Tryater has been making leading, mainly Frisian-language theatre for sixty years. Founded in September 1965, we will celebrate a special anniversary in 2025.

Anniversary book
A thick and colourful book full of interviews, special articles, archive material, beautiful photos and more than a hundred memories from various people, from actors to visitors and from politicians to football coaches, who once saw Tryater in their lives, will be published in September by publisher Afûk.

Twa minuten foar oanfang
In September and October, Twa minuten foar oanfang will be playing, an adventurous audio route through the mind of actor Joop Wittermans and along the backstage of the Frisian theatres and its own building. This experiential theatre takes the audience on a journey through sixty years of theatre making by way of a modern anniversary performance and shows the doubts and certainties of a prominent actor from the Tryater stable, while characters from the past and present appear along the way. To be experienced at Tryater and in the Harmonie in Leeuwarden, De Lawei in Drachten, the Koornbeurs in Franeker, the Posthuistheater in Heerenveen and Theater Sneek.

Anwar en de wolf
During the Christmas holidays, Tryater will be performing the successful show Anwar and the Wolf in its own theatre hall, for the entire family and using Dutch, Frisian and Arabic, supplemented with atmospheric image projections suitable for everyone regardless of background and origin. The performance about refugee Anwar who meets a wolf and distracts him from his hunger by telling about his journey through Europe, gets schools throughout Friesland moving and can be seen by everyone in December.

One-Act Play Festival
In March 2026, Tryater will host the One-Act Play Festival, where amateur companies from Friesland perform theatre texts specially written by professionals in the monumental school building where Tryater is located in Leeuwarden.

Swimbad
In May-June 2026, Tryater will conclude its full anniversary season with a special case of location theatre that the company has stood for in recent years. Swimbad, featuring actress Joke Tjalsma, will be performed in and around the outdoor swimming pool of Bakkefean. Familiar actors, new faces, local extras in the swimming pool, in a story about changing times and bodies, the coming and going of generations with the swimming pool as a playing field and metaphor.

In between, Tryater will also occasionally hang up the streamers in other ways, whether on social media, in its own building or in other places. The fact that Tryater is happy to still be able to play a leading role in the Frisian landscape after so long will not go unnoticed in the coming year.

Strong support base
Tryater can work with the best directors, writers, actors and other professionals from Fryslân and beyond. The organization has a permanent core of employees and is able to look far ahead and continuously work on special performances and a diverse program. A large number of loyal visitors contribute to this, but Tryater is also happy with the enormous group of Freonen fan Tryater, who support the company with a modest annual amount and in return receive a magazine, discount and occasionally an informative and pleasant Freonejûn.

Artistic director Tatiana Pratley: ‘It is an honour to work for a company with such a history and such a strong support base. Visitors and Friends feel welcome with us but also look at us critically, which we greatly appreciate. It also gives us a sense of responsibility to keep doing what is right. Sixty years is no small fact. The fact that we can still stand tall and create beautiful things in 2025 is partly thanks to the people from Fryslân, the Netherlands and Europe who think it is important and beautiful that we do this. With this support, we can easily go ahead another sixty years: let’s go for it!’