The Department of Performing Arts consists of three programs: Theatre, Music and Dance and Performance Studies. Students can major, minor or core concentrate in any of the three programs.

The theatre program was founded by Professor William Grandgeorge, who has been a part of Roger Williams College and University since 1969. Before moving into the Performing Arts Center in 1986, the theatre program's performances were held in the Coffee House Theatre (now a classroom in the FCAS building).

The Theatre program offers four mainstage productions each academic year (two in the fall and two in the spring). A usual season features a musical, a classical play, a modern play and a contemporary play.

The program produces an annual Freshman Show. This is traditionally the first production of the year and the cast and crew are usually comprised of only freshmen and new students.

In the spring, the program also produces several Senior Projects. These are fully mounted productions. A senior acting project is directed by a faculty member. Senior directing projects are directed by seniors while senior design projects can be either a student or a faculty directed production.

The student organization, Stage Company, also produces once a semester. The offerings range from full-length plays, to one-act plays, to shorter plays, to a variety of performance types. All Stage Company productions are supervised by a member of the faculty.

Each academic year the program sponsors trips to see three or four professional productions by companies like Trinity Repertory, 2nd Story Theatre and American Repertory Theatre. After the performance we meet for food, drink and a discussion of the production led by a member of the faculty.

At the end of each academic year the program conducts mock auditions and interviews in which all theatre students participate. Actors present a professional audition while directors and designers offer conceptual plans for a hypothetical production (the faculty chooses a title prior to the interview). Students are then given constructive criticism by the theatre faculty.