A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

By Anne-Marie Cloutier
Translated by Andrée McNamara Tait

At The National Theatre School, what makes the Set and Costume Design Program unique is the fact that it is the only one taught in both official languages. Anglophone and francophone students can find themselves taking a class together or even, as is the case in their third year, working side-by-side on a production in both English and French. Although the program’s bilingual nature makes it seem a bit daunting, in the end the benefits are undeniable, judging by the comments of second- and third- year students.

The Honest Whore – © Maxime Côté

Pierre-Étienne Locas and Katherine Lubienski are in their third and final year. The former is a bilingual francophone from Montreal and the latter is a unilingual anglophone from Toronto. Or at least she was when she first arrived at the School. Three years and hundreds of hours spent relentlessly working alongside French-speaking colleagues have sharpened her knowledge of the language of Molière... and Michel Tremblay. “It’s obviously a win-win situation. I’ve improved a lot, especially because in my year, I was the only anglophone and so I had to constantly try to express myself in French, or at least be understood by francophones,” which could be somewhat frustrating at times, Katherine admits. “We are always together and we work long hours. When you’re tired, it’s harder to find the right words. And in French, there’s lots of talking going on! You have to use many words before getting to the heart of the matter! Listening to others discuss things back and forth for several minutes can be exasperating...Before I can form an opinion, I need time to take everything in and sometimes I have trouble following the flow. English is so much more concise, and more visual.

“Also, it’s that much more demanding to read a script and capture the essence of each word when it’s not written in your mother tongue. However, I’ve never felt isolated. I must admit that my fellow students made all the difference in the world: they were always ready to help me out.”

Pierre-Étienne Locas has experienced those same frustrations. “In our third year, we worked together on a production of The Honest Whore, directed by Peter Hinton. Katherine was doing the costumes and I was in charge of sets. Everything was done in English. I can get by, but this particular play was written by contemporaries of Shakespeare, in period English, and there is no French translation of the play available! So, I had to do it myself...I was dealing with a very specialized and precise vocabulary; finding accurate references for the fabrics used in those days was very difficult, for example. Sometimes, in a single sentence, I had to look up the meaning of three or four words. At the end of two weeks, I was ready to throw in the towel...”

Researching was an arduous task, but the outcome of this production, of which he is clearly proud, also rested on the rigorous work-process. Furthermore, the bilingual aspect of the course also enabled him to make contacts he never would have thought possible. “Meeting a Stratford director and working alongside him helped us establish contacts in a milieu in which I never thought I could work. It also allowed us to see the cultural differences between the two communities. They really are worlds apart! Everything is different: the technique, the choice of plays, the mentalities...”

Katherine Lubienski agrees: “The notions of theatre are, if not opposite, at least very distinct. Rubbing shoulder with both cultures and experiencing them from the inside is enriching in itself. I’d even say that it’s very liberating, from an artistic standpoint, to see things from a different angle. When I look back on the entire experience, I can’t separate it from the context. I did my professional training in Montreal, a city where cultural diversity is welcomed and which I loved to discover. I had access to a network of contacts I never would’ve established in Toronto. There’s no doubt in my mind that, at a certain level, this will make me a better designer in the long run.”

“In French, there’s lots of talking going on! You have to use many words before getting to the heart of the matter!”

A painting by Miriam Braunstein

Miriam Braunstein, a second-year student, feels the same way. Born in Germany, she studied English and French in her youth and appreciates the fact that in Montreal, “you feel easily understood in both languages and you can switch from one to the other.” Any difficulties? “The only catch is that because I can readily speak English or French, people assume I understand everything. Sometimes, though, certain nuances escape me and I need a bit of time to take it all in...”

From abroad, Miriam had chosen the School for its approach which is more pragmatic and concentrated than the training offered in her country. The fact that the program is bilingual didn’t deter her at all. “In Germany, when you take into account the many courses and apprenticeships, you can’t even dream of getting a job before nine years. Whereas here, when I finish the program, I‘ll express myself fluently (or almost) in three languages, I’ll have experienced three different cultures, and I’ll have acquired global knowledge in the fields of cinema, theatre, and costumes.”

And even when the words just do not come out, or their meaning is unclear or ambiguous, there is never any danger that the two worlds will become two solitudes. “In design, you can always bridge the gap,” says Miriam. “When all else fails, we can communicate using drawings and things become clear. We speak a universal language...”

When she graduated from the School in 2000, foreign student Kine Liholm Johannessen — who only spoke a few words of French when she arrived here — created the sets and costumes for several francophone productions for Théâtre de l’Utopie before returning to her native Norway.

At the recent Soirée des Masques awards presentation, Déline Petrone (Scénographie, 2002) was nomitated in the Révélation (new-comer) category for The Shape of Things, by Neil LaBute, presented at Centaur Theatre in Montreal.

On January 3, 2005, Maroussia Beaulieu, a young woman from Chicoutimi and recent graduate of the Peinture scénique program, proudly launched her career as a set painter at the prestigious Stratford Festival in Ontario.

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