Oliver Frljić

Oliver Frljić was born Bosnia in 1976 and fled to Croatia at the age of sixteen during the Yugoslav wars. There, he went on to study philosophy, theology and directing. In his often controversial theatre work, Frljić draws audience attention to blind spots and unhealed wounds; his plays shine a spotlight on the process of coming to terms with war crimes and traumas. His politically charged productions have received numerous awards and have been shown at various theatre festivals, including Vienna Festival; the New Plays From Europe festival in Wiesbaden; Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels; Dialog in Wrocław; the Belgrade International Theatre Festival; Festival TransAmériques in Montreal; and the La MaMa festival in New York. In protest against Croatian cultural policy, he resigned from his role as intendant at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka in 2016. In Germany, Oliver Frljić has directed at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Staatsschauspiel Dresden, the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin and the Residenztheater Munich, amongst others. In the 2018-19 season, he became the artistic director of the Europa Ensemble.