Theodoros Terzopoulos, one of the founders of the Theatre Olympics, who was unable to attend the press conference of the Theatre Olympics in Hungary due to illness, sent the following message to the Hungarian organisers and the participants of the event of the world theatre.
“The Theatre Olympics is an international forum that showcases the work of major theatre artists from around the world. Distinguished artists and talented young people from different countries are invited to redefine the universal and timeless values of theatre, and to reassess its past and its future in a creative dialogue. This encounter, and learning about creative ideas and suggestions, can advance the future of the art.
The 10th Theatre Olympics is—like all the previous events—an exchange platform. A meeting place for masters and students, which encourages the free expression of a voice beyond any ideological, cultural, and linguistic differences. An initiative that emphasises the importance of linking past, present, and future.
The Theatre Olympics will highlight the richness and diversity of the theatrical tradition, while promoting research and experimentation in the context of modern cultural dynamics. It contributes to the development of international cooperation and creates an international network of artists promoting diversity, tolerance, multi-collectivism, multiculturalism, and pluralism. It is also an opportunity for the country hosting the Theatre Olympics to present its theatrical life to the world.
In the modern globalised environment, pandemics, economic and political conditions have not only narrowed and destroyed the principles and values of art, but have also made it very difficult for artists to have meaningful encounters in which differences and similarities between traditions, schools and modern trends can be recorded.
We believe that theatre arts can contribute to reconciliation and the development of a New Humanism.
I wish the 10th Budapest Theatre Olympics and its excellent artistic and organizing committee every success.”
Had Theodoros Terzopoulos previously expressed why the National Theatre, why Budapest, why Hungary is the host of the 10th Theatre Olympics in 2023?
This is because Hungary, with its long and great theatrical tradition, is an active shaper of the worldwide developments in theatre theory and practice. Beautiful Budapest is a unique monument of world cultural heritage, an international cultural metropolis ready to build bridges to other theatrical traditions.
Thanks to its talented and experienced artistic, technical, and administrative staff, the National Theatre is the institutional centre of the Hungarian theatre profession: it is open to both international avant-garde theatrical ideas and the cultivation of tradition. This makes it particularly well suited to connect different schools and theatrical form of expression as a bridge.
In our world, characterised by the homogenisation of theatres, the National Theatre is a committed supporter of diversity, tolerance and multiculturalism, in the spirit of creating harmony, and New Humanism.
