Serbian National Theatre
Novi Sad's opera, ballet and drama house, the oldest professional theatre in Serbia.
The Serbian National Theatre was founded in 1861 at a meeting of the Serbian National Theatre Society in Novi Sad, making it the oldest professional theatre among the Serbs and one of the earliest in the South Slav lands. It maintains three permanent ensembles - drama, opera and ballet - and now runs a repertory season with performances on most evenings. Since 1956 the building has hosted Sterijino pozorje, the country's leading festival of national drama, held each spring.
The present theatre on Theatre Square opened in March 1981, replacing earlier premises destroyed during the Second World War. The complex contains three auditoriums: the large Jovan Đorđević stage used for opera and ballet, the Pera Dobrinović stage for drama, and a small chamber stage for studio work. The building also houses the theatre's library, archive and encyclopaedia project, which document the history of Serbian theatre from the nineteenth century onwards.
Highlights
- Three resident ensembles: drama, opera and ballet
- Jovan Đorđević, Pera Dobrinović and chamber stages
- Host of the Sterijino pozorje drama festival since 1956
- Theatre library, archive and encyclopaedia on site
