The international visual theatre festival Tallinn Treff, which concluded on Sunday, 11 May, attracted more than 3,100 visits over four days. The festival brought 19 productions from eight countries to Estonia, with a total of 120 performances, most of which were part of a special caravan theatre programme.
The festival's artistic director, Leino Rei, expressed his delight that Tallinn Treff has established itself as a trusted festival. “In addition to the fact that theatre companies are eager to come here, the festival was attended by more than forty theatre professionals from nearly ten European countries. The theatre’s contribution to internationalisation has borne fruit – both the festival and the ongoing international cooperation project Transport have sparked significant interest in collaborating with us. If only we had the resources to support all of these ideas,” Rei commented.
Productions at Tallinn Treff were presented by companies from Germany, Finland, Slovenia, Poland, France, Spain, Canada, and Estonia. The festival programme included nine performances aimed at children, while ten productions were targeted at youth and adult audiences. Main programme performances took place at the Estonian Youth Theatre, Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Von Krahl Theatre, Sakala 3, and a dedicated area for the caravan theatre programme was set up at Towers Square.
In addition to the first-ever caravan programme in Treff's history, which turned out to be highly popular with audiences, a significant part of the programme was the international large-scale project Transport, focusing on globalisation. Out of six hyper-realistic puppet shows created for this series, four were performed at Tallinn Treff. The entire series of six productions will be showcased in the autumn at the Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes, a contemporary puppet theatre festival in Charleville, France, where Baltic visual theatre will be one of the focal points this year.
Besides theatre performances, Treff visitors also enjoyed the window exhibition Assemblymanualless by artist Urmas Lüüs, which opened on 8 May in the showcase windows of the Museum of Puppetry Arts and will remain on display after the festival.
In cooperation with the Estonian Association of Theatre Technical Staff, the festival also hosted a discussion on Environmental Sustainability in Theatre.
As in 2023, this year’s Tallinn Treff had a patron who supported theatre visits for arts students during the festival.
The festival organisers would like to thank their supporters and partners: the Ministry of Culture, Estonian Cultural Endowment, City of Tallinn, Kristjan Rahu, Tallink, VAT Theatre, Von Krahl, Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Piletilevi, A. Le Coq, and Premia. A heartfelt thanks also goes out to all the volunteers.
The next Tallinn Treff will take place in 2027.
