This fall, Montreal’s Espace Libre theatre is becoming a garden.
The Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental, one of Quebec’s most beloved and daring theatrical companies, is bringing Jardin to life from September 8 to 26, 2026, and it is shaping up to be one of the most extraordinary and immersive theatre experiences the city has seen in years.
Directed by Daniel Brière with writing by the remarkable Evelyne de la Chenelière, whose play Lumières, lumières, lumières recently graced the Comédie-Française and who just received the Grand Prix du livre de Montréal, Jardin is a modern fable imbued with tender, irreverent humour that gently but powerfully shakes our certainties and invites us to see the world anew.
The NTE transforms the Espace Libre playground into a lush, breathing indoor garden where the audience moves freely among a profusion of plants. Scents, colours, textures, and volumes invite exploration. Among the ferns, black spruce, and mint, Adam and Eve, played by Lyndz Dantiste and Christine Beaulieu, emerge, expelled from the original paradise and reappearing in the heart of Montreal’s Centre-Sud neighbourhood. They fall in love, move into an apartment, and begin observing their taciturn gardener neighbour, played by Peter Trosztmer. Little by little, the powerful and mysterious presence of the plant world begins to threaten their fragile and mortal existence.
And with a touch of humour, it is worth noting that this may be the largest cast in NTE’s history: the trio of performers shares the stage with approximately 60 plant species, representing around 1,700 perennial and native plants from Quebec. Each plant has been chosen with and for the residents of the Centre-Sud neighbourhood, with the goal of redistributing them after each performance, a beautiful and deeply intentional act of greening and community reciprocity.
This is theatre that breathes, grows, and gives back. Inspired by regenerative design and anchored in its surrounding community, Jardin is more than a performance. It is an experience of place, of belonging, and of the quiet, enduring strength of the natural world.
Special activities include a post-show discussion on September 16th, an NTE benefit performance on September 17th, and a relaxed family performance on September 19th, open to everyone including those with sensory or intellectual disabilities and families with infants.
Montreal, your most poetic evening of the fall season awaits.