Fire at the Theatre du Nouveau Monde in Montreal

Montreal firefighters have put out a blaze that erupted at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in the city's downtown area Thursday morning.

Officials say the fire was in a part of the building under renovation at the intersection of Sainte-Catherine Street Ouest and Saint-Urbain Street, in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles.

People were asked to avoid the area as the blaze emitted a lot of smoke. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

A security perimeter was set up, blocking off streets down towards René-Lévesque Boulevard, between Saint-Urbain and Jeanne-Mance streets.

SHOWS POSTPONED

The fire forced the theatre to postpone three performances of Robert Lepage's show, 'Les Sept branches de la rivière Ōta'.

The organization said it had to postpone Friday's performances as well as weekend shows. Ticket holders will be contacted with postponement dates.

The five other performances scheduled over the next two weeks, starting Aug. 26, have been maintained, the TNM said.

"The fire broke out quickly but it was brought under control quickly, so it was a lot of smoke that caused the damage and obviously the water. But we are quite lucky in our misfortune because the interior of the theater is not affected, nor the set of the 'Les Sept branches de la rivière Ōta', nor the costumes," said TNM artistic director Lorraine Pintal.

The Théâtre du Nouveau Monde has existed since 1951 in a structure that was built in 1912. Thick brick walls helped preserve the theatre, said Pintal.

"It's an old theatre. So, there was still a natural protection that was created between the fire and the interior of our theatre," she said. "So now we're in the big emergency cleanup."

Still, the fire threw another curveball at the theatre after dealing with closures in the past two years.

"I'm still a little bit in shock, I must say, and people are very emotional because we're starting our season after two years of pandemic... everything has been up and down," said Pintal. "So yes, it's a strange way to start the season. But we think we've got our fighting weapons, so we'll get through it."

- With files from CTV News Montreal's Matt Grillo and The Canadian Press