The Impact of Yugoslavia’s Foreign Policy on the Repertoires of Belgrade Theaters

Abstract

Given the great significance of moral rationales and societal values implied in theatrical plays, the Communist Party and state authorities in Tito’s Yugoslavia paid great attention to them, especially during the first decades after the country’s liberation. During my long-term research into the relationship between the government and theater in Belgrade between 1945 and 1980, a unique phenomenon revealed itself, which is that the changes in the orientation of Yugoslavia’s foreign policy three times directly affected Belgrade’s theatrical repertoires. The main aim of this research is to examine and analyze the impact of Yugoslav foreign policy on Belgrade’s theater repertoires under Tito’s rule, and the key hypothesis is that the corresponding agendas of Yugoslav foreign policy in the observed period directly influenced Belgrade’s theater repertoires.