Laura Lussier

Laura Lussier, a well-known theatre workshop leader, acting coach, actor, director, voice over artist, TV personality, host and writer, has been sharing her passion for the performing arts for 15 years now. Known for her enthusiasm and leadership, this bilingual artist has established herself as a force on the local and national arts scenes. Collaboration, love, joie de vivre and courage are at the heart of her artistic practice.

As an artist, this is what excites her most: discovering uncharted territory in the company of open-minded, talented and hardworking artists. She is passionate about exploring the intersection of cultures, generations, languages and disciplines, as well methods of communication between artists from vastly different professional and cultural contexts.

She’s acted in over 30 professional productions, as well as in her own creations. In 2009, she discovered her passion for directing. She has since been at the helm of a dozen projects, the most recent being 1818, a play in Métchif Français by Réal Cenereni and Que faire d’Albert?/What to do with Albert? by Danielle Séguin-Tétreault, a bilingual partnership between Théâtre Cercle Molière and Prairie Theatre Exchange. Laura also dabbles in writing and translation. Most recently, she was a member of a cross-Canada team of ten writers on a multilingual mega-project, Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show, a co-production between Théâtre français du Centre national des Arts (Ottawa), Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental (Montréal), Théâtre Cercle Molière (Winnipeg) and La Troupe du Jour (Saskatoon) in collaboration with Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui (Montréal).

In 2010, she discovered the wonders of Theatre for the Very Young while participating in intensive workshops in France, Belgium and Québec. Shortly after, she founded Théâtre p’tits bouts d’choux, a company which creates interdisciplinary theatrical presentations that aim to engage and enthrall tiny human beings from one to five years old. Laura is also a member of the Plé Collective, a group of female artists who create theatre for young audiences. At the moment, they are creating a trilingual play (English, French and American Sign Language) with the support of Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP),Young People’s Theatre (Toronto), The Canada Council for the Arts and the Manitoba Arts Council.

When not at the theatre, Laura works in television. She currently represents Western and Northern Canada on ICI Radio-Canada TV’s talk show/game show called 100% local, where four representatives from across Canada try to prove their region is the best through unpredictable pitches and crazy games. She also had the privilege of hosting over 130 episodes of Viens voir ici! (TVA), a travel and culture show that showcased the richness and diversity of French Canada outside Québec.

She still finds time to lead theatre workshops in Manitoba schools every year with Canadian Parents for French.

Workshops:

Laura offers a wide variety of theatre workshops from improvisation to character creation to Commedia dell’arte to fit any group's needs. She's done hundreds of English, French and bilingual workshops all over Manitoba. Her energy and dynamism are contagious! Whatever the topic, Laura engages all students in her workshops and pushes them to achieve great things. She specializes in workshops for middle and high school aged students, but loves to teach younger students and young adults as well.

She’s even developed workshops that use theatre as a tool to motivate Basic French, Immersion and Francophone students to speak one of most beautiful languages in the world and feel comfortable doing it. She’s travelled all over Manitoba from Morden to Thompson as an instructor, earning rave reviews from teachers and students alike along the way.