Raša Plaović | Origin of Street Names

Radomir "Raša" Plaović (1899 – 1977) was one of the greatest Serbian actors of the first half of the 20th century, a theater director and playwright, and a professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade.

Born in Uba near the end of the 19th century, after completing elementary school, he came to Belgrade with his family, where as the oldest of his siblings, he started earning a living together with his parents. Chroniclers note that by the time he reached adulthood, he had already had more than ten different trades "under his belt."

While attending the Belgrade Gymnasium, also known as the "realka," he took his first steps in acting that would completely shape his life, even though he obtained prestigious diplomas from the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Civil Engineering in his further education.

As a high school student, he lived through the First World War, spending most of it as a prisoner in a labor camp in Czechoslovakia. He escaped from it multiple times, for which he was brutally punished by being tied up by his hands and feet to a beam, hanging like a pendulum. Contemporaries mention that due to these "disciplinary" methods, he suffered severe joint pain for the rest of his life.

However, this did not prevent him from continuing his acting career after the war. By auditioning at the National Theater, at the age of 20, he became a member of the national theater, and in the years that followed, he became its leading actor and forever remained loyal to his second home.

As one of the most gifted actors in history, he had a strong influence on the development of theater art in Serbia. His most significant roles were connected to Shakespearean classics, and he is also remembered for his portrayal of all the male characters in "Koštana" by Bora Stanković. As a director, he will be remembered for the first theater adaptation of "The Mountain Wreath."

Interestingly, Raša Plaović was never a great admirer of the film art, believing that film had a negative impact on diction (in which he was almost perfect) and dedication to the role.

After World War II, he briefly worked as a professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. Perhaps too strict and authoritative, he mentored only one generation of actors, but among them were some of the future legends of Serbian and Yugoslavian theater - Ljuba Tadić and Petar Banićević.

Today, the name of Raša Plaović is carried by a stage in the National Theater in Belgrade, as well as an annual award given to the best theater actor in Serbia, and streets in Belgrade, Valjevo, and Uba.