Yugoslav Drama Theatre
Belgrade's leading drama company, rebuilt in glass and steel after the 1997 fire.
Founded in 1947 as the flagship drama company of the new Yugoslav federation, the theatre gave its first performance in April 1948 and drew leading actors and directors from across the country. It took over the former Officers' Club building beside Manjež park on Kralja Milana Street. Under directors such as Bojan Stupica the company built a repertoire that combined the European classics with new Serbian and Yugoslav writing, and it became a fixture of the Belgrade International Theatre Festival.
Fire gutted the building on 17 October 1997. Reconstruction to designs by Zoran Radojičić and Dejan Miljković kept the original volume while recasting the frontage in glass and metal, and the Great Stage reopened on 23 May 2003 with Jovan Sterija Popović's The Patriots. The house now runs two auditoria, the Great Stage and the smaller Studio Stage, with a repertoire of drama in Serbian; selected performances carry English surtitles.
Highlights
- Founded 1947 as Yugoslavia's representative drama company
- Glass and metal frontage from the 2003 rebuilding
- Great Stage and intimate Studio Stage
- Selected performances given with English surtitles
