47th International Theatre Festival (MESS) will open in Sarajevo on 23 October with Aeschylus' Oresteia, directed by Michael Thalheimer and produced by Berlin 's Deutches Theater.

The festival director, Bosnian director Dino Mustafic, said 19 theatre groups from 13 countries would present their work during the festival, which is to run to November 1st.

More than 150 artists from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia would appear in 19 theatre plays, including 14 in the competition programme.

Besides theatre performances, MESS would also offer several exhibitions and classical music concerts.

Three workshops would also be organized during the nine-day festival. The workshops would be led by famous names in the world of theatre, including Italian director Eugenio Barba, French actress Lee DeLong and Canadian actor Michael Devine.