Masters Degrees (Dramaturgy)

A unique programme for dramaturgs and playwrights - http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-dramaturgy-writing-performance/

This highly successful programme offers specialist pathways in Playwriting and Dramaturgy. We concentrate on the process of writing for live performance, together with an ongoing evaluation of the work in process. Through practice and reflection, we enable you to establish a distinctive, individual approach as both a writer and dramaturge. Projects include site-specific work, writing for a specific audience, verbatim theatre and interdisciplinary collaboration.

We support the development of texts for performance, alongside intellectual understanding of the diverse forms and contexts in which live performance can be made and the writer/dramaturge’s role in this. We examine texts from a wide range of periods and cultures. We engage with work that is innovative, or which challenges established notions of practice.

Opportunities to collaborate

Dramaturgs and playwrights study side by side, and examine creative and dramaturgical issues from various perspectives as writers, spectators and creative collaborators. There are opportunities to collaborate on an Interdisciplinary Project with MA Performance Makers and composers from the Department of Music. Final project texts, performed and directed by industry professionals, are presented at the Soho Theatre in London, attended by key industry representatives. Graduates are highly successful in obtaining commissions, dramaturgy posts and artistic directorships. Recent successes include:

Tena Štivičić (Three Winters National Theatre 2015)
Finn Kennedy (Artistic Director, Tamasha Theatre Company 2015)
Melissa Bubnic (Beached at Soho Theatre 2015)
All students receive Professional Orientation and support towards career development.

Why study in London?

London continues to be a major world centre for a staggering range of arts activity. It is world-leading in new writing and contemporary performance. We have strong links with a large number of London-based practitioners, international networks and organisations, individuals and venues in the field of new performance writing.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Fiona Graham.

Modules & Structure

Autumn term

All students take the Writing Projects module: you will work on three diverse, short playwriting projects. Each addresses particular generic issues that relate to writing for live performance, and you will engage with the specific challenges and demands of differing circumstances of text development and production. These will vary from year to year, but they are likely to be selected from the following:

-Theatre as Event – site-specific performance
-Authenticity and Live Performance – verbatim theatre
-Writing for Specific Audiences – children’s/young person’s theatre project
-Creative Collaboration – multimedia collaboration with MA Performance Making and Studio Composition students from the Department of Music

You will also take the Dramaturgy module, which has two main elements: analysis of dramatic text (these will include classics and modern classics, as well as new plays); and analysis of live performance seen by the group (including some visual, environmental or non-text-based work). During the module you will assemble a portfolio of critical analyses and creative writing projects for assessment.

You will also take one contextual module alongside students from other Masters programmes, to be selected from a list of options that will vary from session to session.

Spring term

You will develop your work on Dramaturgy with the term-long practical workshop module Creative Intervention in Text. This will examine: translation; adaptation of work from other media for live performance; and the re-writing and/or adaptation of extant plays; planning and curating seasons of performance work. You will assemble a portfolio of creative projects for assessment.

You also start work on your Final Project the personal Dissertation-equivalent project that will be the core of your work for the next six months). You also take another option from the list of contextual modules shared with students from other Masters programmes.

Summer term

You will present the second draft of your project for another phase of tutorials and group workshops.

Playwriting projects will then be prepared for some form of public rehearsed reading or scratch performance, in extract form – with the writers involved in all aspects of the work.

Dramaturgy projects will be given practical support of an appropriate, equivalent kind. You will further develop your work, with tutorials and workshops and public presentation of work as appropriate, before writing and submitting the finished project.

Assessment

We deploy a range of assessment approaches, each appropriate to the module taken. Students taking Writing Projects will submit three short playtexts for assessment. Dramaturgy is assessed by a portfolio of analytic reviews, and Creative Intervention in Text by a series of short creative writing projects and writing exercises. Each of the contextual option modules is assessed by essay. Final Project leads to the production of a playtext (Playwriting), or a Dissertation or equivalent practical project (Dramaturgy).

Skills

Playwriting specialists will become skilled in:

the use of a range of techniques for the development and structuring of original material for live performance
working to a brief in diverse professional circumstances
evolving an individual creative vision

Dramaturgy specialists will become:

familiar with a diverse range of techniques for generating and developing new work
skilled in analysis of dramatic text and live performance
skilled in formulating a distinctive contribution to policy and practice in one or more fields of new writing

Careers

Numerous playwrights completing this programme receive high-level professional development opportunities, commissions, awards and full-scale productions of their work at major new writing centres in the UK, USA and in continental Europe.

Recent playwriting alumni include:

-Ben Musgrave, whose Pretend You Have Big Buildings won the Bruntwood Prize (2006) and received a main house production at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
-Allia V Oswald, whose Dirty Water won the Alfred Fagon Award (2007) and was given a rehearsed reading at the Royal Court Theatre
-Adam Brace, whose play Stovepipe was a High Tide Festival winner (2008), and was staged recently by the National Theatre and published by Faber.

Dramaturgy alumni include:

-David Lane, who now has an extremely busy career as a freelance dramaturg, teacher and playwright
-Francesca Malfrin, who is currently developing translation projects of Italian plays with a range of agencies, including the National Theatre Studio.

Read less

The Masters in Playwriting & Dramaturgy gives you a practical and theoretical engagement with the many forms of writing and production for theatre. The programme is designed for those wishing to develop playwriting skills and knowledge of script development and support, opening the way to many theatre roles, including dramaturgy.

Why this programme

◾Theatre Studies at Glasgow is one of the longest-established theatre programmes in the UK. Our internationally renowned reputation for research, practice and teaching ensures an ideal environment for the pursuit of Masters study.
◾A significant part of the programme is delivered by professional writers and dramaturges, ensuring you engage with a wide variety of practices and that the programme content is relevant and up to date with the latest trends in theatre.
◾The programme includes the opportunity for playwrights to develop a major script, through workshops and staged readings with actors and directors.
◾In addition to masterclasses and workshops with external specialists, the work placement or internship builds on our long-term links and collaborations with an extensive number of theatre practitioners and arts organisations, including the National Theatre of Scotland, the Playwrights’ Studio, the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), The Tron and the Citizens’ Theatre.
◾The city of Glasgow provides an unbeatable location for the programme. Glasgow is home to a huge variety of theatres and nationally significant theatre organisations that produce and show a range from the experimental and risky to the traditional and repertory, from canonical and new writing to devised and physical performance.

Programme structure

Our programme is the only one in Scotland that combines playwriting with dramaturgy. You will undertake core practical playwriting courses and core dramaturgy courses before choosing to specialise in one pathway.

A significant part of the programme is delivered by professional writers and dramaturges. This programme also includes the opportunity for playwrights to develop a major script, through workshops and staged readings with actors and directors.

Core teaching is delivered in two semesters, followed by an independent desk- or practice-based project.

Our core courses introduce you to the foundations of both playwriting as a craft, and dramaturgy as a historical and contemporary practice.

In addition, core courses develop other skills useful to the role of the dramaturg and the practitioner, including critical reading, writing and reflection, independent research skills (such as archival and audience research), and presentation skills.

These courses will also prepare you to pursue doctoral study in the future.

Courses include
◾Playwriting
◾Dramaturgy: Histories and Practices
◾Reading and Interpreting Performance
◾Dramaturgical Work Placement
◾Research Methods
◾Independent Research Project.

Career prospects

The design of the Playwriting & Dramaturgy programme is intended to develop both the practical and critical skills of students. There is both subject-specific development (including knowledge of playwriting as a craft and dramaturgy as a role, working knowledge of the playwriting process, in-depth knowledge of plays and processes of textual and production analyses) alongside more generic skills development (including presentation skills – written and oral, a capacity for critical reflection, project management, team work, and independent research skills).

Theatre studentsThe role of the dramaturg is becoming increasingly recognised within the theatre industries, as is the capacity of playwrights to apply their skills and knowledge to other tasks (including, for example, providing script development support for emerging writers). This programme aims to equip playwrights and potential dramaturges with knowledge of other writing roles in theatre.

The critical components of this programme also provide a good foundation for students wishing to progress to doctoral study.

Graduates of this programme have gone on to become commissioned playwrights, production dramaturges, theatre critics, literary advisors, doctoral students, theatre makers and academics.

Read less

ABOUT MA THEATRE CRITICISM AND DRAMATURGY

The cultural hub of London is the venue for MA Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy. The programme balances theoretical study of theatre and performance with the development of diverse skills in dramaturgy and criticism. Graduates can apply this in academia and throughout the creative industries.

Engaging with theatre and performance practice of the past and the present, and attuned to the economy and ecology of the landscapes in which it takes place, students on this course embrace Central’s unique status as a conservatoire and a University of London college, a vibrant setting fostering the international theatre practice and scholarship of the future.

Students engage with how the city itself performs, and examine questions around tourism and experiences of living, working, and moving in the metropolis. MA Theatre Studies (Performance and the City) considers how theatre shapes and is shaped by the metropolis, taking students into the city and behind the scenes in the institutions that give it its character and potency. Study is grounded in engagement with buildings, events, organisations and practices. As such, the course is excellent preparation for work in various roles in the theatre sector; a critical approach is maintained throughout, and students develop academic and scholarly abilities.

UNITS STUDIED

Students on this programme take six units followed by a final independent unit. Each unit is self-contained, focusing on a specific aspect of theatre and performance.

Units may include:

Reviewing Performance
Shakespeare in London
Archiving Practices, Practising Archives
Critical Contexts
Performing Research
Cultural Landscapes.

ASSESSMENT

Students produce critical work and outputs relevant to theatre sector contexts, including visual presentations, conference papers, essays, reports and reviews. In some cases students are assessed on small-group projects.

The SIP may take the form of a dissertation or a portfolio, depending on the subject matter and the student’s focus.

Read less

This Master's programme focuses on contemporary theatre and dance studies and dramaturgy, from an intermedial, interdisciplinary, intercultural and international perspective.

Fully taught in English, the Master's in Theatre Studies takes an academic approach to theatre and dance while also keeping close track of contemporary practices. We incorporate these practices into the programme to explore them, pose questions, and surprise ourselves: why this, why here, why now, and for what purpose?

Our research focus areas include: dance, embodiment, and corporeal literacy;
theory and practice of dramaturgy; community arts and participatory and political performance; impact of technology on contemporary performance practice and emerging intermedial vocabularies; relationships between the performing arts and visual culture.

Read less

This taught MA programme offers a unique opportunity to study the multi-faceted nature of contemporary European theatre. It is associated with the European Theatre Research Network (ETRN), the renowned Kent-based research centre dedicated to the study of non-English continental European theatre.

There is also an option to study a term of this programme in Paris.

The notion of ‘dramaturgy’, this unique concept and practice characteristic of European theatre work, serves as our central lens from which we explore creative practices and processes in contemporary European theatre, theatre systems, performance aesthetics, and their histories. You become familiar with current conceptual and theoretical paradigms of European theatre, from mise en scène to the postdramatic theatre and the links of European theatre with European philosophy from Plato to Alain Badiou. You also receive a thorough grounding in research methodologies.

You have the opportunity to work alongside the ETRN’s leading researchers, such as Patrice Pavis, Hans-Thies Lehmann, Paul Allain, Peter M. Boenisch, and others, and to hear about their current, ongoing research. We make full use of Canterbury’s geographical location between London and the Continent, offering theatre visits and excursions, and also making use of the University’s campuses in Paris and Brussels.

About the Department of Drama and Theatre

Postgraduate Drama and Theatre studies at Kent has a very strong reputation for research and supervision in contemporary theatre and performance. We are the home of two renowned international research centres, the European Theatre Research Network (ETRN) and the Centre for Cognition, Kinesthetics and Performance (CKP).

The wide-ranging interests of our international team of leading and emerging researchers (from the UK, Australia, Italy, Greece, Germany, France and other countries) include research strengths in contemporary performance, applied theatre, Shakespeare, 18th-century theatre, multimedia performance, popular performance, directing and dramaturgy, and physical performer training.

Our distinctive focus at Kent is on theatre as practice, whatever the topic, area, mode and methodology of research, and we encourage postgraduate students to make use of our close links and contacts with local, national and international (especially European) theatre companies, venues, schools and artists, both for research and to encourage professional postgraduate development.

Course structure

The programme consists of four modules and a dissertation project.

You are stimulated to develop further your own individual interest and expertise. It is ideal for students intending to develop a larger postgraduate research project towards future PhD studies in this area. Further optional modules allow specialisation in areas such as creative producing, production dramaturgy, and theatre criticism, but also in interdisciplinary fields such as continental theory and philosophy, political activism, and law and humanities.

You can also learn or improve your skills in a foreign European language as part of the course. There is also an option to spend a semester at our partner programme at Ghent University.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.

Possible modules may include:

- European Theatre & Dramaturgy (core)

- Thinking Theatre: Theories and Aesthetics of Performance (core option)

- Mise en Scène: Aesthetics and Dramaturgies of European Theatre (core option)

- Options: Creative Producing and Dramaturgy, Theatre Criticism, Dramaturgy Casebook

- Interdisciplinary Options: Theories of Art in Modern French Thought; Psychoanalysis and Literature; Law & Humanities; Resistance and Politics; Postcolonial Cultures, and others.

DR995 - Dissertation Project:(MA-T) (60 credits)

Assessment

Assessment is through a variety of written work and verbal presentations. This includes academic essays, in-class research presentations, contributions to workshops, portfolios of critical writing, and performance analysis. It also includes an assessed project proposal towards a prospective PhD project which could be your starting point for applying for doctorate scholarship.

The final dissertation requires you to research an individual project in depth, and to present its findings in writing and in a conference-style presentation.

This programme is also available at split site between Canterbury and Paris.
https://www.kent.ac.uk/paris/programmes/european-theatre.html


Find out how to apply here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/

Read less

This taught MA programme offers a unique opportunity to study the multi-faceted nature of contemporary European theatre. It is associated with the European Theatre Research Network (ETRN), the renowned Kent-based research centre dedicated to the study of non-English continental European theatre.

On this programme you will study one term in Canterbury and another term in Paris.

The notion of ‘dramaturgy’, this unique concept and practice characteristic of European theatre work, serves as our central lens from which we explore creative practices and processes in contemporary European theatre, theatre systems, performance aesthetics, and their histories. You become familiar with current conceptual and theoretical paradigms of European theatre, from mise en scène to the postdramatic theatre and the links of European theatre with European philosophy from Plato to Alain Badiou. You also receive a thorough grounding in research methodologies.

You have the opportunity to work alongside the ETRN’s leading researchers, such as Patrice Pavis, Hans-Thies Lehmann, Paul Allain, Peter M Boenisch, and others, and to hear about their current, ongoing research. We make full use of Canterbury’s geographical location between London and the Continent, offering theatre visits and excursions, and also making use of the University’s campuses in Paris and Brussels.

This programme enables you to study in Canterbury in the autumn term and in Paris in the spring term. The modules in Paris are designed to be specifically relevant to the experience of living and studying in Paris. These are taught by staff from the University of Kent and occasional guest lecturers, ensuring consistent academic standards and assessment throughout the year. You are encouraged to make full use of Paris’ cultural resources, especially of the vibrant theatre scene, and to integrate these into your studies. University of Kent staff are resident in Paris during the spring term to ensure year-long continuity of academic guidance and pastoral support.

Possible modules may include:

European Theatre and Dramaturgy (compulsory)
Mise en Scène: Aesthetics and Dramaturgies of European Theatre (Paris compulsory)
Theatre Practises: Paris Casebook (option)
Other options include: Creative Producing and Dramaturgy, Theatre Criticism, Theories of Art in Modern French thought, a language module, and modules from the University of Kent at Paris programme.
Teaching and Assessment
Assessment is through a variety of written work and verbal presentations. This includes academic essays, in-class research presentations, contributions to workshops, portfolios of critical writing, and performance analysis. It also includes an assessed project proposal towards a prospective PhD project which could be your starting point for applying for doctorate scholarship.

The final dissertation requires you to research an individual project in depth, and to present its findings in writing and in a conference-style presentation.

This programme is also available at Canterbury only or full-time at Paris.
https://www.kent.ac.uk/arts/study/postgraduate.html

Read less

In considering a masters in playwriting within the Drama Division there are several principals that apply. The first is that writing - the writing of dramatic work - is an essential component of each year, with the understanding that in attempting to grasp the playwriting form, writing itself will be the most instructive element. This program also encourages a thorough knowledge of dramaturgy - the study of both plays as they exist as written text, as well as plays as they exist in production and performance. Therefore, each year there is a required element of analysis and dramaturgy. Students will be required to act as the dramaturge of one of the Division's Mainstage presentations, as well as observe and research dramaturgy in action at one of the professional new works studios in the area.

The first year would require students to take classes in Methods in Theatre Research, Advanced Script Analysis and Selected Problems in Playwriting. The culmination of the first year would result in a selected project of a one act play. As part of this project, playwriting students would be required to partner with the student directors, and consult with this director as the play was directed and produced. In year two work is expected to continue through the summer so that each graduate student will return in the fall with a detailed scenario of their full length project, which will become their Thesis project along with a submission of a written research paper.

Prospective Students

Drama’s 10 permanent faculty members have a diversity of research interests and practices, maintaining profiles in both the professional and scholarly theatre communities. MFA students can select to study in one of four specializations: Directing, Design/Technical, Theatre Studies and Playwriting. Each program offers a great deal of flexibility, exciting opportunities and contact with faculty members. Drama maintains a full production schedule through the skilled technical and teaching contributions of 5 full-time professional staff. Facilities include 3 theatre spaces, full costume, properties and scene shops and the Integrated Arts Media Lab. All MFA students have office space in the School and access to computer facilities.

Read less

Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Creative Writing at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).

The MA in Creative Writing is a unique programme that offers integrated training in the writing of literary and media text. The MA in Creative Writing is taught by prize-winning writers of fiction, poetry and drama who provide core training and individual pathways in the major genres of contemporary literary and media writing. Modules on the Creative Writing programme are taught through workshop sessions, group work and one-to-one mentoring between students and a tutor. Courses include the writing of prose fiction, poetry, drama, screenwriting and creative nonfiction. Writers and representatives from the arts world and the publishing industry are invited to address the MA Creative Writing group about creative work and publishing. We have strong links with Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Centre, which offers a lively programme of events throughout the year.

Key Features of the MA in Creative Writing

- The MA in Creative Writing is taught by experienced writers and offers a wide range of writing genres including fiction, short story, poetry, drama, screenwriting and creative non-fiction.

- Drama writing is a particular strength, including the relatively new and unexplored field of Dramaturgy.

- Regular play readings and students' dramatic writing is often performed by professional actors in the Rough Diamonds mini-festival in the summer.

- Creative Writers have a close relationship with National Theatre Wales and also open-mic poetry events at local venues such as the Dylan Thomas Centre and Howl.

- There is scope for work experience with local publishers.

- The writing programme has an online journal, The Swansea Review, and students write for The Siren, a student-run online journal, and The Waterfront student newspaper.

- Creative Writing students have free membership of Literature Wales, the national literature promotion agency.

- Students are involved in the annual Writers’ Day at the Dylan Thomas Centre, where they meet editors, agents, publishers and writers to discuss the ins and outs of publication and the craft of writing.

- Students are part of a vibrant community of writers and artists – Swansea, the birthplace of Dylan Thomas, having a fair claim to being Wales’s city of culture.

- The programme has connection with and experience of the unique literary culture of Wales, home to possibly the oldest (but still vibrant) bardic tradition in Europe.

Modules

Modules on the MA in Creative Writing typically include:

• Writing Fiction

• Writing Poetry

• Genre: Writing for Stage

• Creative Non-Fiction and Travel Writing

• Nature Writing

• Screenwriting

• Writing Radio Drama

• The Art of Short Story

• Writing the Self

• International Dramaturgy

Who should Apply?

Students or Professionals interested in Creative and Professional Writing. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD.

MA in Creative Writing Aims

- To offer students the chance to belong to a warmly supportive community of writers, passionate about their art.

- To give students the opportunity to discuss literary matters with agents, editors and publishers.

- To provide active participation in Swansea’s burgeoning literary scene and have students’ dramatic writing performed by professional actors at the Dylan Thomas Literature Centre.

- To offer research seminars presented by eminent creative writers and academics.

- To develop study and research skills in Creative Writing research and practice methodologies.

Career Prospects

Career expectations are excellent for Creative Writing graduates. MA degree holders enter careers in professional and creative writing, publishing, education, global marketing and advertising, media, business, heritage and tourism, and performing arts. Some graduates go on to pursue further postgraduate study leading to a PhD and a career in Academia.

Student Quote

"Since graduating with an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing from Swansea University, I have published three collections of poetry, founded Grievous Jones Press, and begun lecturing in Creative Writing. In the near future I will finish my PhD in Creative Writing and have books forthcoming with Blackheath Books and Seren Books. The training, experience, and rigour of the Swansea MA in Creative Writing was invaluable for launching my career as a writer and publisher. Without the inspiration, guidance, and critique of the excellent faculty and peers, my own writing would not have grown and my flame for creation might have faltered."

David Oprava, Creative Writing, MA

Read less

This Masters programme engages with a range of theatre and performance practices, explored in a critically informed context. The programme encompasses practices such as contemporary devising and production dramaturgy, writing for performance, site-specific and locational performance, autobiographical performance, physical theatre(s) and socially/politically engaged practice. You will be encouraged to develop a reflective, rigorous and critically informed approach to theatre practice, with the intention of enriching and enhancing your creative work and furthering your career as a theatre/performance practitioner. You will be taught by leading academics as well as external professional practitioners.

Why this programme

◾The programme is delivered in collaboration with curators/programmers and theatre artists active in Glasgow's theatre/performance scene and beyond
◾A significant part of the programme is delivered by professional practitioners, ensuring the programme content is relevant and up to date with the latest trends in theatre.
◾Our facilities include a studio theatre and large flexible-seat theatre seating over 200 spectators.
◾The city of Glasgow provides an unbeatable location for the programme. Glasgow is home to a huge variety of theatres that produce and show a range from the experimental and risky, to the traditional and repertory, from canonical and new writing, to devised and physical performance. World-leading venues include the Citizens’ Theatre, Tramway, Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) and the Glue Factory.
◾Glasgow is the base for a number of nationally significant theatre organisations, including the National Theatre of Scotland, the Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, Ankur Arts, Vanishing Point and Theatre Cryptic.

Programme structure

The programme is designed to give you a practical and critical engagement with many forms of theatre and performance practice.

You will take core courses and create a portfolio of optional courses according to your personal interests and perceived needs. You can also select some courses from across the College of Arts, enabling an interdisciplinary approach.

The programme concludes with an independent research project. This provides you with a degree of flexibility in relation to the focus of your advanced study. It permits further applied practice or the opportunity to undertake an in-depth written study on an area of your choice.

Courses include
◾Research Methods
◾Contemporary Devising Practices
◾Independent Practice
◾Debating Dramaturgy
◾Work Placement
◾Independent Research Project

Career prospects

This programme is ideal for practitioners who want to develop their practice; graduates who are planning a career in theatre making; and those who want to look more in depth into aspects of theatre practice they have enjoyed and benefitted from through undergraduate studies. The programme also provides an excellent foundation for PhD studies and an academic career.

Read less

This course is designed to equip students of exceptional talent with the skills necessary to pursue a career in theatre and related industries through the development of skills, professional practices and creative approaches to writing for performance.

It encourages a self-reflexive approach to learning with a view to developing independent thinking practitioners of theatre. Through a series of skills-based writing workshops and tutorials with professional playwrights, directors and a dramaturge the individual voice of the student writer will be nurtured and developed. Classes in dramaturgy and contemporary theatre practice will supplement the training. The course will culminate in the writing of a performance for the student’s chosen medium that will benefit from staged readings, rehearsals, staging or recording.

Students on the course will work in a dedicated space for writers in The Lir building. In addition to the core classes and workshops, individual tuition from The Lir’s dramaturge will be a key feature of the training. In addition, master classes by visiting practitioners will supplement the student experience. Students can opt to take this course either part-time (24 months) or full-time (12 months).

Master in Fine Art Playwriting

Full-time and part-time students will take three concurrent modules in the first two semesters. The fourth module will be taught in the third semester and subsequent summer months (for full-time students) or in the second year of the course (for part-time students). The fourth module will be supplemented by an ongoing series of masterclasses from professional writers and script editors.

Contemporary Theatre Practice

This module will introduce students to a range of contemporary theatre practices as evidenced in the theatres of Dublin. The principal aim of the course is to enable students to become conversant in the styles, forms, theories and practices that constitute contemporary theatre making in Ireland. In addition, students will be introduced to a range of dramatic production in related media (radio, television and film) whose styles and forms will be analysed in this module. The Contemporary Theatre Practice module is shared by all Master in Fine Art students (directors, designers and playwrights).

Dramaturgy

This module will be taught by a professional dramaturge. Its aim is to introduce students to a range of dramatic texts for the theatre or related media with an emphasis on the dramaturgical composition of those texts. An understanding of the contexts within which those dramaturgical strategies were produced will also be fostered. This seminar-based module requires students to examine key problems related to the creation and structure of scripts for performance. Students will consider a variety of theories regarding dramatic structure, consider the research requirements of script creation, explore different approaches to script development and learn to apply a dramaturgical vocabulary to a number of case studies.

Writing Workshop

The overall aim of the module is to prepare students for the writing of a play for performance in Module 4. Students will share their creative writing in a workshop format, and will receive both group feedback and individual tuition in the development of their craft. The module includes: creative workshops; developing an awareness of the professional writing context; developing an explicit, personal aesthetic; and offers the possibilities for writing in numerous professional contexts (theatre, education, community), and for various media (theatre and recorded media). This module also outlines career development and group or self critique; it introduces research skills, rehearsal etiquette and re-drafting.

Play

This module will be taught through individual supervision of the writing of a student’s full-length play (of between 45 and 90 minutes performing time). The play will be submitted for examination along with a reflective journal of the student’s practice. The development of the script will be aided by the involvement of professional actors and directors in the redrafting process. The module will culminate in a rehearsed reading of a selection of students’ work in a semi-staged showcase to an invited audience of theatre professionals. This showcase, which does not form part of the assessment, is designed to bridge the gap between training and the theatre and related industries.

Read less

Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Creative Writing (Extended) at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).

The MA in Creative Writing is a unique programme that offers integrated training in the writing of literary and media text. The MA in Creative Writing is taught by prize-winning writers of fiction, poetry and drama who provide core training and individual pathways in the major genres of contemporary literary and media writing. Modules on the Creative Writing programme are taught through workshop sessions, group work and one-to-one mentoring between students and a tutor. Courses include the writing of prose fiction, poetry, drama, screenwriting and creative nonfiction. Writers and representatives from the arts world and the publishing industry are invited to address the MA Creative Writing group about creative work and publishing. We have strong links with Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Centre, which offers a lively programme of events throughout the year.

The Extended MA (EMA) in Creative Writing is a 240-credit postgraduate qualification that is equivalent to 120 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) and is thus a recognised Masters qualification throughout the European Union. The EMA is a standard UK MA plus an additional 60 credits (30 ECTS) and this additional coursework is undertaken in one semester at a partner institution overseas. The EMA is therefore not only an EU recognised postgraduate qualification it also adds a study abroad experience thus enhancing the qualification’s employability credentials.

Key Features of the MA in Creative Writing

- The MA in Creative Writing is taught by experienced writers and offers a wide range of writing genres including fiction, short story, poetry, drama, screenwriting and creative non-fiction.

- Drama writing is a particular strength, including the relatively new and unexplored field of Dramaturgy.

- Regular play readings and students' dramatic writing is often performed by professional actors in the Rough Diamonds mini-festival in the summer.

- Creative Writers have a close relationship with National Theatre Wales and also open-mic poetry events at local venues such as the Dylan Thomas Centre and Howl.

- There is scope for work experience with local publishers.

- The writing programme has an online journal, The Swansea Review, and students write for The Siren, a student-run online journal, and The Waterfront student newspaper.

- Creative Writing students have free membership of Literature Wales, the national literature promotion agency.

- Students are involved in the annual Writers’ Day at the Dylan Thomas Centre, where they meet editors, agents, publishers and writers to discuss the ins and outs of publication and the craft of writing.

- Students are part of a vibrant community of writers and artists – Swansea, the birthplace of Dylan Thomas, having a fair claim to being Wales’s city of culture.

- The programme has connection with and experience of the unique literary culture of Wales, home to possibly the oldest (but still vibrant) bardic tradition in Europe.

Modules

Modules on the MA in Creative Writing typically include:

• Writing Fiction

• Writing Poetry

• Genre: Writing for Stage

• Creative Non-Fiction and Travel Writing

• Nature Writing

• Screenwriting

• Writing Radio Drama

• The Art of Short Story

• Writing the Self

• International Dramaturgy

Who should Apply?

Students or Professionals interested in Creative and Professional Writing. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD.

MA in Creative Writing Aims

- To offer students the chance to belong to a warmly supportive community of writers, passionate about their art.

- To give students the opportunity to discuss literary matters with agents, editors and publishers.

- To provide active participation in Swansea’s burgeoning literary scene and have students’ dramatic writing performed by professional actors at the Dylan Thomas Literature Centre.

- To offer research seminars presented by eminent creative writers and academics.

- To develop study and research skills in Creative Writing research and practice methodologies.

Career Prospects

Career expectations are excellent for Creative Writing graduates. MA degree holders enter careers in professional and creative writing, publishing, education, global marketing and advertising, media, business, heritage and tourism, and performing arts. Some graduates go on to pursue further postgraduate study leading to a PhD and a career in Academia.

Student Quote

"Since graduating with an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing from Swansea University, I have published three collections of poetry, founded Grievous Jones Press, and begun lecturing in Creative Writing. In the near future I will finish my PhD in Creative Writing and have books forthcoming with Blackheath Books and Seren Books. The training, experience, and rigour of the Swansea MA in Creative Writing was invaluable for launching my career as a writer and publisher. Without the inspiration, guidance, and critique of the excellent faculty and peers, my own writing would not have grown and my flame for creation might have faltered."

David Oprava, Creative Writing, MA

Read less

*New for 2017, subject to final approval.

The MA in Sound Design is a forward thinking course, which invites you to explore the creative use of sound within film and other visual media at an advanced level. The course focuses on the more creative aspects of sound design and post-production while providing you with the necessary technical skills.

You’ll develop your work within your areas of interest without stylistic boundaries. The content areas include:

• Sound editing (production audio, dialogue/ADR, SFX, music)

• The language and aesthetics of sound design (narrative, dramaturgy)

• Foley

• Field recording

• Sound sculpting and processing

• Working with directors

• Post-production workflows

• Dubbing

• Surround sound

• VR audio

• Industry deliverables

COURSE STRUCTURE

The course delivers a mixture of advanced technical skills related to sound design and audio post production for film and other visual media. It also provides creatively-oriented insights into contemporary sound design practice and encourages students to push the boundaries of the field. Subject areas include:

• Sound sculpting, processing and synthesis

• The language and aesthetics of sound design

• Storytelling and dramaturgy

MA Sound Design is part of a suite of postgraduate courses available across music and sound, operating alongside ‘sister’ pathways in Sound Production and Sound Arts, which allow further specialism in these areas.

For more information on the course structure, please go to: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-sound-design/

MODULES

In trimester one, you'll gain the skills you’ll need to fulfil the rest of the course. The Skills Portfolio module is built on the idea that you’ll already have technical skills in this area. It therefore allows you to choose a handful of skills projects from a large number of options – these cover skills right across the Sound Arts, Sound Design and Sound Production pathways and include (optional) elements of multimedia.

The Research Methodology and Context module develops skills in postgraduate-level research and writing.

In trimester two, the core module is the Sound Design Practice module. It explores the creative and practical application of Sound Design within a visual narrative and storytelling context.

Alongside this core module, you’ll be offered a wide range of options. The Post Production module explores an industry-level workflow for Audio Post within film and visual media and covers a wide range of associated skillsets. Intertextuality in Sound Production, from the Sound Production pathway, explores the overlap between Urban Music production and what are considered more experimental genres. The Visual Music module, from the Sound Arts pathway, explores the idea that musical thinking can be extended to the visual, and encourages students to develop multimedia projects that explore this idea.

There are also choices in Composition, Performance, Musicology and Professional Practice.

In trimester three, you'll complete the course with a independent research project, compromising of a large-scale practical project, supported by a reflective account.

For more information on modules please visit the course webpage: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-sound-design/

TEACHING METHODS

The delivery of the course involves a mixture of teaching and learning activities, including lectures, workshops, seminars, online study materials and guest speaker sessions.

The workshop / seminar sessions will include ongoing peer review and tutor support opportunities. Some parts of the course are delivered using a ‘flipped classroom’ model, where students independently work through online study materials and tasks, which are followed up by practical support workshops.

ASSESSMENT

The assessment is majorly based around practical coursework, with the aim to build an extensive portfolio of sound design and post production work. Practical coursework is typically supported by a written commentary or evaluation. The Research Methodology and Context module is assessed through a more substantial written paper.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

You can use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills. This will equip you for the current employment landscape, where a combination of traditional audio post production roles are required alongside broader practice in sound, music and other media.

Our graduates have range of successful careers in production, composition, music for film and TV, sound design for moving image and games, sound art, software development, engineering, further education, higher education and research.

Read less

This unique MA will enhance your critical understanding of the musical theatre as a popular entertainment genre- http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-musical-theatre/

It will help you to sharpen your practical skills as a creative artist. On a practical level, it will assist you in working as a freelance writer, composer or producer of musical theatre.

The MA focuses on the dramaturgy of the musical as a key factor in the future development of the genre.

Expert professionals are regularly employed as visiting tutors, to maintain direct links with the industry.

You follow one of the two pathways as either:

-producer
-writer or composer

You undertake an analytic case study of a musical or production, a placement project and dissertation (producers), and a creative project involving either book and lyrics or music for a short original musical (writers and composers). Producers share some classes with students on the MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact the Department of Theatre and Performance Secretary.

Modules & Structure

You undertake an analytic case study of a musical or production, a placement project and dissertation (producers), and a creative project involving either book and lyrics or music for a short original musical (writers and composers). Producers share some classes with the MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy.

You elect to follow one of two pathways on the programme – Producers, or Writers and Composers. In each case, the programme involves five separate modules:

1. Genre study – autumn and spring terms, both pathways.
This module runs for 20 weeks. It begins in autumn with an historical survey of the development of the American musical, from ‘Showboat’ (1927) to ‘Sweeney Todd’ (1979). It continues in the spring term with a look at new forms of musical theatre that have resulted from the fragmentation of the classic tradition of ‘book’ musicals, with the innovation of the ‘concept’ musical, the impact of rock musicals, the ‘invasion’ of Broadway by the British ‘megamusical’ and the subsequent globalisation of the market by Cameron Macintosh and Disney.

2. Case study – autumn and spring terms, both pathways.
This module involves a 15-week introduction to the different structural components (book, music, lyrics, choreography, scenography) and industrial factors (producers, marketing, technology, conomics)
determining the production of musicals today. The module is taught by a range of professional and academic experts with a variety of different perspectives on the subject.

3. Shared complementary/contextual module 1 – autumn term.

Students choose one of these modules:

4. Shared complementary/contextual module 2, - ‘Musical Theatre and Society’
5. Creative project/dissertation – spring and summer terms, both pathways.

Assessment

Genre study is assessed by two 3,000-word essays; the case study is assessed by means of a 4,000-word essay. The nature and form of creative projects, dissertations and research/placement projects are agreed with the Module Convenor during the programme.

Skills

You will develop a critical understanding of the collaborative processes involved in the creation of musical theatre in the UK and USA.

Composers and librettists/lyricists will achieve an enhanced ability to engage with the integration of dramaturgical and musical components of musical theatre writing, and a comprehension of the various factors involved in working within the industry.

Producers will acquire an overall perspective on the industrial and organisational factors involved in musical theatre production, including methods of theatre marketing, systems of arts funding and policy, and a working knowledge of the strategies involved in producing a small-scale musical.

Producers will also develop skills of leadership and teamwork and the ability to develop and critique their own approaches to working in musical theatre production.

Careers

Typical careers for graduates of this MA include:

musical theatre composer
librettist
lyricis
tproduce
marketing manager
production assistant

Funding

Please visit http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/fees-funding/ for details.

Read less

This innovative programme reflects the Department of Drama's commitment to socially engaged and critically inventive inquiries into theatre and performance. You will have the opportunity to analyse and create theatre and performance in relation to a wide variety of contexts and critical, cultural and historical perspectives.

Flexibility is key to this programme: within a framework of informed and structured experimentation, you can develop projects for individual modules to advance your own investigations. The programme aims to equip graduates for research degrees in theatre and performance and to enhance graduates' career opportunities and professional development in teaching and a wide range of creative practices. In addition to contact hours with academic staff in the Department of Drama, students attend lectures, workshops and mentoring sessions with a range of high-profile artists.

Programme outline

Students take four assessed modules, two nonassessed research training modules and write a dissertation.

Compulsory modules:

Theatre and Performance Theory
An examination of theoretical texts and ideas that have shaped contemporary understanding of performance, theatre and culture.

Performance Research
A consideration of critical writings, theoretical frameworks and research methodologies.

Historiography and Archives
An analysis of theoretical and practical issues surrounding historical research in theatre and performance studies.

Optional modules
Students choose three of the following:

Performance Lab
Students co-devise and perform a group project as a means of addressing research questions through practice.

Independent Practical Project
Students devise independent practical projects, with the support of a mentor, that focus on an area of performance practice such as playwriting, applied drama, directing, dramaturgy, acting, new technologies, sitespecific performance and live art.

Independent Written Project
Students design and produce an independent written project under the supervision of a member of staff on a topic not provided within existing modules.

Contemporary Theatre and Performance
An examination of trends in recent theatre and performance and its analysis, especially in relation to what they articulate about contemporary culture and aesthetic, political, social and emotional value.

Early Modern Drama in Performance
This module explores ways in which performance produces meaning in the early modern drama - in its early production, its performance history and in recent performance.

Cultural Industries
This module facilitates a placement with an appropriate industry partner. Students develop industry-based projects to complete within the context of the industry partner's work.

Students may substitute a maximum of 30 credits from another of the School's MA programmes (subject to the approval of the MA Convenor).

Dissertation
Following the completion of the taught modules, students pursue an independent research project culminating in a dissertation of 12,000-15,000 words.

Read less

This new programme, starting in 2013, combines diverse approaches to making and documenting performance. It draws on devising, physical theatre, directing, choreography, solo work and live art. The course is intended for graduate reflective performance practitioners to enhance knowledge and experience of a range of processes and forms in the areas of collaboration, composition, performance, directing and documentation. Practical sessions will include extensive contact with innovative performance practitioners, sharing a range of models of practice. You will be assessed on creative and critical responses to course content, and these could take diverse forms. The course addresses the centrality of different approaches to contexts in the world of work through the development of a portfolio of skills and increased capacities in documentation, as part of a means of self-representation for professional practice.

Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to participate in independent and group-based practical projects, and to explore critically the methods, history and theory of theatre studies. While developing your projects, you will also benefit from access to a range of distinctive performance spaces on the campus.

All students complete an independently researched dissertation, which allows them to further develop their own areas of specialist interest.

See the website https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/dramaandtheatre/coursefinder/macontemporaryperformancepractices.aspx

Why choose this course?

- The course is taught by professional practitioners who are also expert scholars in the field of performance practices. Their publications include research in dramaturgy, choreography, directing, dance, somatic practices, site based performance and documentation of performance.

- You will have the opportunity to benefit from our strong contacts with a wide range of companies and artists such as choreographer Jonathan Burrows (who holds an honorary doctorate with the college), Lone Twin, Jasmin Vardimon Company, Non Zero One, Theatre Ad Infinitum, Analogue and practitioners who have worked closely with Polish theatre companies including Gardzienice.

- The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise ranked the majority of the Department's research activities as world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*).

- Royal Holloway has the largest Drama Department in the UK with 25 academic members of staff working at the cutting edge of the discipline.

- We foster an excellent research environment and support a vibrant community of postgraduate and doctoral students.

- You will benefit from a range of unique performance spaces which include a traditional Japanese Noh theatre, the fully equipped Caryl Churchill Theatre and the substantial Victorian Boilerhouse.

Department research and industry highlights

The Department is committed to theoretically informed research throughout the five major research groups that define our work:

- Applied and Participatory Theatre
- Contemporary Theatre
- Performance Practices
- Theatre History
- Transnational Performance

Many research staff in the Department are highly respected as theatre makers and for their practice-based research. Within the Department there are directors, playwrights and dramaturgs, as well as international practitioners in dance, applied theatre and puppetry. Our extensive collaborations with leading artists and theatremakers working in the cultural sector, and our theatre spaces, ensure that we are able to develop practice-based research throughout our degree programmes and in the professional theatre.

Workshops and lectures are regularly offered to postgraduates by leading playwrights, directors, choreographers and practitioners, including Katie Mitchell, Rebecca Prichard and Jonathan Burrows.

Course content and structure

You will study three core course units and complete a dissertation. This is a new course for 2013 designed to respond to the growing interest in how performance practices inform and interweave with each other. The details of the course form are undergoing validation and will be placed on the departmental website as soon as available.

On completion of the course graduates will have:
- enhanced and applied their skills as reflective theatre practitioners
- explored the scope of theatre studies and its critical and research methodologies
- developed their understanding of contemporary performance practices and its contexts
- experienced a range of ways of documenting practice to best represent their artistic concerns and focus
- developed their ability to undertake independent research and analysis.

Assessment

Assessment is carried out by a variety of means including essays and performance analyses, practical projects as well as a final dissertation of 10-14,000 words. Practical projects are sometimes carried out in a group and may include an element of assessment for an individual's contribution to group working and direction. All students undertake a summer term practical project.

Employability & career opportunities

Our graduates are highly employable and, in recent years, have entered many different drama and theatre related areas, including careers in professional theatre, training and education. This course also equips you with a solid foundation for continued PhD studies and many of our students go on to advanced research.

How to apply

Applications for entry to all our full-time postgraduate degrees can be made online https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/postgraduate/applying/howtoapply.aspx .

Read less