NIDA acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we learn and tell stories, the Bidjigal, Gadigal, Dharawal and Dharug peoples, and we pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past and present.

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NIDA Parade Theatre – a space to create for 20 years

NIDA Parade Theatre

On 23 April 2022 NIDA’s Parade Theatre celebrated it’s 20-year anniversary since first opening in 2002. The 730-seat Parade Theatre was designed by architects Hassell and Peter Armstrong as part of a new extension including the Nancy Fairfax foyer.

At the time, architect Andrew Nimmo said of the innovative upgrade to the existing NIDA campus, “If ever there was a case for a dramatic, showy piece of architecture, it is probably the major extensions to NIDA.” As the public face of NIDA and housing it’s largest theatre (The Parade Theatre), he said it “…symbolises the prestige and confidence of an institution which claims some of world's most highly paid and internationally lauded theatre and film actors among its alumni.”

NIDA alumnus Mel Gibson (Acting, 1977), whose generous donation of almost $2 Million helped to fund the theatre, was the guest of honour at the opening in 2002. He humbly said of the large personal donation, “Hey, all I did was hand them a cheque." Gibson also told the crowd it did not feel like 25 years since studying at NIDA, and now 45 years since graduating, his contribution has not gone unnoticed.

The Parade Theatre provides an opportunity for current and future NIDA students to not only perform in a professional industry setting but for Technical Theatre, Design. Props and Scenic Construction students to create full-scale productions to showcase their talents to an audience of 700+ supporters.

Check out some productions staged in the Parade Theatre over the years!

Above: Next to Normal, 2020.

Above: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, 2018.

Above: The Olympians, 2016.

Above: Cloud 9, 2013.

Above: Sunday in the Park With George, 2012.

Above: Bodyline - Out of Reach, 2009.

Above: steppingstone, 2005.

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