Theatre & Performance
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
Extended Project
In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification provides to students for University study, we now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer. Eligible applicants would receive two offers, our usual offer plus an alternative offer of a B in the EPQ and one grade lower in their A level subjects
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE Maths C (or 4), English Language or English Literature C (or 4).
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
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About this course
You will begin by studying theatre from a range of cultures and historical periods, then focus more intensively on theatre of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including naturalism and realism, modernism and avant-garde practices and post-dramatic and experimental forms, with opportunities to explore these through practical work.
The course investigates a range of contemporary global practices from verbatim to immersive, from site-specific work to examples of digital technologies in live performance. You will see performances ranging from West End theatre to the latest practitioners of intermedial theatre and performance art. Throughout your degree, you will explore how theatre makers, directors, designers, writers and other theatre artists respond to and shape our rapidly changing world. You will learn practical skills from the first year, with opportunities to collaborate on extended performances in the final two years. You will also have the option of following a critical-only route.
You will explore techniques of devising, producing, designing and directing, and learn how theatre works as an expression of real-world issues. Students studying BA Theatre & Performance at the University of Reading enjoy the best of both worlds, developing critical and creative skills in a dynamic environment.
Your first-year studies will introduce you to the histories and critical frameworks that inform each medium, and help you develop a range of academic and practical skills that will prove invaluable throughout the degree and beyond. We provide you with a thorough understanding of theatre conventions in order that your own experiments can have an even stronger impact. Throughout your first-year practical work you will explore how theatre has been effected by different social and historical contexts, and develop your own responses to this in group-based projects.
The second year is your chance to specialise in areas based on your personal or career interests. Through research and practice, you will explore work within and beyond classical and conventional narrative traditions, and learn about practitioners and movements that have challenged those traditions in various global and historical contexts. Your idea of theatre will be expanded by studying avant-garde, post-dramatic, political and radical performance works.
The final year presents you with the choice of diversifying your focus or further developing your knowledge in your chosen specialism. These modules are based around our academics’ current world-leading research and are all discussion-based, allowing you to rigorously engage with cutting-edge thought. Your work across the degree now culminates in either a collaborative 40-minute theatre piece or a written dissertation.
This degree is designed with the interaction between theory and practical work at its core, giving you plenty of opportunities to develop both your critical and technical skills. You will be based in Minghella Studios, a purpose-built study environment that reflects the way in which we think about and teach film, theatre and television. The Department of Film, Theatre and Television has a long and proud history of supporting collaborative work, and at every stage you will be encouraged to build your own knowledge and skills through working alongside fellow students in the, including those on our BA Film & Theatre and BA Film degrees.
**Careers**
Overall, 96% of our graduates were in work or further study within six months of graduating (DLHE survey, 2016–17).
Our flexible degrees are designed to develop the confidence and skills valued by both creative and commercial industries, providing you with a diverse range of career opportunities following graduation.
You will develop the practical film and theatre production skills needed in industry, as well as many transferable skills for work in a wider range of sectors.
Modules
Sample modules may include:
* Staging Texts: Playwriting, Design and Performance
* Devising Performance: Politics and Citizenship
* Analysing Theatre and Performance
* Identity, Performance and Culture
* Ensemble Performance
Check our website for more details of the course structure.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Reading
Film, Theatre and Television
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
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Drama
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Drama
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Performing arts
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£18k
£22k
£22k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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