National Theater Mostar

About the institution:

The public institution National Theater in Mostar was founded on November 28, 1949. At the beginning of its work, the Theater acted as a classical drama theater, within which it developed over the years Drama studio, City Hall Orchestra which later became a separate institution, Art gallery, Children's scene, and later the modern camera scene "Studio 64".

From its establishment until today, the National Theater in Mostar has established itself as the most eminent cultural institution that has brought diversity of artistic activity and expression, both in the city of Mostar and beyond. The success and progress of the National Theater in Mostar are best described by the participation in important festivals in the region, guest appearances in the country and abroad, and awards and recognitions received by our actors for the quality of their performances.

During its many years of existence, the Theater hosted a whole galaxy of actors, directors, scenographers, costume designers and choreographers. Currently, one of the most important events during the season is certainly "Mostarska Liska" Comedy Festival during which, on average, we host close to 200 artists and around 3,000 spectators every year, both in the regular competitive theater program and in accompanying content. We often host various other cultural events, exhibitions, promotions, poetry evenings, panels, and thematic events.

In its work, the theater brings together artists of various profiles, especially actors, who are its greatest value. It organizes a number of important guest appearances from the world of theater, and encourages the creative work of young people. In addition to our own and guest theater performances, we also encourage the development of other forms of art and thus contribute to the strengthening of culture in the city of Mostar. The work and development of the theater reflects the interest of the audience, which has always been a loyal follower of this theater company.

The National Theater currently employs 27 workers, of which 12 are actors and 10 workers in the technical and auxiliary-artistic sector. In its recent work, the Theater has been and is still in a difficult financial and material situation.

The founders of the National Theater are the City of Mostar and the Canton of Herzegovina-Neretva (each 50% of founding rights), which collectively cover 65 % of the minimum financial needs of the National Theatre. This represents a key problem that systematically weakens the being of the National Theater and threatens the purpose for which it was founded.

Despite this situation and the lack of dedicated means for production, the repertoire of the National Theater currently includes ten top theatrical productions, both by local and foreign authors, and every year, in addition to the international comedy festival "Mostarska liska", we also produce four to five new plays.