New Market Theatre (Roy’s Assembly Room)

1. Overview

The New Market Theatre, also associated in historical sources with Roy’s Assembly Room, was a small performance venue established within Joseph Roy’s premises in Montreal’s New Market district. Theatrical activity is clearly documented there in the spring of 1824. ^[1]

Unlike the Théâtre Royal, which would open the following year, the New Market Theatre was not a monumental building constructed specifically for the performing arts. Rather, it was an assembly room adapted for theatrical use, continuing a long-established Montreal tradition in which inns, hotels and public rooms were temporarily or permanently converted to accommodate performances.

Despite its modest dimensions, the theatre possessed genuine stage features: painted scenery, backstage areas, a stage curtain and equipment capable of producing certain spectacular effects. Contemporary accounts from 1824 even reveal the surprise of spectators at the visual effects that could be achieved in such a small theatre. ^[2]

2. Montreal after the decline of the earlier theatre

The New Market Theatre appeared at a time when theatrical life in Montreal was still searching for a permanent home. The first theatre room established by James Ormsby in 1804, later known as the Montreal Theatre, had paved the way for more regular professional theatrical activity.

Following the decline of this first generation of theatres, performances once again moved into various adapted spaces. In 1822, the young prodigy George Frederick Smith presented, among other works, scenes from Richard III and Romeo and Juliet in the Assembly Rooms of the Mansion House Hotel. ^[1]

It was not until the spring of 1824 that a new company undertook a genuine small theatrical season in the Assembly Rooms of Roy’s Hotel, now advertised to the public as the New-Market Theatre. ^[1]

3. Joseph Roy and the Assembly Rooms

The theatre was located in a building associated with Joseph Roy in the New Market district. The market had been established on the former site of the Château de Vaudreuil and corresponds to the area now occupied by Place Jacques-Cartier.

Like many North American hotels and inns of the period, Roy’s establishment contained an Assembly Room — a large multipurpose room intended for meetings, dances, assemblies and public entertainment.

This space was adapted to accommodate dramatic performances. The New Market Theatre therefore belongs more to the history of converted theatrical spaces than to that of major theatre buildings specifically constructed for the stage.

4. The 1824 Season

In the spring of 1824, a small company began a season at the New-Market Theatre. The troupe was led by Emmanuel Judah, a melodramatic actor already known from secondary theatres in New York. A Mrs. Smith served as the company’s principal actress. ^[1]

On April 10, 1824, the company presented Catherine and Petruchio, David Garrick’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The production was repeated on April 24. ^[1]

On May 22, 1824, Judah played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Mrs. Smith appeared as Juliet, Webb as Mercutio and Mrs. Dorion as the Nurse. ^[1]

5. A Small Theatre with Surprising Ambitions

The modest dimensions of the New Market Theatre did not prevent it from possessing relatively sophisticated stage equipment for its time. Accounts published in 1824 praised the neatness of the new arrangements and, in particular, the quality of the new painted scenery. ^[2]

The stage curtain notably depicted a Swiss landscape. The scenery was designed to suit the proportions of the small stage and appears to have made a favourable impression on spectators. ^[2]

A production of Bertram, the melodrama by Charles Maturin, provides an indication of the theatre’s technical ambitions. The first act featured a storm, moving sea and clouds, as well as a shipwreck. A Montreal critic expressed surprise that such a convincing effect could be achieved in a theatre of such limited dimensions. ^[2]

Lighting, however, remained rudimentary. The same critic believed that some of the effects would have been even more convincing had the light coming from the wings been less intense. ^[2]

6. William Alexander Brown in Montreal

One of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the New Market Theatre occurred during the summer of 1824. On August 16, the theatre was made available to William Alexander Brown, a Black performer from Saint Vincent who, a few years earlier, had founded New York’s African Theatre. ^[3]

Founded in New York in 1821, the African Theatre is generally regarded as the first known Black theatrical company in the United States. Following the disappearance of the New York company, Brown appears to have continued some theatrical activities elsewhere in North America.

For his Montreal appearance, an advertisement informed the public that Brown would present at the New Market Theatre a selection of scenes from popular plays. The doors were scheduled to open at 7 p.m., with the performance beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets were offered separately for the boxes and pit. ^[3]

William Alexander Brown’s appearance at the New Market Theatre therefore constitutes a particularly important episode in the history of Black theatre in Montreal and illustrates the cultural connections that already linked the city to North American theatrical networks.

7. Competition from the Royal Circus

The small New Market Theatre company quickly faced a spectacular rival. During the spring and summer of 1824, entrepreneurs Blanchard and West brought an equestrian company to Montreal that attracted a substantial share of the city’s audience. ^[1]

In May, Blanchard had a stage installed and hired several performers from theatres in the southern United States. The equestrian exhibitions were now supplemented by melodramas, operas and large-scale spectacles.

Faced with this competition, the New Market Theatre company eventually abandoned its independent season, and some of its members joined the rival enterprise. ^[1]

The Royal Circus returned in 1825 in more ambitious premises on Craig Street. Montreal now simultaneously supported several forms of theatrical entertainment, foreshadowing the imminent emergence of a major permanent theatre.

8. From the New Market Theatre to the Théâtre Royal

The New Market Theatre illustrates both the possibilities and the limitations of converted theatrical spaces. Despite its scenery, backstage areas and stage effects, the venue remained small and had not originally been designed to meet the requirements of a professional theatre.

This situation changed dramatically on November 21, 1825, with the opening of the Théâtre Royal. Financed by John Molson, the new theatre was a genuine building designed specifically for the performing arts. ^[4]

The Théâtre Royal possessed far more ambitious infrastructure, including a purpose-designed auditorium, a permanent stage, backstage areas, scenery created specifically for the building and stage machinery designed for the theatre. ^{[2], [4]}

The New Market Theatre therefore belongs to the generation immediately preceding it: that of multipurpose rooms converted to allow professional theatre to develop in a city that did not yet possess specialized cultural infrastructure.

9. Historical Significance

The New Market Theatre occupies a modest but important place in the history of Montreal performance venues. It represents one of the final links between the adapted theatrical spaces of the early nineteenth century and the emergence of permanent purpose-built theatre buildings.

Its programming also reflects the movement of performers between Montreal, New York and other North American cities. Emmanuel Judah, William Alexander Brown and the competing companies belonged to a theatrical network extending far beyond the borders of Lower Canada.

Above all, its equipment demonstrates that a relatively modest venue could already provide Montreal audiences with a complex theatrical experience: painted scenery, backstage areas, lighting effects, storms, moving seas and scene changes.

One year later, the Théâtre Royal transferred these practices into a building designed expressly for them. The New Market Theatre can therefore be regarded as one of the last direct precursors of modern theatre in Montreal.