The church of Gesù was inaugurated on December 3, 1865, and originally built as a chapel for the Collège Sainte-Marie. The Jesuits who taught there saw the theatre as an essential element of classical training, and in the academic hall of the church basement, students would present their plays.
Gradually, the Jesuits opened the amphitheatre to outside theatre groups. During the 1940s, it produced some of Quebec's great theatre troupes: the Compagnons de St-Laurent, the Théâtre du Rideau Vert, Fridolinades Gratien Gélinas, Nouvelle Compagnie Théâtrale and the Théâtre du nouveau Monde.
