It’s just another normal day at a small town station where a handful of  passengers are waiting for the stopping train. Then Thomas Hudetz, the well-liked station master, is momentarily distracted by a young woman and seconds later eighteen people are dead.

Standing in the wreckage of the 405 Express train, can Thomas accept the truth that is hurtling towards him? And if not, how long can he postpone the day of judgment?

Now widely recognised as the equal of Brecht in his chronicling of 1930s Germany and the rise of facism, Ödön von Horváth’s penultimate play is a vividly characterised portrayal of a society that refuses to take responsibility for its actions. 

Christopher Hampton is one of Britain’s leading playwrights and translators. His previous adaptations include von Horváth’s Tales from the Vienna Woods (National Theatre), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (for stage and film), the West End hits Art and God of Carnage by Yasmin Reza, and the screenplay for Atonement. His own plays include The Philanthropist, Tales from Hollywood  and The Talking Cure.

James Macdonald previously directed The Triumph of Love at the Almeida. He was associate director at the Royal Court for 14 years, premiering works by among others Sarah Kane, Caryl Churchill and Martin Crimp; since then he has directed A Number for HBO/BBC, and plays for the National Theatre, the Lincoln Center and Public Theater in New York, in the West End, on Broadway and at the Schaubühne Berlin.