Course summary

The programme aims to foster innovation and experimentation, and to deepen creative and performance skills, theoretical knowledge, research and production skills. This MA investigates the breadth of live art in order to innovate definitions of and challenge the limits of theatre. The programme is designed to develop independent artists, practitioner-researchers, scholarly researchers and reflective practitioners within and beyond the theatre context. Students will gain practical experience and a critical understanding of current innovations in theatre and beyond, into the diverse range of body-based live arts. Students will be immersed in taught workshops from a range of professional practitioners in the field. In parallel to this, they will engage with current philosophical, socio-political, cultural positions and trends, positioning themselves and their own performance practice within them. Teaching and learning will develop student engagement and understanding of praxis. Modules will enable students to develop project concepts in relation to practical work, building a strong sense of their own artistic practice. The programme culminates in the realisation of a major work. Students will focus on one or a combination of practices, including making, directing, dramaturgy, writing and performance. Themes may include (but are not limited to) post dramatic, autobiography, improvisation, narrative, memory, audience participation, site specificity, immersion (digital/live). We will actively seek (and celebrate the power of) a diverse cohort, creating opportunities for a rich cross-pollination of ideas and intentions. Students will gain a strong sense of interdisciplinary practice and their own fluid position within this. Different trajectories will allow collective research and collaborative outputs both from within the programme, across the department and into the broad professional field. The MA is underpinned by cultural studies. Modules are delivered from scholarly and practical perspectives, recognising that these are symbiotic, and therefore the programme is structured so that students will engage in classroom and studio-based activities. This aims to ensure that all learners develop an advanced understanding of current research across a range of theoretical and practical fields, to examine their positions and perspectives within these.