The Princely Serbian Theatre ( sr-cyr, Књажевско-српски театар) is the oldest theatre in

Central Serbia Central Serbia (), also referred to as Serbia proper (), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the north and the disputed Kosovo region to the south. Central Serbia is a term of convenience, not an administ ...

. It is based in City of Kragujevac, the fourth largest city of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. The theatre was founded in 1835 by

Miloš Obrenović Miloš Obrenović (; ; 18 March 1780 or 1783 – 26 September 1860) born Miloš Teodorović (; ), also known as Miloš the Great () was the Prince of Serbia twice, from 1815 to 1839, and from 1858 to 1860. He was an eminent figure of the Firs ...

, Prince of Serbia. In the time when theatre was founded, Kragujevac was the first capital of the

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...

History

Joakim Vujić (1772–1847), writer, translator, foreign languages teacher, theater producer, Director of Knjaževsko Srbski Teatar, the first Serbian Court Theater director in Kragujevac 1835/36. Report on the performance of the first secular play Krestalica in the Theater Rondella in August 1813 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

that translated and organized Joakim Vujić. This performance marked the beginning of the Serbian secular theater.

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

(1761–1819) one of the most fruitful German writers seemed to be Vujić favorite playwright for he translated seven Kotzebue's plays. It is renewed after World War II, and turned to be most open cultural institution of the City that spread its influences around. The stage of this theater gave rise to the plead of extremely good artists who marked the history of theater in the country. Theater in City of Kragujevac that bears the name of the father of first Serbian theater Joakim Vujić has developed its repertoire and staged performances and turned into modern contemporary theater. First theater performances are staged in 1825 by the teacher Djordje Evgenijevic and his pupils. During his second visit to Kragujevac Joakim Vujić worked together with them. In the autumn of 1834 at the invitation of Grand Duke Miloš, Joakim Vujić, best known and highly esteemed person for his theater work, came to Kragujevac with large experience and repertoire. He was very soon appointed Director of the Theater with the task to organize theater work. Knjazesko Srbski Teatar – First Serbian Court Theater was placed within the adapted premises of typography and it was a building with the stage, boxes and ground floor. The repertoire of the theater consisted mainly of his plays while the theater ensemble beside Vujić as a leading actor and director consisted of secondary school pupils and adult amateurs. First performances were staged in the period of February 2–4, 1935 when the so-called Sretenje (the Visitation of the Virgin) Assembly sessions were held. These were mostly Vujić's plays performed for the Grand Duke and his family and the representatives of the people i.e. members of Assembly; the music was composed by Jozef Slezinger.

Repertoire

Season 2009/2010 – the selection: ''Story about the late emperor daughter'' by Nikolai Koljada and directed by Boško Dimitrijević, ''Pinocchio'' by

Carlo Collodi Carlo Lorenzini (; 24 November 1826 – 26 October 1890), better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi ( ; ), was an Italian author, humourist, and journalist, widely known for his fairy tale novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio''. Early lif ...

, director and scene designer Dušan Bajin, ''The liar and the archiliar'' by Jovan Sterija Popović, director and scene designer Dragan Jakovljević, ''Le ultime lune'' by Furio Bordon and directed by Massimo Luconi, ''Maids'' by

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

and directed by Ivona Šijaković, ''The diary of a madman'' by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

and played by Ivan Vidosavljević, ''D ale carnevalului'' by

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179–184 – 9 June 1912), commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale, was a Romanians, ...

and directed by Matei Varodi, ''Migrations'' by Miloš Crnjanski and directed by Pierre Walter Politz, ''Pirates'' by Miloš Janoušek and directed by Jan Čani, ''Thesis'' by Gerry Dukes, Paul Meade, David Parnell and directed by Dan Tudor, ''Cabinet Minister's wife'' by

Branislav Nušić Branislav Nušić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Нушић, ; – 19 January 1938) was a Serbian playwright, satirist, essayist, novelist and founder of Modern Rhetoric, modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil ...

and directed by Jovan Grujić, ''Pioneers in Ingolstadt'' by Marieluise Flaisser and directed by Ivana Vujić, ''Club new world order'' by

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

, Hainer Muller,

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

, directed by Aleksandar Dunđerović, ''The devil and the little lady'' by Đorđe Milosavljević and directed by Žanko Tomić, ''Night in the pub Titanik'' by Nebojša Bradić and directed by Nebojša Bradić, ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'' by

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh ( ; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his Absurdism, absurdist Black comedy, dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won List of awards and no ...

and directed by Milić Jovanović, ''One man two guvnors'' by Richard Bean, directed by Nebojša Bradić, ''Twelve Angry Men'' by

Reginald Rose Reginald Rose (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s. Rose w ...

and directed by Neil Fleckman.

Ansamble

Publishing

Descendants of Joakim – Monograph

*''Renata Ulmanski - Njegovo veličanstvo: Slučaj'', author Marko Misirača (2023) ISBN 978-86-920641-3-5 *Boro Drašković, Dictionary of the profession (2011) *Miodrag Tabački, Automonohraph (2010) *Mirko Babić, always and everywhere, author Dragana Bošković (2009) * Biljana Srbljanović family and other tales, author Slobodan Savić (2008) *Vojislav Voki Kostić, author Miodrag Stojilović (2007) *Descendants of Joakim, author Feliks Pašić (2006)

Premiere

*''Night in the pub Titanik'' by Nebojša Bradić and directed by Nebojša Bradić (2011) *''The devil and the little lady'' by Đorđe Milosavljević and directed by Žanko Tomić (2011) *''Club new world order'' by

, Hainer Muller,

, directed by Aleksandar Dunđerović (2009) * ''Pioniere in Ingolstadt'' by Marieluise Flaisser and directed by Ivana Vujić (2009)

Theatre Day

On February 15, the Theatre day, the oldest Serbian theatre, delivers to the most eminent Serbian theatre writers, actors, directors, scenographers, composers, The Statuette of Joakim Vujić, The Ring with figure of Joakim Vujić and the Annual award of the Knjazevsko-srpski teatar.

Statuette of Joakim Vujić

Creator of the Statuette of Joakim Vujić is Nikola Koka Janković (was born in Kragujevac in 1926), sculptor and a regular member of the

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS). The Academy's membership has included Nobel Prize, Nobel la ...

Ring with Figure of Joakim Vujić

Theatre Today

In 1965 this theatre also initiated Meetings of professional Theatres Joakim Vujic of Serbia (in central Serbia) and they were held every year in May in one of ten different towns. Since 2006, the Theatre became the regular host of Joakimfest, International Theatre Festival. Being the institution of special significance to

Serbian culture Serbian culture is a term that encompasses the Serbian art, artistic, Serbian cuisine, culinary, Serbian literature, literary, Music of Serbia, musical, Politics of Serbia, political and Serb traditions, social elements that are representati ...

and art, the Theatre endeavours to develop other activities besides showing plays. Since 2005 the Theatre started grandiose publishing business with the Journal ''Joakim''), founded the Gallery ''Joakim'', ordered monographies of all the winners of the Statuette of Joakim Vujic, 2009 published the first edition book ''Premiere'', started to research and publish drama heritage of Kragujevac. Plays are shown on Stage Joakim Vujic and Stage Ljuba Tadic, Teatroteka is also active, and from February 2007, will start to work the Stage Mija Aleksic. That is the reason why City of Kragujevac should bear the name of Teatropolis, which was proclaimed in 2005, on the 170th anniversary of foundation of the oldest theatre in renewed Serbia. Since 2010 Knjazevsko-srpski teatar is a member of the World Theater Network Interact.World Theatre Network InterAct
/ref> On February the 14th 2007, at the proposal of the Managing Board of the Theatre ''Joakim Vujic'', Kragujevac City Assembly brought the decision by which the oldest Serbian theatre is being given back its original name, Knjaževsko-srpski teatar.

Gallery

Image:JoakimVujic.jpg, Joakim Vujić Image:Svi.jpg, Ansamble Image:Konak08joe.jpg, Image:Predstava Dvesta prva.jpg, 200 Image:TheLiarandtheArchiliar.jpg, Image:Club-New--World-Order.jpg, Club new world order Image:JoePinokioKragujevac.jpg, Pinocchio

References

* Kragujevačko pozorište 1835–1951 Author: Rajko Stojadinović 1975 * Kragujevačko pozorište 1951–1984 Author: Rajko Stojadinović 2005,

External links

Knjaževsko-srpski teatar

Knjaževsko-srpski teatar, Video

City of Kragujevac
{{Coord, 44, 00, 38, N, 20, 54, 37, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title 1835 establishments in Europe Theatre companies in Serbia Kragujevac Buildings and structures in Kragujevac Culture in Kragujevac Theatre in Serbia Theatres in Serbia Culture of Serbia Theatres completed in 1835