{"id":28718,"date":"2026-05-14T16:47:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/?p=28718"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:58:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:58:41","slug":"the-class-of-2026-takes-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/the-class-of-2026-takes-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"The Class of 2026 Takes Flight\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Two&nbsp;weeks&nbsp;ago, in the grand hall of the Monument-National \u2014 the&nbsp;very&nbsp;stage&nbsp;where&nbsp;so&nbsp;many&nbsp;of&nbsp;them&nbsp;first&nbsp;learned&nbsp;to&nbsp;truly&nbsp;inhabit&nbsp;a&nbsp;space&nbsp;\u2014 the&nbsp;graduating&nbsp;students&nbsp;of the National&nbsp;Theatre&nbsp;School of Canada&nbsp;received&nbsp;their&nbsp;diplomas,&nbsp;surrounded&nbsp;by&nbsp;loved&nbsp;ones,&nbsp;teachers, and the&nbsp;entire&nbsp;community&nbsp;that&nbsp;walked&nbsp;alongside&nbsp;them&nbsp;throughout&nbsp;their&nbsp;training.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A&nbsp;ceremony&nbsp;that&nbsp;felt&nbsp;just&nbsp;like the people&nbsp;it&nbsp;was&nbsp;honouring: alive,&nbsp;colourful, and&nbsp;deeply&nbsp;personal. The&nbsp;evening&nbsp;opened&nbsp;with&nbsp;a&nbsp;presentation&nbsp;by Soleil&nbsp;Launi\u00e8re&nbsp;(Indigenous&nbsp;Residency, 2020),&nbsp;followed&nbsp;by an&nbsp;awards&nbsp;ceremony&nbsp;recognizing&nbsp;excellence and&nbsp;outstanding&nbsp;journeys&nbsp;across&nbsp;each&nbsp;program,&nbsp;before&nbsp;program&nbsp;directors&nbsp;took&nbsp;to the microphone to&nbsp;say&nbsp;a few&nbsp;words&nbsp;about&nbsp;each&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;students&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;every&nbsp;single one.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nine programs, one&nbsp;school<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This&nbsp;year,&nbsp;graduating&nbsp;cohorts&nbsp;from&nbsp;all&nbsp;nine&nbsp;of the&nbsp;School&#8217;s&nbsp;programs are&nbsp;crossing&nbsp;the&nbsp;threshold&nbsp;together&nbsp;\u2014 in&nbsp;both&nbsp;French and English sections. Performers&nbsp;trained&nbsp;in the&nbsp;precision&nbsp;of acting and the&nbsp;mastery&nbsp;of the stage.&nbsp;Directors&nbsp;who&nbsp;have&nbsp;learned&nbsp;to lead, to&nbsp;listen, to&nbsp;take&nbsp;risks.&nbsp;Playwrights&nbsp;who&nbsp;have&nbsp;found&nbsp;their&nbsp;voice&nbsp;and&nbsp;begun&nbsp;writing&nbsp;for the&nbsp;theatre&nbsp;of&nbsp;today. Production and&nbsp;technical&nbsp;arts&nbsp;professionals&nbsp;ready&nbsp;to run the&nbsp;behind-the-scenes&nbsp;machinery&nbsp;of the&nbsp;industry. Designers&nbsp;whose&nbsp;vision can&nbsp;transform&nbsp;a&nbsp;bare&nbsp;stage&nbsp;into&nbsp;an&nbsp;entire&nbsp;world. And the&nbsp;artists&nbsp;completing&nbsp;their&nbsp;journeys&nbsp;through&nbsp;the Independent&nbsp;Residencies&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Indigenous&nbsp;Residency&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;two&nbsp;vital&nbsp;presences&nbsp;that&nbsp;continue to&nbsp;enrich&nbsp;and expand&nbsp;what&nbsp;Canadian&nbsp;theatre&nbsp;can&nbsp;be&nbsp;and&nbsp;say.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And&nbsp;now,&nbsp;what&nbsp;comes&nbsp;next.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;professional&nbsp;world&nbsp;is&nbsp;demanding,&nbsp;ever-changing, and&nbsp;often&nbsp;unpredictable. But&nbsp;that&nbsp;is&nbsp;precisely&nbsp;what&nbsp;these&nbsp;artists&nbsp;were&nbsp;trained&nbsp;for \u2014 in French and in English, at a&nbsp;school&nbsp;that&nbsp;carries the&nbsp;word&nbsp;&#8220;national&#8221; as a&nbsp;genuine&nbsp;responsibility&nbsp;toward&nbsp;theatre&nbsp;across&nbsp;Canada.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Congratulations to the&nbsp;entire&nbsp;Class of 2026.&nbsp;We&nbsp;cannot&nbsp;wait&nbsp;to&nbsp;see&nbsp;you&nbsp;on stages&nbsp;across&nbsp;the country \u2014 and to follow&nbsp;wherever&nbsp;those&nbsp;first&nbsp;steps&nbsp;in the profession&nbsp;take&nbsp;you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two&nbsp;weeks&nbsp;ago, in the grand hall of the Monument-National \u2014 the&nbsp;very&nbsp;stage&nbsp;where&nbsp;so&nbsp;many&nbsp;of&nbsp;them&nbsp;first&nbsp;learned&nbsp;to&nbsp;truly&nbsp;inhabit&nbsp;a&nbsp;space&nbsp;\u2014 the&nbsp;graduating&nbsp;students&nbsp;of the National&nbsp;Theatre&nbsp;School of Canada&nbsp;received&nbsp;their&nbsp;diplomas,&nbsp;surrounded&nbsp;by&nbsp;loved&nbsp;ones,&nbsp;teachers, and the&nbsp;entire&nbsp;community&nbsp;that&nbsp;walked&nbsp;alongside&nbsp;them&nbsp;throughout&nbsp;their&nbsp;training.&nbsp; A&nbsp;ceremony&nbsp;that&nbsp;felt&nbsp;just&nbsp;like the people&nbsp;it&nbsp;was&nbsp;honouring: alive,&nbsp;colourful, and&nbsp;deeply&nbsp;personal. The&nbsp;evening&nbsp;opened&nbsp;with&nbsp;a&nbsp;presentation&nbsp;by Soleil&nbsp;Launi\u00e8re&nbsp;(Indigenous&nbsp;Residency, 2020),&nbsp;followed&nbsp;by an&nbsp;awards&nbsp;ceremony&nbsp;recognizing&nbsp;excellence and&nbsp;outstanding&nbsp;journeys&nbsp;across&nbsp;each&nbsp;program,&nbsp;before&nbsp;program&nbsp;directors&nbsp;took&nbsp;to the microphone to&nbsp;say&nbsp;a few&nbsp;words&nbsp;about&nbsp;each&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;students&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;every&nbsp;single one.&nbsp; Nine programs, one&nbsp;school&nbsp; This&nbsp;year,&nbsp;graduating&nbsp;cohorts&nbsp;from&nbsp;all&nbsp;nine&nbsp;of the&nbsp;School&#8217;s&nbsp;programs are&nbsp;crossing&nbsp;the&nbsp;threshold&nbsp;together&nbsp;\u2014 in&nbsp;both&nbsp;French and English sections. Performers&nbsp;trained&nbsp;in the&nbsp;precision&nbsp;of acting and the&nbsp;mastery&nbsp;of the stage.&nbsp;Directors&nbsp;who&nbsp;have&nbsp;learned&nbsp;to lead, to&nbsp;listen, to&nbsp;take&nbsp;risks.&nbsp;Playwrights&nbsp;who&nbsp;have&nbsp;found&nbsp;their&nbsp;voice&nbsp;and&nbsp;begun&nbsp;writing&nbsp;for the&nbsp;theatre&nbsp;of&nbsp;today. Production and&nbsp;technical&nbsp;arts&nbsp;professionals&nbsp;ready&nbsp;to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":28715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28718"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28728,"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28718\/revisions\/28728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-nts.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}