In 1871, Pula got the theater building Politeama Ciscutti, a universal auditorium for all types of stage and music events as well as various entertainment activities.

Perhaps the most important event for international history that took place in the theater was when on September 20, 1920, Benito Mussolini, during his only visit in Pula, gave a speech at the Ciscutti, uttering the following, often quoted words:When dealing with such a race as the Slavic – inferior and barbaric – we must not pursue the carrot, but the stick policy.

[5][6] The original theater, inaugurated on September 24, 1881 (constructed after Ciscutti built the smaller Teatro Nuovo, opened on December 28, 1854, between Dante Square and Sergijevac Street, next to the Church of Our Lady of Mercy), was renovated and rebuilt a number of times.

After 23 seasons of activity with 213 premieres (199 theatrical and 14 operetta titles) 125 authors (66 foreign and 59 domestic) and 2,050 plays, the Liquidation Committee of the Municipal Assembly of Pula on April 29, 1971 issued a decision on the termination of the Istrian National Theater as an institution, due to financial reasons.

[7] For eighteen years, the people of Pula waited for the theater building to be renovated and reconstructed for the third time, and finally welcomed the grand opening on May 5, 1989, with the performance of Jakov Gotovac's opera Ero the Joker.