Yugoslav National Theater

(Narodno Pozorište), founded in Belgrade in 1869. Initially a drama theater, the National Theater acquired an opera company in 1920 and a ballet company in 1921. Its first director was J. Djordjević, who was succeeded by M. Isailović in 1898. The theater attracted the best actors in Serbia and staged plays by Serbian and Slovene authors, as well as works by Shakespeare, Molière, N. V. Gogol, and A. N. Ostrovskii. In the late 19th century the theater mounted fine productions of B. Nušić’s realist plays and satirical comedies. The first operatic performances were given in 1894.

From 1924 to 1934, when the theater was directed by the eminent Serbian conductor and composer S. Hristić, its repertoire was expanded to include Italian and German operas and the works of P. I. Tchaikovsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Hristić, and the Croatian composer K. Baranović. Closed during the fascist occupation, the theater was reopened in 1946. Today, the National Theater seeks to reach a broad audience with its repertoire of Yugoslav and world classics, as well as works by contemporary national dramatists and composers. Since 1920 the theater has operated a school of drama and ballet.