise Lost, directed by Sarah Garton Stanley. The production will bring graduating students to the Salle Ludger-Duvernay, the Monument-National’s largest stage, for the English Section’s final public performance of 2026.

Paradise Lost, by Erin Shields
December 9–12, 2026
Ludger-Duvernay Hall, Monument-National
Directed by Sarah Garton Stanley

Shakespeare’s Pericles, directed by Sir Gregory Doran

The season resumes in February with one of its major productions: Shakespeare’s Pericles, directed by internationally renowned British director Sir Gregory Doran.

Presented at the Salle Ludger-Duvernay, the production will give NTS students the exceptional opportunity to work with one of the leading Shakespearean directors of his generation.

Pericles, by William Shakespeare
February 24–28, 2027
Ludger-Duvernay Hall, Monument-National
Directed by Sir Gregory Doran

New Words Festival closes the season

The English Section’s season will conclude with the New Words Festival, presented by Hydro-Québec, an annual celebration of new work developed at NTS.

This year’s festival will feature Fireproof by graduating Playwriting student Ella Kohlmann, directed by Micheline Chevrier, and Kindle by graduating Playwriting student Geneva Noppers, directed by Rose Plotek. Bringing together the creative work of students from across the English Section, the festival offers audiences an opportunity to encounter new theatrical voices at a pivotal moment in their artistic development.

New Words Festival, presented by Hydro-Québec
Fireproof by Ella Kohlmann, directed by Micheline Chevrier
Kindle by Geneva Noppers, directed by Rose Plotek
April 25–May 2, 2027
Studio Hydro-Québec, Monument-National

FRENCH SECTION PRODUCTIONS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON

Maxime Côté, from the show Ma chambre froide, a play by Joël Pommerat, directed by Olivier Kemeid and presented in April 2026.

NTS’s French Section will also present a rich program of public performances throughout 2026–2027. The season begins with the Festival Nouvelles Écritures, presented by Hydro-Québec, featuring Une histoire vraie by Alexie Legendre, directed by Sofia Blondin, and Les feux follets by Alexandre Martin, directed by Jean-Simon Traversy. The season will continue with the traditional Spectacle de chant; Virginia Woolf’s Un lieu à soi, directed by Frédéric Dubois as an in situ creation; a young-audiences project led by Brigitte Poupart; Atys by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault, directed by Stéphanie Jasmin and developed in partnership with BOP, UBU and Opéra de Montréal; and Henrik Ibsen’s Un ennemi du peuple, directed by Florent Siaud.

Click here for the full lineup of the French-language section

A season shaped by collaboration

Across both its English and French Sections, NTS’s public performances are an essential part of the students’ professional training. Onstage and behind the scenes, graduating actors, playwrights, designers, directors and production specialists take part in every stage of the creative process, collaborating with one another and with established artists from the professional community.

The 2026–2027 English Section season reflects the breadth of this training: from contemporary Canadian writing and works rooted in Persian literary traditions to Shakespeare and new plays created at NTS. Together, these five productions invite audiences to discover the artists who will help shape the future of theatre in Canada and beyond.

Complete season

NTS student public performances are made possible thanks to the generous support of TD Bank Group, and the financial support of the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada.