Orient Express

The Orient Express began its European journey in Ankara in May 2009. In a converted freight car, theatre ensembles from seven european countries were performing plays in their own language at different locations during their journey. Following the premiere in their hometown, each ensemble traveled by train to the next city where it performed again and met up with the next ensemble, which, in turn, performed its premiere. In terms of content, the theatre project examined "European identity", expectations of and past experience with the European unification process, and issues like escape, expulsion, mobility and settling down. Following stops in Turkey, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Germany the train arrived at its final destination in July 2009 - the Port of Stuttgart. There, all the participants met once again at a theatre festival and performed their pieces on the rolling stage.

Artistic director: Christian Holtzhauer
Directors: Christian Tschirner, Mircea Cornisteanu (RO), François Gremaud (CH), Predrag Štrbac (RS)
Writers: Soeren Voima, Rasit Çelikezer (TR), Branko Dimitrijevic (RS), Eduardo Erba (I), François Gremaud (CH), Goran Stefanovski (SLO), Tena Štivicic (HR), Matéi Visniec (RO)

Venues and schedule:
International theatre train with stops in Istanbul, Bukarest, Craiova, Temeswar, Novi Sad, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Nova Gorica, Freiburg: 14 May-5 July 2009;
Festival in Stuttgart: 9-19 July 2009