National theatre of Greece was founded in 1880 for the grant of king George I and Yevstratov Rallis, actually comes from his first name – Royal theatre.

In 1881 at the street of St. Constantine began construction. The architect was a famous Greek architect Ernst Ziller, who created many of the famous structures of the city (the Presidential Palace, the Panathinaikos stadium, the national library, the national archaeological Museum and others). The construction lasted 20 years. In 1890 the Director of the theater became the Angelos Vlachos, and artistic Director Thomas Play (Greek stage actor, one of the first modern Greek Directors). In 1901, based on the theater was founded theatre school. In the same year, on 24 November, the theatre opened its doors for visitors. At the opening were presented two plays, "Death of Pericles" Dimitris Vergakis and "Own servants" Karalama of Anninos.

The theatre quickly gained popularity, his repertoire has expanded. One of the most famous performances was "Oresteia" of Aeschylus. In the process of setting broke the linguistic conflict. 8, 1903, a group of students led by Professor Yiorgos Matriotism took to the streets of St. Constantine in an attempt to stop the play. As a result of the clashes, one person died and over ten were injured. This day went down in the history of Greece under the name "Oresteia".

In 1908, the theatre fell into disrepair and was closed for an indefinite period, although were still touring. May 30, 1930 by Decree of the Greek Parliament with the assistance of the Minister of education and religion Georgios Papandreou founded the national theatre of Greece. In 1930-1931 was the reconstruction of the building. 19 March 1932 saw the official opening of the theatre. The first production was the "Agamemnon" of Aeschylus.

The theatre gradually expanded its activities. In 1939 he founded the national Opera as part of the theatre. In the same year, the repertoire included the works of Shakespeare "hamlet" and "Othello". Later organized a mobile team of the theatre for touring in the provinces. And in 1980, the year was the opening and the Children's theatre play by Maurice Maeterlinck "the Blue bird". In 2000, he was a Summer Academy theatre in Epirus.

In 2002, the national theatre of Greece acceded to the European Convention theaters.