Art and money: Theatres in Belgrade over the period 1945-1980

Abstract

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.