ART AND MONEY: THEATRES IN BELGRADE OVER THE PERIOD 1945–1980

Text topic: Culture and Money

Text author: Дејана Прњат

During the examined period, the state exercised ideological control

over all segments of public life including artistic creation. This control

was particularly pronounced in the years following the Second World

War, even though it was present throughout the entire period. In

theatres, it was expressed through various forms, of which the most

significant were political censorship on the one hand, and on the other,

their dependence on state financing. Since a lot has already been

written on the significance of the ideological factor, we will instead

focus on the influence of the financial circumstances on the formation

of theatre repertoires in Belgrade, between 1945 and 1980. Roughly

speaking, two major phases were identified. The first one, the period

of centralization, was the period of strong state control of the theatre

repertoires in Belgrade, also accompanied with firm financial support.

The other period, the period of decentralization, allowed theatres to

create their repertoires more freely, but also meant that they had to

partly obtain financing from other sources.