New laughter workshop in Serbian capital city - Construction of Belgrade Comedy House starts in September

(Dragan Jovanović)

With a salami, yogurt, loaf of bread, and a beer, actor Dragan Gagi Jovanović showed up on July 5, 2010, at the building site of the new laughter workshop in a part of the complex of the Cultural Institution of Palilula to formally announce the commencement of works. He was accompanied by the theater "masters" Jovan Ćirilov, Dušan Kovačević and Palilula Mayor Danilo Bašić.

Thus, Belgrade is going to get a new theater in the location of former People's University of Braća Stamenković, which was burnt in the fire ten years ago, in autumn 2011.

The city borough of Palilula will set aside about 5 million dinars from this year's budget for construction of the theater, which will be enough for rough construction works. Total investment is estimated at about 40 million dinars, while the funds for complete equipping of the new building will be provided next year. The Belgrade Comedy House will have 500 seats, and the hall will be suitable for theater plays and other cultural manifestations. Future facility at about 700 square meters will have its lobby, buffet club, locker rooms for actors, and it will also be the first theater with its own parking lot.

(current state of the facility)

Dragan Jovanović said he hoped that the first laughter in the Belgrade Comedy House would be heard on the forthcoming World Day of Theater (March 27, 2011).

- Financial structure has not been completed yet, but we hope to collect the funds for rehabilitation of this facility very soon. We have decided to invite our friends to join us in the first works today - said Jovanović.

Theatrology expert Jovan Ćirilov and writer Dušan Kovačević joined Jovanović at the place of the future stage of the Belgrade Comedy House and, after the breakfast, symbolically started the works.

The owner of the future facility will be the Cultural Institution of Palilula, while the theater will be run by company Fantasia Theater Production whose founders are actor Dragan Gagi Jovanović and engineer Emir Omanović.

The Belgrade Comedy House will function by the principle of an open theater and it will be rented for certain plays and other cultural-artistic manifestations, one of which is the Palilula Culture Olympics, reintroduced by that borough in 2004. The Culture Olympics, which gave birth to numerous eminent people from the world of culture, is going to get a new home upon the opening of the Belgrade Comedy House.

This is how the future stage in the Belgrade Comedy House will look like:

(view from the future stage of Belgrade Comedy House)

(... and from the balcony)