Since leaving the National Theatre School of Canada in 1999, Étienne Boucher has been much in demand for his lighting designs as much for theatre and dance as for musicals and opera. He has participated in nearly a hundred productions,

"I like to fill the whole space between the projector and the artist with light,” says Étienne. “It allows me to colour the air, which in turn lets me pick out the details of the set design and sculpt the artists."

Etienne’s precise, chiselled designs – at times expressionistic, at times poetic – form pictures of light that fuel the narrative of the productions he works on. Concerned with the meaning of both colour and light, he is regarded in his milieu more as an illuminator than a lighting designer.

He has regularly worked in partnership with directors such as René Richard Cyr, Brigitte Haentjens and Martin Faucher, and since 2004 he has worked closely with TOTEM director Robert Lepage at the latter’s company, Ex Machina. Their association began with La Celestina (Spain), and continued with Lipsynch (on international tour), The Rake's Progress (presented in co-production in Brussels, Lyon, San Francisco, London, Madrid and Milan) and Le Rossignol et autres fables (Toronto and the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2010).

Over the years, Étienne Boucher has won many accolades, garnering several award nominations at the Soirée des Masques (Quebec), winning two Masques in 2007 for lighting productions of Du vent entre les dents and La Dame aux camélias.