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Press Releases

Ian Herbert (04/05/2007)

Dear Μr Tsakiroglou,
A short note to repeat how grateful I am to you, and the NTNG team for making my stay in Thessaloniki so enjoyable.
The events accompanying the presentation of the Europe Theatre Prize were managed splendidly by the team from the National Theatre of Northern Greece. When one considers how little time was available to assemble a full programme of performances and colloquia at the highest level, and give several hundred theatre professionals from all over the world the facilities to take part in them, one can only marvel at what was achieved.
It is indeed unfortunate that Peter Zadek saw fit to excuse himself from coming to accept his share of the Prize, thus depriving himself of an appreciable sum of money, but the Prize rules are totally clear and he was well aware of them when he originally agreed to participate (and, in doing so, set in train a great deal of work from the organisers to meet his considerable needs). Those who did make the journey to Greece to honour him were at least rewarded by the superb performance of his Peer Gynt by the Berliner Ensemble.
I believe I can speak for the Prize organisers and supporting bodies such as the Union of European Theatres, as well as my own organisation, the International Association of Theatre Critics, when I say that during the week of the Prize we felt ourselves to be working in very close harmony with the NTNG as a well-knit team with common aims. That spirit of co-operation is now firmly established, and will doubtless help to make the 2008 Europe Theatre Prize even more exciting, and even more successful. We have learned many lessons from this year which will be put into practice in 2008, when we shall benefit from having the time to do a really first-class job.
 
Ian Herbert
President, IATC

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