The Monument-National is an historic Canadian theatre located at 1182 Saint Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec. With a capacity of over 1,600 seats, the venue was erected between 1891 and 1894 and was originally the cultural centre of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society.
The building was designed by Maurice Perrault, Albert Mesnard, and Joseph Venne in the Renaissance Revival style and utilizes a steel frame—a building technique that was innovative for its time.[1]
Yiddish theatre
The first performance of a Yiddish play was held there in what is now the theatre's Ludger-Duvernay room in the winter of 1896. The Monument-National was a key cultural landmark in Montreal's historic Jewish quarter, and it continued to host productions from touring and local Yiddish theatre companies until the 1940s.[2][3][4]
Renovations and current status
The theatre was declared a historic monument by the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec in 1976[1] and a National Historic Site in 1985.[5]
A major restoration project of the theatre was completed in June 1993 in time for the theatre's centennial celebration. The 1,620-seat theatre has been owned by the National Theatre School of Canada since 1971, and it is the venue used for its productions.[6]