| The Belgrade Drama Theater (BDT) was founded in August 1947, and it was the first City theater formed in Belgrade after the Second World War. The first opening night of "The Youth of the Fathers" by Boris Gorbatov staged by Petar S. Petrović was performed on the stage of the National Theater on February 20, 1948. The building on Crveni krst, in which this Theater is nowadays, was opened in the season of 1948/49, and the first opening night performed on this stage was "The Suspect" by Branislav Nušić, produced by Salko Repak, on March 20, 1949. In the period from 1959 to 1975, BDT, with Belgrade Comedy, made one theater house - "Contemporary Theater", and in December 1975, it became the Belgrade Drama Theater again.
In the mid-fifties and in the beginning of the sixties of the twentieth century, BDT had its "golden" period, mostly owing to particularly successful performances of the works of contemporary American playwrights and a brilliant galaxy of actors, stage managers, stage designers, costume designers... who, with their talents, made the reputation of the stage on Crveni krst. The legendary performances of "Death of a Salesman", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "The Glass Menagerie", "Mother Courage and Her Children", "View from the Bridge"... are still in the memory of generations of theatergoers who were lucky to see them.
Today, BDT works with a repertory artistic company and carries on the tradition created by performances of the classic and avant-garde dramatic literature, whereby it has created and maintained its recognizable style and artistic expression. In the spring of 2003, a thorough reconstruction of the Theater building was completed, bringing it to the level of high European standards. |