[5] The Theatre Institute's programs were piloted in 1975 at Lake Avenue Elementary School in Saratoga Springs, New York and at the Empire State Plaza MeetingRoom 6.
[6] NYSTI's mission was fourfold: 1) to produce professional theatre of the highest artistic standards for family and school audiences; 2) to use those productions to provide provocative and innovative arts in education programs; 3) to exchange theatre, culture, and humanity with the people and artists of other nations; and 4) to develop new plays and musicals for family audiences.
[citation needed] Performers, technicians, staff, and guest artists used theatre to motivate school students to find new interest in their daily subjects.
[citation needed] Internships provided school-to-work transition experience for high-school seniors as well as college undergraduate and graduate students from schools in New York and other states, as well as from other countries.
NYSTI also represented its state and nation in cultural exchanges with Canada, England, France, Israel, Italy, Sweden and Jordan, including a month-long performance run in London's West End.
NYSTI hosted more than thirty foreign artists or companies from such places as Russia, Israel, Jordan, Sweden, Scotland, Hungary, England, France, Canada, and Japan.
[1] The New York and East Coast premiere of Jeffrey Sweet's “American Enterprise,” was nominated by the Outer Critics Circle for its 1994 John Gassner Playwriting Award and chosen for special citation in The Best Plays of 1993–1994.
Two titles won Audie Awards from the Audio Publishers Association (“The Killings Tale,” “Sherlock’s Secret Life”[8] and another six were named Audie Award Silver Finalists (“Hollowville,” “Sherlock’s Legacy,” “King of Shadows,” “Heart of Troy,” “Zoe Caldwell reads Oscar Wilde Fairy Tales,” “A Little Princess”).
The investigation went on for over a year and led to a report by the New York State Inspector's Office, issued in April 2010, alleging corruption, mismanagement, nepotism and possibly illegal conduct at the theatre.