HISTORY

In August of 2001, the Department of French and Italian and the Center for French Studies sponsored the creation of L'Atelier, the French Theater Workshop, on the Princeton University campus. Florent Masse had originally created L'Atelier at Amherst College in the fall of 1999, when he was the Lévy-Despas Fellow and a teaching assistant in the French Department. L'Atelier at Princeton first met in September of 2001, and attracted students at all levels of proficiency in French – some who were seasoned actors, and some who had never acted before. For those students with a high level of fluency, the dramatic discipline was a new challenge. For veteran actors, the experience of acting in a foreign language (and the careful attention to text that it required) was both challenging and liberating. Since rehearsals were conducted entirely in French, L'Atelier also provided a casual atmosphere in which students could practice their French, as well as an opportunity for them to learn the French theatrical terminology.

In its first year of existence on the Princeton campus, L'Atelier attracted twenty-five students. It was open to everyone – not exclusively to undergraduates or to students of French – and thus brought together a diverse group joined by their mutual interest in the French language and culture. Some graduate students even joined the troupe, creating a rare opportunity for undergraduates and graduates to socialize. Moreover, several foreign students (including a few native French-speakers) signed up, further diversifying the group ethnically and linguistically.

L'Atelier began with weekly meetings, which were dedicated to basic introductory exercises and which fostered a sense of community within the group. Short pieces of French text, no more than two or three lines long, were memorized and rehearsed, with emphasis placed on the language, movement, and focus of the actor. After these preliminary explorations of the actor's discipline, students were cast in scenes which were primarily drawn from the classical theater of Molière, Racine, and Marivaux, with three exceptions: a scene from Paul Claudel's more modern play "L'échange," a scene from Ionesco's absurdist masterpiece "La Cantatrice Chauve," and a scene from "Tabataba" by contemporary French playwright Bernard-Marie Koltès. Students worked on their scenes with Masse in private rehearsals, developing "l'énergie de la scène" – the appropriate movement and pacing, at times a dance-like choreography produced by Masse's highly lyrical directorial style. At special sessions in the language lab, students focused more closely on the text, working on problems of projection, pronunciation, and diction. During the weekly meetings, students presented their scenes-in-progress and critiqued each other's work.

In May 2002, the troupe performed for the public under the title "Travaux d'Acteurs." The title "Travaux d'Acteurs" was meant to emphasize the communal, work-in-progress feel of L'Atelier. It was not a full-length play, but instead short scenes demonstrating the students' work in the context of a workshop where French skills and acting technique were continually being honed.

SEASON 2002-2003

By the beginning of the 2002-2003 academic year, L'Atelier had grown more popular on the Princeton campus and succeeded in attracting many new students. Meetings resumed in early October with a new troupe composed of thirty students. The combination of weekly group sessions, private rehearsals, and language training remained the same, but L'Atelier also benefited greatly from a partnership with Rockefeller College, located at the heart of Princeton's historic gothic campus. Group sessions were now conducted in Rocky's spacious common room, which had recently been made famous by the Academy Award-winning film "A Beautiful Mind." This new environment proved very suitable for the workshop's pedagogical objectives, and the year seemed very promising.

New scenes were cast, and students started their private rehearsals at the end of October. This time, most scenes would be longer, constituting fragments of plays and involving more actors. On December 4th, 2002, the troupe presented a new version of the public session (entitled "L'Atelier: Cours Public") at Rockefeller College. This presentation attracted a larger audience from all over the Princeton community, and featured the new scenes in their early stages. L'Atelier later presented "Fragments: A Student Recital of Scenes from Classical French Theater," directed by Florent Masse, on April 30th and May 1st, 2003 in the Matthews Acting Studio at 185 Nassau Street. With a running-time of one hour and fifty minutes, "Fragments" was a unique and delightful introduction to the remarkable range of the French theater, from Racine's elegant alexandrine verses to Feydeau's raucous comedy. The show won over its audience, composed of students, professors, and Francophiles from all over the Princeton area.

SEASON 2003-2004

L'Atelier began its third season at Princeton in September 2003. During that year, the director wished to continue developing the program by inviting new students to join the troupe and by creating new challenges for the current members. In September 2003 L'Atelier attracted a record number of 40 students.. The whole group worked together under the direction of Florent Masse during the fall semester and presented new works on December 3, 2003 during "L'Atelier: Cours Public 3." In the spring semester, L'Atelier split into two groups: the advanced Atelier, with those members who were in their second or third Atelier year, and the beginners' Atelier, with the students who had started L'Atelier in September 2003. During the spring semester, the advanced Atelier students, after having traveled to Paris, France (See L'Atelier in Paris Program), worked on a full-length play: "Le Dindon" by Georges Feydeau, while the beginners' Atelier continued its discovery of French theater by working on new scenes drawn from the French theatrical canon.

With Feydeau's "Le Dindon," L'Atelier reached a new milestone and set up for new challenges: its first full-length production. Students invested more time in the program than before and showed an exceptional motivation to meet the challenges of a complete production. "Le Dindon" offered them the unique opportunity to fully experience the different aspects of the theater process, while giving them the chance to work all together as actors on a single project. "Le Dindon" was performed on April 22nd and April 23rd, 2004 at the Matthews Acting Studio of 185 Nassau Street, home of the Princeton University Theater and Dance Program.

Another important innovation that year was to offer the advanced L'Atelier students the unique opportunity to travel to Paris, France, in order to refine their discovery and understanding of French theater. "L'Atelier in Paris Program" took place in late January 2004, over the university's intersession holiday, and lasted six days. The program was generously sponsored by the Center for French Studies, the Department of French and Italian the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS). Students attended two plays at La Comédie-Française, and an additional one at the Odéon Théâtre de l'Europe.

SEASON 2004-2005

At the start of its fourth season (AY 2004-2005), L'Atelier was officially divided into two groups: the beginners' Atelier, with an impressive new roster of 22 students, and the advanced Atelier offered to more committed students returning from previous years in the program. The beginners' Atelier continued to be modeled after the traditional Atelier program (scene works and group workshops) while the advanced Atelier focused on producing full-length productions each semester. In the fall of 2004, advanced Atelier students rehearsed "Travaux d'Acteurs" (composed of three one-act plays), and in the spring, they worked on a new complete play: Molière's "Le Tartuffe" the first play by L'Atelier in French verse. "Le Tartuffe," performed at the Matthews Acting Studio of 185 Nassau Street in late April 2005 delighted a large audience and enabled students to fully immerse in the world of Molière's language and theater during the course of one semester.

The fourth season of L'Atelier ended with the beginners' Atelier presentation of works at Rockefeller College on May 11, 2005. Of note during that season, was the short-term visit on campus of one of France's most renowned director, Daniel Mesguich. Daniel Mesguich's visit at Princeton was sponsored by The Center for French Studies and The Department of French and Italian. During his stay, Mesguich, who has been teaching acting at the Paris National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts (CNSAD) since 1983, lectured on French theater and rehearsed L'Atelier's students in their respective scenes and projects. Students greatly benefited from Mesguich's direction and insights. Mesguich also directed a masterclass in English for Program in Theater and Dance students at the Berlind Theater. The L'Atelier in Paris Program was again offered to L'Atelier's advanced students in January 2005.

SEASON 2005-2006

L'Atelier began an exciting fifth season in September 2005 with a dozen student members of La Troupe: the advanced Atelier, and 27 new members signing up for the beginners' Atelier. Advanced Atelier students focused their work on two classical French plays: Racine's "Andromaque" (October 2005), and Feydeau's "Un fil à la patte" (April 2006) both performed at 185 Nassau Street.

Racine's "Andromaque" gave L'Atelier students the chance to produce one of the greatest French tragedies and to discover a new theatrical genre, while the production of Feydeau's "Un fil à la patte" enabled them to once again immerse themselves in the theater of comic playwright Georges Feydeau. For the first time, during this season of L'Atelier, students performed works outside of the University. "Andromaque" was performed in New York City on the stage of the Lycée Français de New York on December 2, 2005, and excerpts from "Un fil à la patte" with its main cast were performed at the Lycée Rochambeau of Washington D.C on May 12, 2006. During that fifth season, advanced Atelier students participated in a new L'Atelier in Paris Program (January 2006). The program in France developed by offering students the chance to rehearse scenes within the walls of France's most prestigious national theater: La Comédie-Française.

Guillaume Gallienne, an actor member of the renowned troupe, directed the students in a unique acting class. Later, during the spring semester, Guillaume Gallienne visited Princeton (March 2006). His visit, sponsored by the Center for French Studies, the Department of French and Italian and Rockefeller College, benefited all L'Atelier students who were able to rehearse under his direction and receive critical feedback on their current productions.

SEASON 2006-2007

The sixth season of L'Atelier marked the fifth anniversary of L'Atelier at Princeton University in the fall of 2006. To celebrate this milestone, the season was filled with anniversary events. Florent Masse imagined a three-play season that would take the audiences of L'Atelier into three different playwrights' universes. The season started with the production of Marivaux's "Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard," the first time L'Atelier had mounted a play by Marivaux. The production featured a cast of students who all made their debut on the stage of the advanced L'Atelier. The show also marked the arrival of a new generation of students, mainly sophomores from the class of 2009, who had originated from the Beginners' Atelier of the fifth season. "Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard" delighted its audience, and actors took an immense pleasure in working on Marivaux's language and style for the first two months of the academic year.

Later on during the fall semester, advanced L'Atelier students started to rehearse a new play by Jean Racine: "Phèdre". "Phèdre", performed in February 2007 in the Chancellor Green Rotunda enchanted its audience. "Phèdre" brought together a cast of senior L'Atelier actors such as Mina Morova 07 and Laurent Pueyo GS, and younger L'Atelier actors such as Grant Bermann 09 and Holger Staude 09. The quality of the students' performances, and the passion that was evident in everyone involved, won over the large audience of the show.

The Chancellor Green Rotunda proved a remarkable performance space for the minimalist aesthetics of L'Atelier in general, and Racine's theatre, which borrows from Greek mythology, in particular. "Phèdre," which is considered one of the most difficult plays in the classical French repertoire represented the culmination of a long trajectory. Mina Morova 07, a senior in the Department of Comparative Literature ended her impressive four years of training at L'Atelier in a memorable performance of the play's title-role. Holger Staude 09, who had been working for a complete academic year on a scene from Racine's "Bérénice" as a member of the Beginners' Atelier, delivered a brilliant performance in his new role as Hippolyte.

Florent Masse envisioned ending the season with Molière's beloved comedy "Le Malade imaginaire." On April 12th 2007, the play successfully opened at the Matthews Acting Studio. The three performances brought very large crowds from the Princeton University community and Princeton area. Audiences marveled at the performances of Grant Bermann 09 and Veda Sunassee 09 who respectively played the roles of Argan and Toinette. Professor François Rigolot, chairman of the Department of French and Italian, joined the cast in a cameo appearance as Monsieur Purgon, adding a festive and celebratory tone to the production. With Molière's "Le Malade Imaginaire," L'Atelier found a perfect play to end its exceptional anniversary season.

In the fall of 2006, L'Atelier innovated by transforming the beginners' Atelier into a new French course – French 211, French Theater Workshop – marking the evolution of the program and its continuing development on campus. Students in FRE 211 rehearsed scenes for an entire semester, and closely studied their texts. The adaptation of L'Atelier program as a course proved successful in view of the excellent performances given by students during "Fragments VI", the class final performance projects of December 13, 2006. FRE 211 brought together 18 students who received a letter grade for their all their work during the semester. The course was divided between historical and cultural lectures at East Pyne, and workshops in the Berlind Theater's rehearsal room. Two students from the course were later invited to join the Troupe of L'Atelier.

During Intersession 2007, advanced L'Atelier students traveled to Paris for the fourth L'Atelier in Paris Program. Ten L'Atelier students refined their discovery of French theater during the annual trip to France. They attended a record number of five plays in Paris national theaters, among which everyone's favorite: Comédie-Française play "Cyrano de Bergerac." Students also saw "Le Malade Imaginaire" in the long-run mise en scène of La Comédie-Française by Claude Stratz. Students later attended a contemporary play at the Champs-Elysées Théâtre du Rond-Point that delighted them all. Students attended a masterclass by Daniel Mesguich at the Paris Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (CNSAD), and were fortunate to be invited to the dress rehearsal of Tchekhov's "Sur la Grand-Route" at Le Studio-Théâtre of La Comédie-Française directed by Guillaume Gallienne. L'Atelier in Paris Program not only constituted a unique enrichment program for the students, but it also served as a wonderful incentive program for the ten L'Atelier actors involved since they all brought back so much to Princeton from the trip. For all involved, the fourth L'Atelier in Paris Program was an unforgettable experience.

THE SEVENTH SEASON OF L'AVANT-SCÈNE
2007-2008

During that academic year, L'Avant-Scène – which was still called L'Atelier –, performed three full-length productions: the contemporary piece "Roberto Zucco" by Koltès in the fall, and two plays by Molière in the spring of 2008: "Dom Juan" (April 2008) and "Le Misanthrope" (May 2008), offering a Molière Festival for its growing audience.

New female actresses from the class of 2011 were recruited in the fall to make up for the graduation of five actresses from the class of 2007. The freshmen actively joined the troupe, and brought much new energy to the stage of L'Atelier. That fall, Fre/Thr 211 attracted many students, three of whom would later join the troupe. "Roberto Zucco" marked the first contemporary play ever performed in its entirety by the troupe, while both "Dom Juan" and "Le Misanthrope" posed new challenges. "Dom Juan" in particular required much development in scene design to convey the many locations of the play. With the help of Kelly Arlinghaus, theater technician in the Lewis Center for the Arts, ingenious solutions were found to enrich the stage and its design while keeping a minimalist feel to the play, a signature aesthetic of L'Atelier plays as discussed above. Students also actively worked at developing a score, and finding ideas to the technical issues surrounding the world of the play. In order to better prepare himself for his performance, the lead actor of "Dom Juan," Christian Hostetter '09, under the supervision of his director, initiated and took a reading course that semester, entitled "Dom Juan: Grasping the Myth." The experience proved quite rewarding given the success of the play.

Of note during the course of this production, and many others, was the help of Sophie Orloff, an active member of the Center for French Studies' Community Atelier (created by Florent Masse for the Community in the fall of 2004), and occasional adult actor on the stage of L'Atelier. Ever since the spring of 2006, Sophie Orloff had indeed actively helped the Troupe with finding props and crucial elements of sets. She has been joined recently by Corine André-Hessig.

Thanks to the generous David A. Gardner '69 Magic Grant, awarded to L'Atelier in 2007, two L'Atelier in Paris Programs took place that year; the traditional L'Atelier in Paris Program of late January, as well as a 'Voyage d'Etudes' centered on "Dom Juan" and "Le Misanthrope" for the plays' leading actors, Christian Hostetter '09 and Holger Staude '09. During the January L'Atelier in Paris, students attended a record number of six plays by renowned European directors such as Georges Lavaudant, Thomas Ostermeier, and Pippo Delbono. The two students participating in L'Atelier Voyage d'Études in March 2008 attended - and rehearsed in - daily master classes directed by Daniel Mesguich at the Paris National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (CNSAD). This experience would lead to new exchanges between Princeton and the Conservatoire the following academic year.

In the fall of 2007, L'Atelier was invited for the first time to collaborate with the Princeton University Art Museum on the occasion of a symposium for an exhibit featuring works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. L'Atelier students read "Ubu Roi" by Alfred Jarry in the prestigious Sterling Morton Gallery of the Museum. This first collaboration with the Art Museum developed further when L'Atelier performed there the second piece of its first Molière Festival: "Le Misanthrope." The play fit very well in the environment of the museum, and delighted the audience at the end of the year. Holger Staude '09 took on the lead role of Alceste opposite Grant Bermann '09 as Philinte and Michael Cutright '08 as Oronte. The cast was complemented by the younger generation of L'Atelier students that had also performed in "Dom Juan" that semester. Two productions directed and rehearsed at the same time proved challenging for both the actors and the director, but never had the enthusiasm of the troupe and spirit of the director been so high as during the great spring of 2008.

THE EIGHTH SEASON OF L'AVANT-SCÈNE
2008-2009

The eighth season, the most eclectic of all, was an exceptional year for L'Avant-Scène. It started with the change of name from L'Atelier to L'Avant-Scène. The change of name occurred in order to cut down confusion on campus with the Princeton Atelier of the Lewis Center for the Arts directed by Paul Muldoon, and formerly directed and created by Toni Morrison. That year, L'Avant-Scène performed the unprecedented number of five plays! The fall started with the contemporary piece "Juste la fin du monde" by Jean-Luc Lagarce; it was followed by Feydeau's classic comedy "La Puce à l'oreille." In the winter, Racine's "Britannicus" was presented at the Princeton University Art Museum, marking the third collaboration with the Art Museum. In the spring L'Avant-Scène offered a XIXth-century French Theater Festival with two monuments from that period: Musset's "Lorenzaccio" and Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac."

With "Juste la fin du monde" by Lagarce, L'Avant-Scène put on its second contemporary piece. Jean-Luc Lagarce has been recognized as the most influential French contemporary playwright in the recent years. Audiences enjoyed discovering another voice in French theater while students enjoyed challenging themselves to master the language of Lagarce. With Feydeau the fourteen students-actors of "La Puce à l'oreille" were able to experience collaborative work, and the magic of a large cast in this energetic French farce. "Britannicus" continued the tradition of performing a play in French verse by Jean Racine every other year. The cast brought together the four senior students of the troupe as a final group farewell to the stage in the exquisite décor of the Art Museum. Working on a new repertory, with plays from the XIXth century, was the highlight of the year. For the first time, L'Avant-Scène performed Musset and Rostand. The romantic masterpiece "Lorenzaccio," known for being impossible for the stage, confronted the troupe with new challenges. "Cyrano de Bergerac" also posed many novel challenges – acting outdoors, projecting voices, rehearsing in various weathers in an open and public space – but both productions proved successful in the end thanks to the troupe's artistic choices, the students' input and their continued enthusiasm.

All five plays were performed in five different venues on campus: the Matthews Acting Studio of 185 Nassau Street, the Whitman College Class of 1970 theater, the Princeton University Art Museum, the Chancellor Green Rotunda, and the Rockefeller College outdoor courtyard. For this eclectic saison, L'Avant-Scène collaborated with the Lewis Center for the Arts, the Whitman and Rockefeller residential colleges, the Humanities Council, and the Princeton University Art Museum. That season, the troupe involved 23 undergraduate students who alternated between the five productions. Students also again traveled to Paris during the traditional L'Avant-Scène in Paris Program sponsored by the Department of French and Italian, the Lewis Center for the Arts, the Center for French Studies and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. They attended daily classes at the Paris National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and saw a play every night in a variety of Parisian public theaters.

In February 2009, five students and their acting professor from the Paris National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (CNSAD) traveled to Princeton for eight days to reciprocate the exchanges between Princeton and the CNSAD. During this trip sponsored by the CNSAD, Conservatory students participated in workshops with L'Avant-Scène students, and attended classes and productions in the Theater and Dance Programs of the Lewis Center for the Arts. They also visited and attended productions in New York City.

L'Avant-Scène finished the season with an outdoor performance of "Cyrano de Bergerac" in the Rockefeller College Courtyard. The performance was meant to evoke the spirit of French summer art festivals. Additionally, L'Avant-Scène was awarded a new David A. Gardner '69 Magic Project Grant for the production of "L'Illusion comique" by Corneille for the following academic year. One senior student in the theater group, Holger Staude, the Class of 2009 valedictorian, was accepted at the Paris National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (CNSAD) to study acting for one year in their interns' program.

THE NINTH SEASON OF L'AVANT-SCÈNE
2009-2010

Students resumed rehearsing early in the fall of 2009 to prepare for another Molière Festival that semester. L'Avant-Scène performed "L'Avare" and a new mise-en-scène of "Le Tartuffe" with only three weeks between the two productions. The troupe was split into two production groups, but immersed itself entirely in the world of Molière. "L'Avare" featured seniors Zachary Wieder '10 and Alexandre Ekierman '10 in their last L'Avant-Scène show, while Roby Sobieski '10 and Veda Sunassee '10 starred in "Le Tartuffe." Far from being easy to act, Molière's popular comedy "L'Avare" posed new challenges for students: Molière's prose in particular proved much more difficult to enunciate; the lead role of Harpagon also required a continuous effort during the two hours and twenty minutes of production for its actor. "L'Avare" delighted the audience, and the season started on a high note. "Le Tartuffe," served by an ideal cast of seasoned L'Avant-Scène actors and up-and-coming ones, followed with a more serious tone before the Christmas holidays.

Performed in the Sterling Morton Gallery of the Princeton University Art Museum, "Le Tartuffe" fit the environment wonderfully. The successful Molière Festival attracted large audiences, and required hard work for all involved. Two students, Ankit Panda '12 and William Ellis '12 performed in the two productions, and the cast of the plays even included Professors François Rigolot and André Benhaim, as well as Sophie Orloff from the community, and director Florent Masse himself!

Students enrolled in Fre/Thr 211 presented their works in late December during "Fragments IX: A Student Recital of Scenes from French Theater." This ninth series of annual Fragments was the longest to date with an impressive double program: for the first time, students worked on two separate scenes for the course – one classical and one modern – and the presentation featured authors as varied as Hugo, Beaumarchais, Beckett, Genet, Ionesco, Mouawad, Claudel, Musset, Marivaux, Lagarce, Koltès, Molière, Feydeau, and Racine.

The troupe took a break during the first three weeks of January but this gave Florent Masse the opportunity to rehearse in New York City with former L'Avant-Scène students Mina Morova '07 and Holger Staude '09 in order to prepare for "Fragments: A Salon Performance of Excerpts of Racine and Lagarce" that was performed in early February at the Maison Française of NYU. This was the first event of this type with alumni members of the program. This performance gave young alumni of the New York area the chance to be reunited while offering L'Avant-Scène the opportunity to showcase its work in the City.

A new L'Avant-Scène in Paris took place during intersession 2010. Students enjoyed the selection of plays and attended a class every morning at the Conservatoire. Among the plays selected was the Comédie-Française's production of "L'Avare" that the troupe had recently performed. It was a unique opportunity for them to see the play staged just two months after having performed it. In addition to three plays seen at the Comédie-Française, one at the Odéon-Théâtre de L'Europe, and one at the Théâtre du Rond-Point, students attended the Théâtrothèque Vitez, a Festival in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the famous French director, and former Comédie-Française administrator, Antoine Vitez. Students also attended Guillaume Gallienne's hit one-man show "Les garçons et Guillaume à table," and met with Comédie-Française sociétaire Loic Corbery, who also met individually with Ankit Panda '12 to exchange views on the role of Clindor in "L'Illusion Comique" and to offer him a private tour of the theater. The seventh L'Avant-Scène in Paris was mainly sponsored by a generous grant from the David A. Gardner '69 Magic Fund.

When the troupe returned to Princeton, it was time to start rehearsing for the spring productions. This spring L'Avant-Scène took on a new ambitious project: to stage Corneille's early masterpiece "L'Illusion Comique," a celebration of the art of the theater, and its magical craft that still resonates today. Known for being a difficult play, the rehearsal process demanded much from students, who tackled the challenge with great enthusiasm. The end result was an enchanting, serious, and captivating performance of the great baroque play. The pleasure to work on a new writer, a different voice in alexandrines, was felt by all in the cast. The lead actors of the play, Tal Eisenzweig '12, Ankit Panda '12, Khameer Kidia '11, and William Ellis '12, who had just returned from Paris, impressed their director. Junior Nicholas DeVeaux '11 found a new challenge for his talent in the role of Pridamant, and brilliantly performed the role of the father. The character of Lyse – who plays a pivotal role in the play – was performed by Science-Po Paris exchange student Camille François '12. The cast was complemented by a younger generation of promising talent.

For this production in particular, an unprecedented effort was put into enhancing the set, costume and light designs so as to convey the worlds of the baroque play, and the theater within the theater, a key element of the play. Science-Po exchange student Pierre Gendronneau '12, who had prior experience in lighting design, graced the stage with beautiful lights, while Sophie Orloff and Corine André-Hessig designed graceful costumes, props and sets. Their aesthetic touch contributed enormously to the success of the production.

As in 2009, when L'Avant-Scène finished its season with an outdoor performance, the last play of the year was performed outdoors at the new Butler College Memorial Court Theater. With "L'Échange," an early work by Paul Claudel, students embarked on a new adventure. The production brought together Elena Garadja '12, Veda Sunassee '10, and Science-Po exchange students Camille François and Pierre Gendronneau. All enjoyed entering the world of this unique playwright. The setting of the outdoor Memorial Court Theater, where most rehearsals took place, further helped them dream and refine their individual performances. "L'Echange" was performed one time, an exquisite late spring evening, enchanting an audience that gave the actors a standing ovation for both the excellent performances, and the celebration of the end of season.

L'Avant-Scène also produced another late spring outdoor event on the occasion of the students' presentation of works in Fre 311 – Advanced French Theater Workshop. In the newly created course, one of the marking innovations of the ninth season of L'Avant-Scène, students worked on three different playwrights. Works by Racine were presented in public, inside the cloisters at Holder Courtyard (Rockefeller College) with the audience lined up on both sides of the cloisters. With exquisite performances of scenes by Racine, "Travaux d'Acteurs" ended the wonderful and intensive semester for students enrolled in the course. Students in the class also much benefited from a new visit at Princeton in February 2010 by students at the Paris National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and their acting professor Sandy Ouvrier.

L'Avant-Scène was awarded a new David A. Gardner '69 Magic Project grant for the 2010-2011 academic year, and yet another student, Zachary Wieder '10 was selected to intern at the National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts of Paris in the fall of 2010. With "L'Échange" on May 7, 2010, L'Avant-Scène beautifully ended its ninth season, in a charming outdoor setting. Rarely had a season been so rich in events, risks taken, and innovations. The troupe looks forward to recapturing the magic of its ninth season. With the talented promising new students and upcoming productions as varied as "Le Mariage de Figaro" by Beaumarchais, "Incendies" by Wajdi Mouawad, "La Cantatrice chauve" by Ionesco, and "Bérénice" by Racine, L'Avant-Scène's tenth anniversary season promises to be an exceptional new academic year.

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