Actors and staff at Belgrade’s oldest children’s theater have been trying to prevent its eviction for days, drawing public protests and support from other theaters.

The Bosko Buha theater has been in the same central Belgrade building since it was formed in 1950. The building has been sold to a company owned by a man alleged to be very close to the Serbian president. The theater has been told to move out of the building and has been offered space in the old central post office which is part of the Belgrade Waterfront, a project which has the full support of the Serbian authorities. The theater was named after a WW2 teenage partisan who was killed in battle.

Bosko Buha actors said they were not offered a new stage in writing but were approached by Belgrade Waterfront staff who asked if they want to set up a new children’s theater.

The theater was temporarily relocated in 2015 for reconstruction. At the time, the building was owned by the city government but it changed hands after the city of Belgrade lost out in court to a company owned by a man close to the authorities. According to one source, the Bosko Buha theater lost its stage while Finance Minister Sinisa Mali was mayor of the Serbian capital.

N1 asked the Belgrade city authorities and Belgrade Waterfront for comments but received no reply.