National School of Drama is one of the most renowned and elite theatre training institutes in the world. Established in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, National School of Drama was one of the constituent units of the Akademi. In the year of 1975, this school of drama achieved its present deemed university status and became fully autonomous under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860. Presently, Ministry of Culture, Government of India fully finances this institute. The only one of its kind in India, National School of Drama teaches the art of theatre in a very intensive manner and through an extremely detailed, thorough and properly planned syllabus. The syllabus has been influenced by the ways and methods used by the great contemporary theatre artists for the effective education of the students so that they can produce and perform plays in front of the public.
The school offers a 3 year full time Diploma course and also organizes workshops in the field of children’s theatre. National School of Drama has two performance wings namely ‘The Repertory Company’ and ‘Theatre-in-Education Company’. ‘The Repertory Company’ provides a platform to the students of the school to showcase their talents through the performance of plays professionally. On the other hand, ‘Theatre-in-education Company’ mainly lays stress on children’s theatre.