Department of Performing Arts
COVID-19 Safety Protocols
We are excited to welcome you back to Panara Theatre for the live performances since the Fall of 2019! The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and patrons is our top priority. We appreciate your willingness to join us in keeping our community safe from COVID-19.
Department Overview
The NTID Department of Performing Arts was established in the fall of 1974, with the opening of the college's new permanent buildings, as an integral part of the curriculum following the success of the student drama club founded by Dr. Robert Panara in 1969.
Today, NTID Department of Performing Arts offers an array of theatre courses and produces several productions per season.
We are very proud of our students' accomplishments and our programs. Our success is demonstrated by the fact that, while we have no major in theatre, historically, the majority of Deaf theatre professionals have been NTID students or faculty. They have appeared, and continue to appear, in national and regional television commercials, network and cable television programs, major motion pictures and independent films, national and international theatre tours, Broadway, regional theatres, and international theatre festivals. Our programs and our students, faculty, staff and alumni have been honored with numerous awards from organizations ranging from theatres to government agencies to corporations and private foundations.
We also offer a professional traveling troupe, Sunshine 2.0, that provides performances and activities for deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adults that highlight the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM), as well as educational topics about the Deaf experience. For more information, visit their site.
In addition to all the accomplishments and programs described above, learn more about newly developing performing arts opportunities at RIT.
Productions and Auditions
Productions
Each season several productions are produced in the Panara Theatre and 1510 Lab Theatre. These productions are presented simultaneously by Deaf actors who sign the lines and hearing actors who speak the lines.
Every aspect of an NTID production is accessible to both Deaf and hearing people: back stage, onstage, or in the house.
Auditions
There are no current auditions.
Walkthrough and Facilities
Buy-A-Seat Program
Make a gift to Buy-A-Seat in the Robert F. Panara Theatre! This gift will make you a permanent supporter of the exciting performing arts program at NTID and a participant in some exciting renovations. We will mount a brass plaque with the inscription of your choice on your seat in the newly renovated theatre. It will be a permanent symbol of your generosity for thousands of theater goers to view each year. And, you will be helping to support the first major renovations to the Robert F. Panara Theatre in its thirty-year history.