23/25 rue de Bergues
59000 Lille
France
T +33 (0)3 20 00 72 64
LEARNING THE ACTOR’S TRADE
École du Nord uses intensive work on the interpretation of texts as the main way of training its actors: young performers learn their art through engaging with plays from the classical repertoire and by contemporary authors.
LEARNING TO WRITE FOR THE STAGE
Each student author will be asked to write several plays. Texts written in the second and third years will be given public performance. The student authors will be guided in their progress by established authors and dramaturges.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Age: between 18 and 26, with a baccalauréat or equivalent. Proof of theatrical training: diploma in theatre studies from a local drama school or attestation of acting experience (private drama lessons, work with a company).
COURSE DURATION
3 years
DIPLOMAS
The Centre offers two diplomas: the DNSPC (Diplôme Nationale Supérieur Professionnel de Comédien: Higher National Actor’s Diploma), awarded by École du Nord, recognised by the Ministry of Culture and Communication, and an arts BA, awarded by Lille University.
The 18 students, a mix of actors and authors, enjoy a special scheme designed to facilities their entry into their profession over the three years following their training.
NUMBER OF STUDENTS
18 (14 actors, 4 writers)
TEACHING STAFF
Director
Christophe Rauck
President
Marie Desplechin
Director of Studies
Lucie Pollet
Alain Françon and François Berreur
These young apprentices will work alongside numerous working professionals – actors, directors, clowns, conductors, authors, musicians, academics, playwrights and choreographers.
École du Nord in Lille is one of France’s 13 higher schools of dramatic art. It trains actors and writers for the stage. They are recruited by a competitive admissions process which is held every three years.
EPSAD becomes École du Nord
Created by Stuart Seide in 2003 as EPSAD, the school is connected with the Théâtre du Nord, Centre Dramatique National. In fifteen years it has acquired a solid reputation in France and in French-speaking countries. In 2014 incoming director Christophe Rauck renamed the school École du Nord in order to underscore its shared vision with the Théâtre du Nord, which places the dramatic text and performers at the centre of its project.
Combining education with experience sharing, the school’s three-year course teaches young artists the perfectionism, rigour and other qualities needed to work as an actor or writer for the stage.
A shared programme: actor and dramatist
Since 2015 École du Nord has offered twin, interconnected trainings that make it unique in France: in each cohort, student writers and student actors work side by side in order to learn about and from each other’s practice.
While affirming the specificity of these two trainings and these two professions, École du Nord uses this shared programme as a way of strengthening vocations and creating more intense artistic understanding, putting the act of writing at the heart of the training of those who will create the theatre of tomorrow.
