Orkater (a mixture of the Dutch words orkest/theater = orchestra/theatre) primarily makes contemporary music theatre, which is always newly written and newly composed. Orkater holds dear the freedom with which performances are conceived, made and presented. The inevitable consequence is that no hard-and-fast policy is followed when putting together repertoire. This means that in some Orkater productions, disciplines other than music theatre have the upper hand. The playing space can vary from studio theatre to municipal theatre, from museum to summer festival. In this way, Orkater reaches a varied audience of around 70,000 visitors per year. In the year 2000, Orkater received her millionth visitor. Although some would say that productions are always recognizable through a clear "Orkater signature", they vary in character, scale and cast. Orkater doesn't work with a fixed group of performers - for many actors, musicians, directors, composers and text writers Orkater is the place where they can shape their own ideas about music theatre. Since the mother company Hauser Orkater (1972-1979) split to form De Horde (The Horde, 1981-84) and De Mexicaanse Hond (The Mexican Hound, 1980 to present), there has always been confusion over the name. At present all productions are presented under the name Orkater, with the exception of writer/director Alex van Warmerdam, who operates under the name De Mexicaanse Hond. Orkater and De Mexicaanse Hond are grouped together under the umbrella of Stichting Orkater (The Orkater Foundation). Orkater has its own CD label (Starling Records). Over the years, Orkater productions have received critical acclaim from both public and press. Orkater has been honoured with numerous (international) awards.