Student Life: I Love Montréal

by Christopher DiRaddo

For many of the students who attend the National Theatre School, it is their first time away from home. It is also, for many, their first time living in a city like Montréal. A burgeoning metropolis and vibrant hub of art and culture, Montréal is home to a broad spectrum of multi-cultural communities, spectacular events, impressive architecture, and artistic expression.

Despite a hectic schedule and heavy workload, most students still make time to experience as much of the city as they can during their short stay here. The Journal caught up with three students who will be returning home upon graduation to find out what made them fall in love with this city and what it is that will bring them back again.

“I love Montréal,” says Flavia Hevia. Hevia came to Montréal last year from Mexico City for the School’s new one-year Lighting Design program. “There is a lot of cultural exchange between Quebec and Mexico,” she says. Hevia was already familiar with the works of Robert Lepage, Michel Tremblay, and Michel Marc Bouchard when she arrived. She has noticed many similarities between both theatre communities. “It’s amazing how even the smell of the theatres is the same.”

Let There Be Light

As a lighting designer, Hevia has been captivated by the way that Montréal is lit. From the crisp blues of the winter skies to the ambient lighting of theatres and cinema, she cannot help but be inspired by the city. “They care about how the light looks and how it affects us. You can see it all over the city, how all the buildings’ lights are designed.”

On her time off, Hevia likes to take in as much theatre and dance as she can. “I try to go and see other theatre outside the School because I do think it is important to see other stuff. I don’t think you’re able to design if you don’t.” Hevia is looking forward to this summer. She intends on prolonging her stay until September in order to take advantage of the city’s numerous summer festivals.

“Montréal is a lot smaller than Mexico City and it’s amazing how much art it has.” One of Hevia’s favourite spaces in Montréal is Usine C. In the past year, she has seen both her personal inspirations, Laurie Anderson and Marie Brassard, relaxing with their peers in the downstairs café after one of their performances. She finds this public interaction charming. “That little community is something that Montréal is great at.”

Weekend Wandering

“Sunday is the holy day for students in my class,” says graduating actor Marc Bendavid. “Everything we can’t do during the week is left to Sunday.” For some it’s laundry, for others groceries, but for Bendavid, his day of rest is spent exploring the city.

“I go for walks,” says Bendavid of his Sunday pastime. “I usually go somewhere I haven’t been or just wander around discovering parts of town.” A resident of Montréal’s bustling and trendy Plateau neighbourhood, Bendavid has visited on his treks a number of the city’s multi-cultural neighbourhoods like Mile End, Little Italy, and Little Portugal, along with places like the Botanical Gardens and the Jean Talon Market.

“Montréal is this wonderful little gem,” he says, recounting all of the best places in the city he has found to buy bread, croissants, pastries, and Italian coffee. “Places become your favourites, not necessarily because they are the best, but because you’ve discovered them and you want to keep going to them.” Also, during the winter, Bendavid likes to ice skate. On his trips he has discovered a number of small skating rinks around the city and visits them whenever he gets the chance.

“No one in our class is from Quebec. It’s a whole new world. The language, the food, and the people are very different from the rest of Canada. It gives us the experience of a permanent sort of high that we’re in this wonderful city.” Bendavid thinks that Montréal is the best city in Canada for students to live and train in because it is inexpensive and a world apart from the rest of the country. He couldn’t imagine the School being located anywhere else but here. Although he will be returning to Toronto to look for work, he is sure he’ll be back often in the coming years.

Café Culture

Kessa Laxton is in her final year of the School’s new Scenic Art Apprenticeship Program. Having lived in a number of cities while growing up, including nearby Ottawa, Laxton only had the opportunity to discover Montréal as a student here these past two years.

“What I enjoy most about Montréal is the neighborhoods,” says Laxton who lives close to the School in the artsy Mile End district. “I find that Montréal is built on a more human scale. It’s much more of a welcoming city. People just take their time a little more. The pace is a little bit slower.”

When not in School, Laxton can be found sharing coffee and conversation with some of her classmates at the Café Esperanza, a friendly community coffee shop in her neighbourhood. Bilingual, Laxton also likes to attend French theatre with some of the other students in her program. “I find French theatre tries to surpass boundaries a little more than English theatre,” says Laxton, citing the presence of more dance and movement in the works she has seen. She says that this immersion in another culture has illuminated her own work habits. “I notice there are ways in which I approach things and the rhythm with which I work that’s very particular to the fact that I’m English”.

“The beauty of the program is that both cultures can learn what each other’s strengths and weaknesses are and find a balance between the two. If that balance can be struck, it is really quite special.” Upon graduation, Kessa intends to return home to her partner and family in Toronto, as she is expecting her first child. But, she hopes to come every now and then to work or to visit. “I’ve always had a dream about raising a child in Montréal.”

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