The scene of this project is the railway line between Divača and Istria threatened with closure. Today the service only goes as far as Rakitovec on the Slovenian-Croatian border. Built 120 years ago, it once linked the Austrian empire with the major imperial and royal naval port of Pula, now ending in the middle of nowhere on the Schengen border. As such, the railway line reflects the demise of the monarchy as much as the disintegration of Yugoslavia and thus the instability of political systems. The landscape along the line amplifies the image of decline: it is a barren, karstic tract of land with a handful of practically deserted villages which appear to have fallen out of time.
Amidst this melancholy landscape called the »karst edge«, the international theatre company TROTAMORA sets a dramatic counterpoint. They tell the story of a wealthy and (to begin with) carefree party of tourists just travelling around who soon find themselves faced with social poverty and the anger of the exploited, finally having to endure a veritable gauntlet run. The posh excursion train falls foul of one ambush after another, and in the end gets literally smoked out. The antagonists and opponents of the »wealthy« include »forced labourers«, »flagellants«, »Indians«, »criminals«, »guerrillas« and »starving rebels«.
A macabre odyssey on the surface, TRAIN OF JUSTICE not only focuses on different scenarios of violence as the result of so- cial injustice, but also on utopias of equality and fraternity and their possible actuality in the current financial crisis. In this way, we see the dramatic, drastic images on stage contrast with quiet moments of contemplation and reflection. Stylistic devices include action scenes familiar from various westerns and road movies, satirically exaggerated, historical and contemporary political texts combined to form dialogues, and poetical imagery and sequences of music that leave the audience – which is part of the tour group – room for association. Also part of the plot as »supers« are the local railwaymen (who provide and staff a separate excursion train) and the local population.
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