Drama

Course description

What is theatre? Why did it develop? What role does it play in society? To have a successful career in the theatre, you need to understand its historical context, techniques and craft. On this course you’ll learn the collaborative skills and process involved in creating and staging plays, and will experiment with key contemporary performance practices.

You’ll explore all aspects of theatre both front and back stage, including the audience. Who are they? (They may not be like you!) What do they want from a performance? How can you reach your audience? We challenge conventional assumptions of what the performing arts can be and who they are for – from both a practitioner and audience perspective.

You’ll engage with a vibrant diversity of practical and theoretical approaches that balance practice, history, research, critical thinking and employability skills. Whether you intend to be a theatre maker, scholar or teacher, the course will guide you in the development of your creative and critical prowess while providing very distinct routes into the professional world.

Creative entrepreneurship and employability is something we are passionate about and it is embedded throughout our course. Many of our students have formed their own theatre companies and are supported by QMU as they set up their businesses – including the chance to be located in our graduate start-up space called the Business Innovation Zone. The world’s largest arts festival happens right here in Edinburgh and many students successfully perform, produce or get involved in the Festival Fringe.

By the time you graduate you will know how and why a theatre team brings a performance to life, and the many ways in which drama can be understood and made relevant to contemporary audiences.

In Years One and Two you will work in collaborative experimental workshops, finding creative solutions to the staging and performance of classic and contemporary genres and texts. Bringing a range of interests and skills (performing, directing, playwriting, dramaturgy and scenography), students will share their different perspectives and insights. Lectures will also cover theatre history and critical and performance theory, which will inform the decisions students make in their creative work.

In Years Three and Four you will study core modules plus optional modules allowing you to focus your interests in specific areas. You’ll also have the opportunity to study abroad or go on placements. In Year Four you will complete a personal final project, which can be a practical or a written dissertation.

Subjects