On Tuesday, March 10, 2026, the Sarajevo National Theatre premiered Agatha Christie's play Murder on the Orient Express, adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig. The play was translated from English into Bosnian by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vesna Suljić of the IUS English Language and Literature (ELIT) study program, while the poster and program catalogue for the production were designed by Assoc. Prof. Branko Vekić, MFA, from the IUS Visual Arts and Visual Communications Design (VACD) study program. This collaboration between IUS staff and the Sarajevo National Theatre has been ongoing for several years.
In 2024, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vesna Suljić translated the play Muhammad Ali – The One and Only (Jedan je Muhammad Ali), written by Almir Miširević, from Bosnian into English for performances on international stages. In 2023, she also translated another renowned Agatha Christie play, The Mousetrap, while Assoc. Prof. Branko Vekić directed the production, which continues to attract large audiences in Sarajevo. A special licence was obtained from Concord Theatricals, a London-based company responsible for copyright protection, and this translation into Bosnian represents the first non‑presidential permission granted for staging the play in the Western Balkan region.
According to translation theory, a translation is considered most successful when the translator remains “invisible,” allowing the text to read naturally, as though originally written in the target language. Nonetheless, the translator’s contribution warrants recognition and appreciation, and should not remain invisible in that respect.
