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This article was produced in partnership with the University of Ottawa's Department of Theatre and Faculty of Arts.

Originally from Sudbury, Ontario, Simon-Rys Landry, born in 2004, is currently experiencing one of the most intense moments of his journey: tonight, he takes the stage for the premiere of Porc-épic by David Paquet, directed by Amélie Bergeron, his graduating production at the University of Ottawa. We meet a well-rounded, curious, and resolutely free artist.

Raised in Culture

For Simon-Rys, theatre has always been a given. Coming from a family of artists—musicians, actors, and creators of all kinds—he grew up surrounded by art in Sudbury. One of his earliest theatrical memories? Seeing his mother on stage at Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario. “I was always raised in that artistic environment,” he says simply.

At five or six years old, he stepped onto the stage himself for the first time. A few years later, he joined a summer theatre camp at Carrefour francophone de Sudbury, led by Myriam Cusson—now a professor at the University of Ottawa. A symbolic connection that runs from his earliest beginnings to where he is today.

An Artist of Many Facets

What stands out immediately about Simon-Rys is the breadth of his artistic practice. A pianist, singer, and music producer, he began early with the musical direction of musicals, then moved into writing and directing. In high school, he even wrote a play for his own troupe.

At the University of Ottawa, where he is completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, he has taken a particular interest in sound design—“sound environments always activate me”—as well as physical theatre and what he calls intimate theatre: small-scale works performed in close proximity to the audience, where everything depends on precision and truth in gesture.

Daring Intensity

His university journey has brought him face to face with demanding works. Last year, he performed in The Treatment by Martin Crimp, directed by Marguerite Friend, in the role of Andrew—a dark, threatening presence far removed from himself. It was a disorienting but formative experience: “We learned how to find the pleasure of performance in cruelty, in the violence of the characters—to make something of it that preserved its impact while still being playable for us.”

Before that, he had already explored the raw worlds of Sarah Kane with 4.48 Psychosis, a sensory performance in a small room plunged into darkness. These experiences helped him develop a valuable economy of performance: in intimate theatre, even the smallest gesture matters.

The High Point: Porc-épic

Tonight, Simon-Rys and his four classmates open Porc-épic by David Paquet, directed by Amélie Bergeron. It is the complete opposite of The Treatment: a dark comedy, absurd, light at times, and deeply touching at its core. “It’s the high point of our journey. We feel that it really represents us well as a cohort, in our strengths.”

What Comes Next

Simon-Rys does not set boundaries for himself. Bilingual from birth, he has performed in English in Ottawa with several companies, including Ottawa Little Theatre, where he played the lead role in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. For him, both languages are an integral part of his artistic practice and have opened more doors than they have closed.

This fall, he will begin a master’s degree in research-creation at the University of Ottawa, with the ambition of writing a work that weaves together autofiction, family history, and queer aesthetics. It is a personal and ambitious project that points to a creator who does not stop at performance alone.

We look forward to following what Simon-Rys Landry will build in the years to come!

To follow him on Instagram: @simonryslandry