The history of francophone theater reflects the complexity of French Canada’s political and social evolution over the past four centuries. During the period of French colonial rule, most theatrical activity can be described as amateur performances of French plays staged in salons, military barracks, or collèges classiques. In response to Lord Durham’s Report following the Patriots’ Rebellion of 1837–8, native-born French Canadians began building a national theatrical repertoire by writing patriotic historical dramas. With urbanization in the late nineteenth century came the construction of permanent playhouses in Montreal and Quebec City and the founding of professional theater companies. This institutionalization led to the growth of popular entertainment that took the form of burlesque variety shows in Quebec French during the 1920–40 period.

Reacting to calls for change beginning with the 1948 Refus global manifesto and continuing through the Quiet Revolution, Quebec drama became part of the collective project of social and cultural transformation. The nationalist or identitary drama of the 1960s and 1970s, which has been labeled le nouveau théâtre québécois, is characterized by the use of vernacular language, experimental techniques, and political subject matter. The growing consensus on the need for a distinctly Québécois culture provoked an identity crisis in Canada’s other francophone communities, leading to the creation of multiple provincial repertoires of francophone drama. In the aftermath of the defeat of the 1980 referendum on sovereignty-association, Quebec theater turned from dramatizing collective political aspirations to issues more personal and aesthetic.