Course summary

Explore the overlap between art and theatre. Let one influence the other and develop your professional practice with BA Art and Theatre. This joint art degree enables you to develop a critical understanding of contemporary art and modern theatre. You will have the opportunity to complement your art practice with practical work in theatre. In art, you will join a lively and creative community, explore a vast range of media and experiment with emerging art forms. You'll be assigned a dedicated studio space, accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and a studio tutor who will help you develop your individual and professional practice. Regular trips to museums and art galleries will prompt thoughts on how art is displayed and received. You will gain professional experience throughout your degree by taking part in your own exhibitions, public art commissions and events. Your teaching staff are all artists, curators and researchers of international standing and will encourage regular exhibitions and open debate. In theatre studies you will investigate a range of contemporary practices from verbatim to immersive, site specific work and examples of digital technologies in live performance. You can explore theatre from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, covering the work of international and British playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Caryl Churchill and Sarah Kane. Practical work complements your critical and theoretical study allowing you to apply what you learn through practice, drawing on the market-leading facilities of the £11.4m Minghella building, including three theatre spaces, a film and television studio, cutting rooms and audio post-production facilities, and a digital cinema. You will investigate theatre with academics working at the cutting edge of research, and attend performances ranging from popular forms of theatre to performance art. Placements and collaborations are actively encouraged and there is also the chance to experience life in another country. Opportunities for work-based learning and personal development complement your core learning. Placement You are encouraged to work with different artists and designers in hosting events and exhibitions and you will be expected to undertake placement opportunities Past students have enjoyed internships at Studio Voltaire and the Frieze Art Fair. Others have performed at the ICA, taken part in an Arts Council-supported film project at the Museum of Rural Life and participated in an international exhibition at the Seoul Institute of Arts in South Korea. Regular field trips to national and international museums, art institutions and galleries allow you to consider the diverse conditions in which art is displayed and received. There are also many opportunities for you to apply to study abroad: Reading School of Art has links with universities in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, France, Switzerland and Finland.