The name of the game in Theatresports is to deliver the funniest, most interesting or the best-liked improvised scenes. In each match, two teams go head-to-head, delivering a five-minute improv scene. They draw their inspiration from audience suggestions, such as “do a soap about bread and bicycles”, and they set each other challenges (“use this bird from the game Wingspan to spark ideas”). At the end, a three-strong jury awards between one and five points in the categories Narrative, Technique and Entertainment. Additionally, the audience has the opportunity twice in the final to award three points.

Doppio final

Nineteen student teams from the Netherlands and Belgium took part in this year's competition. Doppio entered three teams: Opsmuk, Zand in Zwembroek and Zesjescultuur. Two of the three Doppio teams even faced off against each other in the final: Zand in Zwembroek and Opsmuk. The latter won the renowned Duck trophy and with it the chance to bring this national student championship to Eindhoven in 2024.

Thomas den Hollander, one of the players on Doppio's winning team, tells Cursor about the experience: “Everything started moving really fast after we won our match in the quarter finals. To be honest, we really didn't know what to do with all the different feedback the jury had given us during the weekend. We listened to the advice of our Theatresports director (Bram Joop Timmers) and decided to do the things we most enjoyed doing. We were probably playing scenes more for each other than for the audience and jury because we play off each other really well. You never know whether something is going to work for the audience, but we do have clear ideas about what each of us does well,” he explains.