Description of the attraction
The National Theater in Serbian sounds like "People's Shame", emphasizing the linguistic commonality of the southern and eastern Slavs. As in the Russian language the original meaning of the word "shame" meant "spectacle, observation".
In 1929 Banja Luka became the main city of the Vrbass province (in Serbian - banovins) as part of the Yugoslav kingdom. These were the years of the greatest rise in territory - after three and a half centuries of Turkish and then Austro-Hungarian occupation. Orthodox churches, schools and hospitals began to be built in Serbia. Government buildings and cultural institutions appeared in Banja Luka. The city began to form not only as the Serbian capital, but also as a regional center of national culture and art.
In 1930 the National Theater of the 20th Century Vrbaska was founded. The last word is the name of the river on which the city stands. Initially, it was created not by the theater of one city, but by the Serbian folk theater. And the city community got down to business with enthusiasm. The theater was opened on September 2, and the first premiere took place on October 18. The best European directors, stage designers, costume designers and composers were invited to the theater. World famous actors and singers demonstrated their talents on its stage.
Today, decades later, the theater survived all difficult times and remains the cultural center of the Serbian Republic within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although after the civil war of the nineties, only eight actors and a director survived in it. Today, a Serbian theater academy was opened at the National Theater.
Banja Luka positions itself not only as an industrial city and a spa resort. This is a truly interesting cultural center, where international book fairs, film festivals, and fashion weeks are held. A worthy place among these famous cultural events is occupied by the theater festival "Teatrfest", the main platform of which is the National Theater of the Republic of Srpska.
