“L’Atelier was a complete new experience for me. In fact I’d never acted before in my life and I was very worried about how everything would turn out. I must say that the first thing that struck me was the director Florent Masse. He’s probably the most energetic and enthusiastic person that I know. At first I joined L’Atelier just to practice my French. I really love the language and wanted to explore and use it in a new way: so I picked theater. Not only have I improved speaking French and widened my vocabulary, I’ve really become attached to the group itself. I love acting thanks to my fellow actors and of course to Florent Masse, and definitely wish to continue for however long L’Atelier is offered.

Now I am thinking of traveling to Paris to see La Comédie-Française because it really interests me now. Not only that, I’ve gained some knowledge about French theater and French plays in general, which helps me quite significantly in my French courses that I take here at Princeton. Thanks to L’Atelier, I’m able to contribute more to class discussions and I have more conversations with French students and faculty about French theater.

I’ve gained experience in performing in public, something that I love to do, and all the minor techniques in training that I picked up have helped me with public speaking in general. Last, but not least, the friends that I have made at L’Atelier are great. I speak to them outside of practice and for this I’m very grateful. L’Atelier has definitely enriched my first two years at Princeton, and I hope to continue working with Florent Masse in the years to come.”

Hiroyuki Tanaka, Princeton University Class of 2006.