Drama and Theatre Arts

UCAS code: W400

Here's what De Montfort University says about its Drama and Theatre Arts course.

Informed by a mix of contemporary methods of performance making, current scholarly thinking and historical theatrical traditions, this course is ideal for those seeking a career in a range of arts-related areas. You will engage both creatively and critically with a range of topics including acting, performing, directing and theatre for social change, while being supported to develop your own artistic vision, personal interests and aspirations.

The course offers you the opportunity to learn about Drama in a rich variety of ways by working with professional researchers, research-active academics and visiting practitioners.

You will benefit from great facilities that have contributed to DMU being recognised as a Centre for Excellence in Performance Arts – an accolade that also reflects our commitment to innovative and excellent teaching and learning.

Real-life experience is offered through undertaking placements and internships, getting involved in professional performances, going on theatre trips at home and abroad, and showcasing your work to a variety of audiences.

You can select a route through this degree in Creative Writing, Education, English Language, English Literature, Film, History, Journalism or Media.

Key features:

• Benefit from our long-standing partnership with Leicester’s iconic Curve theatre. Opportunities include internships, work placements and the chance to work on or perform in an annual production, which have included Lorca’s Blood Wedding and Lucy Prebble’s Enron.

• DMU is recognised as a Centre for Excellence in Performance Arts, with great facilities providing specialist studios and rehearsal spaces designed specifically for drama and performance learning activities.

• Select a route through this degree in Creative Writing, Education, English Language, English Literature, Film, History, Journalism or Media. These carefully chosen routes will complement and enrich your understanding of your main subject, alongside broadening your skillset to give you a wider range of career paths available upon graduation.

• Extensive performance opportunities for all years of study, including Exit Souls: The Drama Festival, which showcases students’ diverse work to a public audience each year.

• Our graduates have gone on to work in theatre companies, community arts organisations and have forged careers in various aspects of media and technical theatre production.

• Benefit from the cutting edge research and practice carried out by Drama staff in the Research Institute of Drama, Dance and Performance Studies Research.

• Benefit from block teaching, where most students study one subject at a time. A simple timetable will allow you to really engage with your learning, receive regular feedback and assessments, get to know your course mates and enjoy a better study-life balance.

First year Block 1: Theatre Company: Ensemble Block 2: Body, Text, Voice Block 3: Shifting Stages OR you can select to study one route from the list below: Creative Writing route – Writers Salon Education route – Childhood, Social Justice and Education English Language route - Evolving Language English Literature route – Introduction to Drama: Shakespeare Film Studies route – Disney, Warner Bros and the Business of the Film Studio History route – Global Cities Journalism route – Understanding Journalism Media route - Media, Culture and Society Block 4: Participations

Second year Block 1: Engaging Audiences Block 2: Making Theatre and Performance Block 3: Theatre Revolutions OR continue with the route selected in the first year: Creative Writing route – Story Craft Education route – Preparing for Professional Practice and Cultural and Educational Transformations English Language route - Sociolinguistics English Literature route - Text Technologies Film Studies route – Screen Archives - Preservation, Conservation and Usage History route – Humans and the Natural World Journalism route – Beyond News: Peace journalism and Opinion Writing Media route – Public Relations and Strategic Communication Block 4: Theatre Company: Collaboration OR Curve Company 1

Third year Blocks 1 and 2: Select two from the list below: Live Art Staging Texts Theatre Company: Production Education and Performing Arts Block 3: Performance, Identity and Activism OR continue with the route selected in the first year: Creative Writing route – Uncreative Writing, Creative Misbehavior Education route – Adult Learners and Lifelong Learning OR Gender and Education English Language route – Language and Identity English Literature route – World Englishes: On the page and Beyond Film Studies route – British Cinema - Creativity, Independents and Interdependence History route – The World on Display Journalism route – Music, Film and Entertainment Journalism Media route – Gender and TV Fictions Block 4: Final Project OR Curve Company 2

Structure You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, tutor and student led seminars, group work, practical workshops and self-directed study. You will be assessed through a variety of different methods to develop a range of skills including through critical essays, group and individual performances, group and individual presentations, oral vivas, creative portfolios and critical self-reflections and commentaries.

The first year provides you with a range of practical skills and combines performance-based understanding of texts with a theoretical approach that enables you to place your work in its historical context. In your second year you will develop your practical, professional and theoretical engagement, with the opportunity to perform at Curve theatre in a production. In your third year you can pursue your own interests and career aspirations by taking specialist modules. Your studies will culminate in a final project of your choosing or the opportunity to perform at Curve theatre in a production.

Our drama staff have expertise in a number of different fields, including: Shakespeare in performance, popular theatre, applied drama, directing, language and performance, performer training, performance and documentation, performance and the body, gender and performance, live art and contemporary performance practice. Visiting lecturers, actors, practitioners, directors and theatre companies further enhance your learning.

Contact hours In your first year you will normally attend around 12 hours of timetabled taught sessions each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 25 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.