The Yugoslav drama theater was founded in 1947 as a representative theater of the new Yugoslavia. Many of the most important actors from Zagreb, Novi Sad, Sarajevo, Split, Ljubljana and other cities are invited to participate in the creation of this theater.
In 1947, director Bojan Stupica was placed on the front of the house as an artistic director. He and critic Eli Finci laid the foundations of the JDP's repertoire orientation as a high-level literary theater. It will remain as the basic orientation of the JDP to this day, but apart from the literary, the element of the stage has got an equal place.
The first performance was performed on April 3, 1948, and it is about the play "King Betain's" by Ivan Cankar, directed by Bojan Stupica. This day is marked as a day of the JDP and an annual award is granted on that date.
The first season was marked by the presentation of the world class and domestic classics: Chekhov, Goldoni, Sheridan, Ostrovski, Lope de Vega, Gorki, Sho, Shakespeare, Plaut, Rasin, Molier, Ibzen, Lorka and Cankar, Držić, Jaksic and Nusic.
The directors who at the time created the glory of the JDP (Bojan Stupica, Mata Milosevic and Tomislav Tanhofer) were already in the middle of two wars under the influence of European modernism, which was evident in their performances.
From the mid-eighties the theorist Jovan Ćirilov, in his fourteen administrative seasons, establishes the JDP as a representative theater of contemporary stage expression within the wider area of the former state.