International Theatre Day
Let's Celebrate Theatre
This day is a celebration for those who can see the value and importance of the art form “theatre”, and acts as a wake-up-call for governments, politicians and institutions which have not yet recognised its value to the people and to the individual and have not yet realised its potential for economic growth.
Each year, a World Theatre Day International Message is circulated, through which, at the invitation of International Theatre Institute (ITI), a figure of world stature shares his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. The first World Theatre Day International Message was written by Jean Cocteau (France) in 1962. You can read messages from previous years at 
Past Message Authors
To learn more about World Theatre Day, visit the official website.
This years Message author, Jon Fosse writes:
Every person is unique and yet also like every other person. Our visible, external appearance is different from everyone else’s, of course, that is all well and good, but there is also something inside each and every one of us which belongs to that person alone—which is that person alone. We might call this their spirit, or their soul. Or else we can decide not to label it at all in words, just leave it alone. Read in full.
Minna, OLS Community Manager – Finnish