National Theatre (Washington, D.C.)

National Theatre is a public theatre in downtown Washington, D.C., just east of the White House. The theatre functions as a venue for live stage productions and has a seating capacity of 1,676. Despite its name, it is not a government-funded national theatre, and instead operates as a private, non-profit organization.

Founded in 1835, National Theatre is the second-oldest continuously operating theater company in the United States after Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, which was founded in 1808. The original theatre was destroyed by fire in 1873. It was quickly rebuilt, but this second structure was destroyed in a second fire in 1885. A third structure opened as the New National Theatre in 1885 and operated under this name into the 1920s. In 1922 a major renovation and expansion was undertaken of that theatre which remains the current theatre.