Belgrade Drama Theatre

The Regional Union of Theatres – RUTA (also means route- the way that we are going together) was founded on the initiative of the General Manager of the Belgrade Drama Theatre from Belgrade Serbia, Mr. Jug Radivojevic. Delegates of six representative theatres from the region of the former Yugoslavia signed the Protocol of Cooperation in the Assembly of the City of Belgrade on 18 October 2019. Today, this union consists of: Belgrade Drama Theatre from Belgrade Serbia, Ljubljana City Theatre from Ljubljana Slovenia, Tivat Cultural Centre from Tivat Montenegro, Drama Theatre from Skopje North Macedonia, Chamber Theatre 55 from Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ulysses Theatre from Zagreb Croatia.

The idea around which the theatres that are partners of the Regional Union of Theaters have gathered is the organisation of theatre festivals in the partner cities of the countries from the region, the realisation of co-production projects and mutual touring, as well as research and familiarisation with different approaches to the artistic and production realisation of projects whose main goal is to present them to the audience in each of the cities.

The RUTA Festival is held in a different city during the year: Belgrade, Serbia – December; Ljubljana, Slovenia – February; Tivat, Montenegro – April; Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina – May; Brijuni Islands, Croatia – August; Skopje, North Macedonia – October. At each of the festivals in the cities, each theatre performs a play of its own choice and represents the country from which it comes. After every performance, RUTA Talks are organised for guests and audience to learn more from the artists and aesthetics of their theatres. The first RUTA Festival was held in Belgrade from 1 to 6 December 2019 and gathered over three hundred participants. 

Today, the RUTA Association is an established festival, supported by relevant institutions of all countries and declared an "Event of Importance" for the City of Belgrade. This festival is the best example of multiculturalism, which has resulted in several co-productions that become part of the repertoire of the festival. RUTA aims to expand beyond the borders of the current region with the aim of promoting the artistic values of this part of Europe.

RUTA FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
Belgrade, Serbia - 1-6 December 
Ljubljana, Slovenia - 29 January - 3 February
Tivat, Montenegro - 7-12 April
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina - 12-17 May
Brijuni Islands, Croatia - 11-29 August
Skopje, Macedonia - 25-30 October