L'Atelier, The French Theater Workshop

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. L’Atelier, led and directed by Florent Masse (a lecturer in French who trained as an actor and director in France), would offer students an original combination of linguistic and dramatic training, and would constitute a unique cultural and artistic venture. Based on the cours d’interprétation used by the French conservatories, L’Atelier would introduce students to acting techniques and allow them to discover the richness of the French dramatic repertoire. Offered in French to American undergraduates, it would also be a chance to improve language skills by putting them in motion.

Florent Masse 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. During that year, Masse coordinated staged readings at the French House and produced Travaux, a student recital of scenes from classical French Theater involving twenty-two Amherst undergraduates. When his Fellowship was renewed for a second academic year, he further developed the program by directing the students in Molière's Tartuffe. Also in the same year, he created The "Atelier Shakespeare" under the auspices of the English Department, and directed a student recital of Shakespeare scenes entitled The Rest is Silence in the spring of 2001.

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.


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Home Saison History La Troupe L'Atelier in Paris Past Productions Reviews In Their Own Words Documents Outreach Sponsors French Theater Links French Links French Studies The French Dept. Princeton University		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. L’Atelier, led and directed by Florent Masse (a lecturer in French who trained as an actor and director in France), would offer students an original combination of linguistic and dramatic training, and would constitute a unique cultural and artistic venture. Based on the cours d’interprétation used by the French conservatories, L’Atelier would introduce students to acting techniques and allow them to discover the richness of the French dramatic repertoire. Offered in French to American undergraduates, it would also be a chance to improve language skills by putting them in motion. Florent Masse 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. During that year, Masse coordinated staged readings at the French House and produced Travaux, a student recital of scenes from classical French Theater involving twenty-two Amherst undergraduates. When his Fellowship was renewed for a second academic year, he further developed the program by directing the students in Molière's Tartuffe. Also in the same year, he created The "Atelier Shakespeare" under the auspices of the English Department, and directed a student recital of Shakespeare scenes entitled The Rest is Silence in the spring of 2001. 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.