National Theatre in Subotica, Performance venue in Subotica, Serbia
The National Theatre in Subotica is a theatre building on Trg Slobode, built in 1854 and under reconstruction since 2007. It houses two ensembles, Drama in Serbian and Drama in Hungarian, and its facade carries a trilingual name installed in 1954.
The first theatre building opened on 16 December 1854 with a performance of "Dvoje iz porodice Barcsai", after the magistrate commissioned master János Skultety to build it on filled land at today's Trg Slobode. A fire on 2 March 1915 left only the walls standing. Rebuilt from 1924, it reopened in 1927 with Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "The Tsar's Bride". In 1945 two ensembles were founded, merged on 1 January 1951 as the Narodno pozorište – Népszínház.
The venue presents performances in multiple languages, reflecting how the region has always been home to different communities. This diversity shapes what you see on stage and how the space is used throughout the year.
The venue sits in the city center and is easy to reach on foot or by public transportation. Most visitors purchase tickets at the box office or check the program in advance before visiting.
The old building was declared a historic monument in 1983 and added to the National Register in 1991 as a monument of extraordinary cultural value. Despite this, city authorities razed it in 2007 for reconstruction; ICOMOS and INTBAU protested, and only scanty remains are to be incorporated into the new theatre.
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