BELGRADE NATIONAL THEATRE REMAINS SYMBOL OF SERBIAN THEATRE

BIJELJINA, JULY 17 /SRNA/ – The foundation stone for the building of the National Theatre in Belgrade, one of Serbia's most important cultural institutions, was laid on July 18, 1868.

In a 1900 issue of the Novi Sad newspaper Pozorište, the theatre was referred to as the Royal Serbian National Theatre in Belgrade.

Works by prominent Serbian authors performed at the National Theatre included plays by Branislav Nušić, Jovan Sterija Popović, Simo Matavulj, Svetozar Ćorović, Vojislav Jovanović Marambo, Milivoje Predić, Laza Kostić and Milovan Đ. Glišić.

Among the international works that marked the theatre's early period were plays by Sophocles, William Shakespeare, Alexander Ostrovsky, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière, Jean Racine, Carlo Goldoni and Friedrich Schiller.

After both World Wars, the National Theatre in Belgrade remained a symbol of Serbian theatre and today is one of Serbia’s most respected cultural institutions.