Conservatoire students from Montreal and Quebec performing at Festival d'Avignon for first time

Drama students from the Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Montréal and Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Québec are performing at the Festival d'Avignon for the first time, giving them a rare opportunity to stage the same production multiple times before a live audience.

Students at Quebec's conservatoires are typically barred from professional performances outside their school walls for pedagogical reasons — to keep them focused on their studies. But three years ago, Montreal's conservatoire began organizing a school trip to Avignon that bends this rule. Quebec's conservatoire joined the program this year. Over three weeks, the students perform nearly every day, refining their work based on audience reaction — something most won't experience until after graduation.

"For the élèves, c'est extrêmement formateur," said Jonathan Gagnon, director of Quebec's conservatoire. "It's the first time they have the chance to play the same piece multiple times in front of a public, and adjust based on reactions." Gagnon, who has worked as a performer for 20 years, had never appeared at Avignon himself until this trip.

The Festival d'Avignon splits into two distinct events: the prestigious official "in," which showcases prized productions, and the sprawling "off," where over 1,700 productions compete for audiences on temporary stages lining the city's streets. The students are participating in the off. While the setup is costly and often run at a loss for companies, it remains the primary pathway for troupes to attract distributors and book tours — an increasingly difficult feat in France's current economic climate.

Frédérique Laplante, a student from Montreal's conservatoire, described arriving in the city as overwhelming. "There's so much public, so many pieces to see, so many different genres to discover," she said. "There's nothing that comes close to it in Quebec, not even close."