Stefan Hendrikx has won the jury prize at the Leids Cabaret Festival. This was announced on Saturday evening in the Leidse Schouwburg, where the festival could take place as usual after a year of absence due to corona. Jury chairman Nina de la Croix spoke highly of Hendrikx in the jury report: ‘When Stefan Hendrikx comes up, you immediately see that we are dealing with an all-round performer. […] Stefan challenges us all to push our boundaries. He’s very funny.’
Of the three finalists, Stefan Hendrikx (1990), who grew up in Venlo, had the most stage experience. He was educated at the Koningstheater Academy in Den Bosch and the Theater School in Arnhem. Hendrikx has already performed in stage performances, is part of the improv comedy duo Limited Durability (together with Andries Tunru) and he does stand-up comedy at the Comedyhuis in Utrecht. With his jury victory, Hendrikx is the successor to Lisa Ostermann, the winner of the previous edition in February 2020.
What was special about the final was that the two other finalists also went home with a prize, which has never happened before in the history of the festival. The audience award went to Piet van Eeghen, and the student award, awarded by a jury of Leiden students, was for Céline Schrama, the third finalist.
The Leids Cabaret Festival had a changed set-up this year due to the corona measures around the turn of the year. The trajectory was reversed: the familiar final in February was moved to June. But already in February the five semi-finalists were chosen, and they went on tour around the country. This allowed them to develop and fine-tune their performances for months, in the run-up to the grand finale in Leiden.
The Leids Cabaret Festival was held for the 43rd time. Previous winners include Sanne Wallis de Vries, Micha Wertheim, Tim Fransen, De Partizans and Kasper van der Laan.