Narodno pozorište Niš

National Theatre Nis - the most important information

Historian Jovan Nikiski claims in his records that in Nis in 609, squares, temples and theaters were destroyed and burned under the hands of Slavs and Obra people. This explains the claim that Nis had a theater since the 4th century. The interest and love for the theater after the liberation of Nis was crucial for launching the initiative that established the National Theater. Today, premieres are regularly played in this theater and a large number of plays enrich the repertoire.

History of the National Theatre Nis
Traveling theater troupes record their visits in the 16th century, while a poster from 1883 testifies to the first known theatrical event that the traveling acting troupe held as part of the wedding anniversary of King Milan and Queen Natalija Obrenovic. After the liberation of Nis, fans of theatrical art decided to establish a theater, as they noticed that the response to the performances of traveling troupes was noticeable. Stevan Sremac, Stevan Niksic Lala, Milorad Petrovic, Spira Kalik and Henrich Liler were the main initiators of this idea. The theater companies of M. Dimic and D. Jovanovic joined forces to found the Nis theater "Sindjelic" at the beginning of 1887.

Serbian Hajduks by Jovan Sterija Popovic was the first play performed on March 11 of the same year, and The taming of the Shrew, The hoax, The Misanthrope, Two Pennies were performed in the theater.

In the next 6 years, the theater stopped working several times and after the renewal of work in 1893, the acting director Aleksandar Milojevic became the head of the board, who introduced reforms that would last until 1900. The Sindjelic Theater became a branch of the Royal Serbian National Theater in Belgrade with the protection of Queen Draga, as great actors such as Olga Ilic, Bogoboj Rucovic, Dobrica Milutinovic were part of the troupe. For the next 5 years they worked as a traveling theater. The Decree on Travel Associations in 1912 influenced the formation of 5 traveling theaters bearing the names of Serbian playwrights and actors, and then "Sindjelic" changed its name to the Privileged Traveling Theater "Trifkovic", and had it until July 1914. When the theater was renewed after a break in 1918, the repertoire included the pieces:

Girl's Curse
Zona Zamfirova
Old Corporal
Jido

The modern building of the theater with 687 seats was built and consecrated on January 1, 1939 on Sindjelic Square, where the play "Building the Ravanica" directed by Dragoslav Kandic was performed in the evening. The appearance of the building is still almost completely preserved and its architect is Vsevolod Tatarinov. The building is positioned so that the surrounding architecture does not endanger it and access is open from all sides. Built in the spirit of modernity, it is believed that the plan of the building was designed in the image of the Berlin Theater. The amphitheater hall has 390 seats on the ground floor, while on the first floor there is a balcony with 156 seats, 4 boxes with 6 seats each on the level of the stage and two more on the first floor. The interior is painted to exude the spirit of the time in which it was built. The building underwent renovations in 1946, 1967, 2002/2003., as well as technological and interior improvements in 2007. The theater scene was also active during the war.

Significance of the National Theatre Nis

The ensemble was 3 times in the official competition at the prestigious festival Small and Experimental Stage in Sarajevo (MESS), five times in the official competition at Sterija's Pozorje and once at BITEF.
The National Theater Nis organizes a festival "Theater at the Crossroads", which gives out various awards, with the idea to gather theater artists from the Balkans, thus positively influencing the cultural development of Nis

Repertoire of the National Theatre Nis
In the late 1940s and during the 1950s, the theater showed its high readiness and quality by expanding its repertoire to create additional freedom for the art ensemble. That progress of the theater was widely rewarded. The rich repertoire today consists of, among others, performances of:

The miracle of St. George
Hero of the nation
Deobe
The face
Anna Karenina
1789
Lesson
One Oedipus
Government and its opposition
APPLE
Ice cream
Sand games
Fight club

The theater has a fully functional website where you can get accurate information about the weekly repertoire and its changes, in addition to available phone lines to all of the departments.

Working hours of the National Theater Nis

The theater box office is open every working day from 10 am to 8 pm.

How to get to the National Theater Nis?
From King Alexander Square, it is possible to get to the theater by public transport, some of the lines take you directly to the theater, while others take you to the Teachers' Home, from where you need to walk to the theater.

Bus lines: 1, 2, 6, 10, 13
On foot: from Knjeginje Ljubice Street turn into Svetozara Markovica Street and then Sindjelicev Square leading to the theater
Taxi stations: Prvi Taxi 018/4500005, Bros Taxi 018/4155541, City Taxi 0800/000022