1951-1969

1969

The Production Program is split into two sections: Design and Technical Production.

For the first time, a play written at the School is presented as a public exercise: an educational show entitled Une journée de travail à l’École nationale de théâtre du Canada, directed by Tibor Egervary and performed by the Interprétation française Section. The show is also presented to great acclaim at the St. Cloud International Festival in Minnesota.

1968

The Canada Council for the Arts stops awarding scholarships to students at professional art schools, including the National Theatre School.

The eight graduating students in the Interprétation française Section, protesting the view of theatre conveyed at the School, and in particular André Muller’s negative attitude toward Quebec creations, quit the School. Four of them (Paule Baillargeon, Pierre Curzi, Claude Laroche and Gilbert Sicotte) form the Grand Cirque Ordinaire with a handful of other artists, a troupe that would later revolutionize the practice of theatre for young artists in Quebec. In 1998, the School management would send them a letter officially reinstating them as alumni of the National Theatre School and recognizing the positive role they had played in the development of the institution.

1967

The library is turned over to the School, on condition that it remain open to the public.

An emergency assistance fund is created to grant loans to students due to a $500 donation from the National Jewish Women’s Association.

1965

For its public exercises, the School begins renting space in the Monument-National, which at the time is owned by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

After an aborted attempt in 1961, a student bursary fund is created.

1964

The School management sets up the Troupe des Jeunes Comédiens. It comprises one French unit and one English unit, and is renewed every year. The troupe tours Canada in 1964-1965 and in 1965-1966. The following year, the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde takes Les Jeunes Comédiens under its wing; by that time, only the French unit remains.

1963

In the fall, the School moves to the basement of Place-des-Arts, which had just opened the previous spring. On November 4th, just after the academic year started, Place-des-Arts reverses its decision and asks the School to vacate the premises immediately. Eleven days later, the School opens its doors again, in the Le Royer building at 407 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, near the Montreal Harbour.

The Community Players Theatre Library also moves into the Le Royer building and becomes officially associated with the School.

1961

The Community Players Theatre Library moves into the Canadian Legion Building and grants the School access to its resources.

The School holds its first summer session in Stratford. These sessions, which saw all the School’s teachers and students move to Stratford, would continue in this form until 1965.

In November, the Production Program opens. It includes Design and Technical courses. Up until 1965, training in directing is also offered.

1960

The CTC Pilot Committee approves the plan (or the Blueprint, as it becomes known) for the National Theatre School of Canada.

The Canada Council for the Arts becomes the School’s main financial backer.

On November 2, Michel Saint-Denis officially opens the School with these words: "I declare the National Theatre School ouverte."

Seventeen anglophone students and nine francophone students are enrolled.

The School’s first home is three rooms in the Canadian Legion building at 1191 Mountain Street in Montreal.

1959

The Canadian Theatre Centre-Centre du théâtre canadien (CTC) receives its patent letters.

The pro tem committee approaches the CTC to create a "truly bilingual school, located in Toronto."

The pro tem committee is dissolved, and the CTC forms a pilot committee that meets several times. The 16 committee members are considered the founders of the National Theatre School of Canada: David Gardner (Chair), Colonel Yves Bourassa, Donald Davis, Jean Gascon, Gratien Gélinas, Michael Langham, Pauline McGibbon, Mavor Moore, David Ongley, Tom Patterson, Jean Pelletier, Jean-Louis Roux, Roy Stewart, Powys Thomas, Vincent Tovell and Herbert Whittaker, along with Michel Saint-Denis, the senior advisor.

1958

Pauline McGibbon, President of the Dominion Drama Federation and former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, meets with representatives of the Canadian Players, the Crest Theatre, the CBC and the media (Mavor Moore and Herbert Whittaker) in Toronto to discuss the idea of a national theatre school.

A pro tem committee is formed.

1957

The theatre committee of the newly created Canada Council for the Arts gives top priority to setting up a national theatre school.

1951

The Massey-Lévesque Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences deplores the lack of an institution offering higher education in the theatre in Canada.