A magical performance in the open-air swimming pool of Bakkeveen, where bathers share the water with actors

Swimbad will conclude Tryater’s 60th anniversary season with a bang at the Dúndelle outdoor pool in Bakkeveen. Besides a cast full of familiar and new Tryater faces, the audience will see a variety of unique swimmers on an ordinary day at the pool.

This body forgets nothing

Swaantsje (played by Joke Tjalsma), a retired swimming teacher stands on the diving board. She looks out over the swimming pool she has been visiting all her life. She sees a group of cheerful children taking swimming lessons and teenagers making splashes in the pool. A teenage girl fanatically swims lengths: what is she trying to wash off? A young mother is busy with her two young children. And a woman in her fifties sits in her wheelchair on the edge of the pool: will she be able to overcome her fear of water? Swaantsje blinks with her eyes: it seems as if she is constantly looking at herself…

With synchronized swimmers, aqua joggers, lane swimmers, and a top-notch cast that besides Tjalsma, includes Karel Hermans, Marjolein Ley, and Anna Raadsveld, Tryater conjures up a magical world. The outdoor swimming pool in the border region of Fryslân, Groningen, and Drenthe becomes, in Tryater’s hands, a fluid theater space where young and old, memories and the present, merge into a powerful and heartwarming ode to life.

The creators:
“Nowhere are we as naked as in the swimming pool: we share the water with strangers and are confronted with other people’s bodies. This creates uncomfortable and comical situations. But the pool water also carries us, for a lifetime. Water is the place where we can feel lighter and liberated. This performance reveals the richness and power of all the memories stored in a body. Our life, which begins in amniotic fluid, remains connected to water in different ways throughout its various phases. We change, but the water remains the same. It carries us.”

• Playing period: May 20 to June 13, 2026
• Playing location: Swimming pool Dúndelle, Mjûmster Wei 16, 9243 SK Bakkeveen
• Entrance fees: €29.50 (standard), €24.50 (Friends of Tryater), €17.50 (CJP/Young up to 25 years)
• Age: Swimbad is suitable for audiences aged 12 and over
• Language: Both Frisian and Dutch are spoken in Swimbad. Dutch subtitling is available (news ticker)
• English subtitles available (smart glasses) as from May 27. Choose the ‘ticket+smart glasses’
• Bad weather: If the performance has to be cancelled due to bad weather, it may be rescheduled on the following Sunday- or Monday-evening. Tickets are valid for the relevant rescheduled date.

Accessibility
Tryater believes it is important to be as accessible as possible for everyone. To achieve this, we work together with various organisations that are committed to an inclusive theatre experience.
Click here for more information about accessibility. If you want to use (one of) the options, choose the corresponding ticket type when ordering.