Belgrade takes children's theater seriously: some of these stages have played to kids since the late 1940s, and a few were built just for them. Expect fairy tales, puppets, shadow play and shows made for babies, mostly in Serbian, though the stories are easy to follow without it. Here's what we checked, from the Duško Radović stage in Tašmajdan Park to the one Branko Kockica co-founded in 1977.
Boško Buha is a children's theater founded in 1950. Its children's stage puts on fairy tales and classics, with current titles such as Beauty and the Beast, Heidi, Puss in Boots and Oliver Twist.
While the theater's home building is renovated, every show runs at Teatar Vuk. A separate evening stage puts on comedies, from Nušić and Shakespeare to newer writers.
Founded in 1948 as a puppet theater, it has played since 1968 in a building in Tašmajdan Park designed by Ivan Antić, the first built for children's theater in socialist Yugoslavia. The repertoire includes puppet adaptations of Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland and The Tempest alongside shows with live actors.
A separate stage puts on shows for babies, and an evening youth stage runs shows for teens.
Pinokio is Belgrade's only puppet theater, founded in 1972 as a traveling company and still touring today. Its repertoire of more than 30 shows draws on classic fairy tales, myths, legends and epic poetry as well as new plays, mixing puppetry with shadow theater and live actors.
The program runs from a short show made for babies to fairy tales such as Pinocchio, Snow White and Cinderella.
Pozorište Puž is a professional repertory theater for children, founded in 1977 by actor Branislav Milićević, known to generations as Branko Kockica, and director Slobodanka Caca Aleksić.
It toured other halls for its first 11 years and has had its own stage since 1988. The repertoire rotates through fairy tales and stage stories, from Crvenkapa (Little Red Riding Hood) to Cvrčak i mrav (The Grasshopper and the Ant).
Pan Teatar is the only professional children's theater in Zvezdara, with its own permanent kids' stage on Bulevar kralja Aleksandra since 1998. Every play on the repertoire, around 28 titles from superhero schools to The Little Mermaid, is the company's own production, with three or four premieres each season.
The same building also hosts an evening stage for adults and a drama studio for kids and teens.
Dadov is a youth theater, founded in 1958, where the cast is young actors, many of whom joined as kids. Its stage runs a standing repertoire, from Pinokio to Romeo and Juliet and an Animal Farm adaptation, plus film nights.
It also runs an acting and speech school for primary schoolers and teens, taught by Faculty of Dramatic Arts teachers, with each four-month course ending in a public class.
A city-run arts center for children, founded in 1952 as the Dom pionira and at Takovska 8 since 1968. Inside are studios for painting, comics, printmaking and animation, rooms for ballet, singing and acting, a children's choir, and a stage for kids' and teen shows.
Most programs are workshops kids sign up for, and one theater workshop runs in English. The center also organizes the Radost Evrope children's festival.
Belgrade takes children's theater seriously: some of these stages have played to kids since the late 1940s, and a few were built just for them. Expect fairy tales, puppets, shadow play and shows made for babies, mostly in Serbian, though the stories are easy to follow without it. Here's what we checked, from the Duško Radović stage in Tašmajdan Park to the one Branko Kockica co-founded in 1977.
Boško Buha is a children's theater founded in 1950. Its children's stage puts on fairy tales and classics, with current titles such as Beauty and the Beast, Heidi, Puss in Boots and Oliver Twist.
While the theater's home building is renovated, every show runs at Teatar Vuk. A separate evening stage puts on comedies, from Nušić and Shakespeare to newer writers.
Founded in 1948 as a puppet theater, it has played since 1968 in a building in Tašmajdan Park designed by Ivan Antić, the first built for children's theater in socialist Yugoslavia. The repertoire includes puppet adaptations of Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland and The Tempest alongside shows with live actors.
A separate stage puts on shows for babies, and an evening youth stage runs shows for teens.
Pinokio is Belgrade's only puppet theater, founded in 1972 as a traveling company and still touring today. Its repertoire of more than 30 shows draws on classic fairy tales, myths, legends and epic poetry as well as new plays, mixing puppetry with shadow theater and live actors.
The program runs from a short show made for babies to fairy tales such as Pinocchio, Snow White and Cinderella.
Pozorište Puž is a professional repertory theater for children, founded in 1977 by actor Branislav Milićević, known to generations as Branko Kockica, and director Slobodanka Caca Aleksić.
It toured other halls for its first 11 years and has had its own stage since 1988. The repertoire rotates through fairy tales and stage stories, from Crvenkapa (Little Red Riding Hood) to Cvrčak i mrav (The Grasshopper and the Ant).
Pan Teatar is the only professional children's theater in Zvezdara, with its own permanent kids' stage on Bulevar kralja Aleksandra since 1998. Every play on the repertoire, around 28 titles from superhero schools to The Little Mermaid, is the company's own production, with three or four premieres each season.
The same building also hosts an evening stage for adults and a drama studio for kids and teens.
Dadov is a youth theater, founded in 1958, where the cast is young actors, many of whom joined as kids. Its stage runs a standing repertoire, from Pinokio to Romeo and Juliet and an Animal Farm adaptation, plus film nights.
It also runs an acting and speech school for primary schoolers and teens, taught by Faculty of Dramatic Arts teachers, with each four-month course ending in a public class.
A city-run arts center for children, founded in 1952 as the Dom pionira and at Takovska 8 since 1968. Inside are studios for painting, comics, printmaking and animation, rooms for ballet, singing and acting, a children's choir, and a stage for kids' and teen shows.
Most programs are workshops kids sign up for, and one theater workshop runs in English. The center also organizes the Radost Evrope children's festival.
