What a sapperlot

We are over the moon! Not because you're all going home now, but because this sapperlot was really fantastic. A real festival with inspiring performances, great workshops, but above all with wonderful people that we have grown so fond of.

It is good to know that we have friends all over the world, that we are not alone with our experiences and adventures, that there are people who empathise with us, and we are so grateful that you all managed to come to us. You have crossed oceans and travelled for hours, for most of you it is not easy to get the money together for the travel costs.

As the theme of the festival was "The Time is Now", let's take a quick look back at how our festivals have developed. We started 1998 with a meeting in which a jury awarded a prize. Apart from the prizewinners, all the groups went home with the feeling of not being enough. Then we had director meetings in which the quality of the performances was discussed. This also sometimes led to theatre directors being hurt. That's why we made a conscious decision to take a different approach at this festival. We know that everyone - every director and every actor - gives his best. Why should we speak about “good” or “bad” quality? Or as Thomas put it: You can't compare apples with grapes. Everything is fruit, but how can you say that apples are better than grapes? I can decide for myself that I prefer grapes. But I'm not the measure of all things. Everyone is their own measure. That's why we made a conscious decision to take a different approach at this festival.

What are your approaches? Why do you make theatre? What were your 'aha' moments? And on the last day: When you look back on the festival in thirty years' time: What will you remember?

People mentioned the energy that was palpable in all the performances, the sparkle in the eyes of the actors, the joy with which they presented the plays and the enthusiasm with which these plays were received by the audience. The touching moments that occurred in all the performances, the fantastic images that have been deeply engraved in our consciousness.

But what we will all remember is the festival group. At the beginning you were "the" Thais, Turks, Ukrainians, Finns, Americans, Estonians, English, Italians. In the end, you were all the Sapperlot group, a big family that will remain connected in our hearts even after the festival.

We hope that you can take this Sapperlot spirit back to your home countries and carry it with you for a long time to come. We will keep you in our memories! Thirty years and much, much more!

Thank you for being there!