The National Museum of Theatre and Dance endeavours to further knowledge about the history and current situation of performing arts.

It also preserves, organises, investigates, documents and disseminates its collections. The museum is housed at the Monteiro-Mor Palace, an 18th century building, restored and adapted for this purpose.

Its current collection, which started in 1979, features over 300,000 pieces that include costumes and stage props, scenes, figurines, billboards, programmes, records and music scores and about 120,000 photographs.

The museum also has a specialised library containing 35,000 volumes.

The museum periodically holds exhibitions dedicated to celebrities who were involved in performing arts and also to less known aspects of theatre and dance, as well as activities related to performing arts in general.