The programme provides an opportunity to explore the city’s theatres, to understand the pressures and practices which shape the theatre scene, and to consider the performances that haunt the city. MA Theatre Studies (Performance and the City) takes the urban context as a starting point for exploring key questions; as researcher, investigator, reviewer, critic, and flâneur, the student will engage with the city and its performances, acquiring knowledge, skills, and competences along the way.
MA Theatre Studies (Performance and the City) considers how theatre shapes and is shaped by the metropolis, taking students into the city and behind the scenes in the institutions that give it its character and potency; study is grounded in engagement with buildings, events, organisations and practices. As such, the programme is excellent preparation for work in various roles in the theatre sector; a critical approach is maintained throughout, and students develop academic and scholarly abilities.
The programme offers a range of learning experiences and students are encouraged to develop rigorous academic critical faculties and to gain the skills required to flourish in a range of environments. Students develop appropriate competences and take advantage of the research opportunities available in the School, the University, and in London as a whole, as well as having unparalleled opportunities to see theatre and performance work, while also studying the conditions that enable such practice to take place.
The MA is taught by way of independent units, which each address a different aspect of theatre and performance studies, and offers the possibility for students to develop specialist interests. Units offer a mix of seminars and lectures, classwork, independent research, group work, field study and the development of specific outputs appropriate to possible professional fields. Students can develop their particular interests or develop their prospective professional profile in the final unit, which is a sustained personal project.
Units may include:
- Reviewing Performance
- Shakespeare in London
- Archiving Practices, Practising Archives
- Critical Contexts
- Performing Research
- Cultural Industry.
Each unit is intensive and, where appropriate, is delivered with the support of relevant experts (e.g. theatre journalists, arts managers, artistic directors and archivists). Students are taught by, and forge partnerships with practitioners and organisations in the development of their work. In the past, guests and venues have included Lyn Gardner and Michael Billington (The Guardian), representatives of Equity, the BBC, the Ambassadors Theatre Group, the Old Vic, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the National Theatre, and the Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection. Students are given opportunities to participate in the wider academic community, and to develop knowledge and awareness of contemporary theatre and performance scholarship.
The final term gives students a chance to work intensively in an area of personal interest, with support from the course leader and tutors.
Key Features
Focuses on criticising and analysing theatre and performance, with emphasis on the city as the site of performance past and present. Responds to theatre and performance, e.g. in theatre journalism or production and fundraising contexts, traces the history of theatre and performance, and explores how cultural institutions shape civic economy and ecology.
