ObjectivesThis exciting new MA in Theatre Studies will provide you with the methods and professional frameworks for understanding contemporary theatre. It will develop analytic and cultural perspectives on theatre practice of relevance to the creative industries in their global and national contexts. The programme builds upon the established reputation of the Department of Dance and Theatre Studies in providing high quality graduate education. In addition, students will benefit from an emerging partnership with the Guildford School of Acting. The programme provides opportunities for studies in embodiment, physical theatre training, non-Western and European theatre, and in connection with English and Film Studies, investigations of dramatic writing and documentation. The programme also offers an applied and professional focus and students will be given options to pursue specialist strands of research, including professional placements, archival research and international projects. The University's proximity to London also provides ideal opportunities for interaction with theatre in the city. This degree is aimed at any student wishing to extend their academic and professional understanding of theatre. In addition to recent graduate, it is also suitable for those who already have some experience in the field as practitioners, educators or policy-makers.
Entry requirementsTypical entry requirements Prospective students are normally required to hold a First or Second class honours degree at BA level or equivalent, preferably in theatre, English or related arts subjects.
Academic titleMA/PGDip in Theatre Studies
Course descriptionMA/PGDip in Theatre Studies Module overview
Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to change. The following list gives examples of the types of modules you may study on this programme.
Politicising Practice
This module examines the moving body and the institutional frameworks that both shape and are shaped by it. It considers the interplay of cultures, histories and politics in twenty-first-century performance production and practices, and seeks to develop a complex understanding of theoretical models that investigate the construction of the body.
Theatre Research: Methods and Documentation
This project-based module develops skills in theatre research methodologies including archival studies, performance analysis, audience research, crosscultural methods, historiography and practice as research. It will prepare students for applied, practical and theoretical research projects in the Dissertation
Culture, Power and Difference in the Performing Arts
This module examines a range of dance and theatre practices that have been represented as 'cultural' forms, situating their 'cultural' identity in relation to colonialism, nationalism, as well as in relation to their historical context.
Dramaturgy
This module investigates the recent histories and contexts of theatre and dance theatre in European societies and cultures. Aesthetic and literary developments and the powerful sense of innovation evident in the new relationships between text and performance in theatre of the late twentieth century will be examined. Key artists, forms of theatrical embodiment and aesthetic discourses will be investigated in relation to selected aspects of technological, social and cultural development in global theatre culture.
Professional Practice
This module allows students to participate in a mentoring and perr-observation scheme. The scheme gives the student the opportunity to work with another practitioner and the aim is to engage with skills, processes and ideas that the student can relate to his/her own field of work, but with the opportunity to discover and reflect upon how other industries and practitioners operate.
Programme length
12 months full-time, 24 or 36 months part-tim