This year's Theatre Night, a project initiated by a Zagreb children's theatre, will take place on Saturday November 19 in seven countries -- Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, the Croatian Ministry of Culture announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

The Croatian part of the programme will cover 70 institutions, 119 performances and about 40 supporting events, and 27 towns and cities, including Beli Manastir, Dubrovnik, Pula, Sinj and Zagreb.

In addition to performances, theatre lovers will also have a chance to talk to actors and see exhibitions and concerts. A detailed programme is available at www.noc-kazalista.com. Depending on the theatre, admission will be either free or charged at lower or usual rates.

The Theatre Night project was launched four years ago by the Dubrava Children's Theatre to encourage and promote theatre. The event had a good reception from the audience from the outset as "an original Croatian brand" and, with the Ministry's support, it spread to other towns and cities in Croatia and beyond, the head of the Culture Ministry's department for performing arts, Srecko Sestan, said at the press conference.

In Austria, 46 theatre productions will participate in the event in six towns, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there will be about 40 performances in 18 towns. Slovakians will be able to enjoy nearly 60 performances in nine towns and Slovenians about 10 in five towns, while in Serbia and Montenegro the programmes have not been completed yet.

The day-long event takes place simultaneously in many European towns and cities every third Saturday in November, and one of its aims is to bring theatre closer to people.