The Teatro Nacional D. Maria II is located on the famous Rossio square in the heart of Lisbon. This national theatre officially opened on 13 April 1846, to mark the occasion of the 27th birthday of Queen Maria II (1819-1853). However, the theatre’s roots go back to a decade earlier. After the 1836 revolution the politician Manuel da Silva Passos requested, by royal decree, that writer and politician Almeida Garret created a plan for a national theatre that could, ‘as a school of good taste, contribute to the civilization and moral elevation of the Portuguese nation’. In the decade between its legal foundation and inauguration the national theatre was housed in the dilapidated Teatro da Rua dos Condes. Eventually, the current Teatro Nacional D. Maria II was constructed on the ruins of the Estaus Palace, the former seat of the Inquisition. For many years, the TNDM II was managed by various theatre companies, including Companhia Rosas e Brasão (1881-1898) – responsible for the first stage productions of Shakespeare in Portuguese – and Companhia Rey Colaço-Robles Monteiro (1929-1964), Portugal’s longest-standing theatre company. In 2004, the TNDM II came under the management of the Ministries of Finance and Culture. Apart from its own productions, the TNDM II is also a partner in various international platforms including PERFORMART (the association of performing arts in Portugal), the European network Advancing Performing Arts Project and European Theatre Convention (ETC). Tiago Rodrigues has been the artistic director of the TNDM II since 2014.