[1] The centre has an extensive library, an archive and collections from the Institut del Teatre, which specializes in theatre, dance, opera, zarzuela, music hall, magic and circus performances.

A permanent exhibition space was inaugurated in 1936 at the Casa de la Misericòrdia in Career Elisabets in Barcelona, which remained its home until 1945 (when it moved with the library to the Palau Guell).

The museum and library expanded their collections, adding thousands of documentary pieces, unpublished manuscripts, theatrical sketches, photographs, posters, programmes and costumes.

[5] During the late 1990s renovations began on the Palau Guell, and the MAE moved to a temporary venue in Career Almogàvers (in the Poblenou district) while the Institut del Teatre's permanent home was being built in Montjuïc, Barcelona.

[6][7] In March 2011, the Barcelona City Council agreed to transfer the Casa de la Premsa building, designed by the architect Pere Domenech i Roura and built for the 1929 International Exposition, to provide permanent exhibition space for the museum.