Students on the MA and the MFA engage with the same core subject matter. The MA is a one year course (or equivalent part time). The MFA is a two year course with the bulk of the Central-based teaching in the first year where MFA students share certain MA units.
The MA and MFA are taught in group sessions and through individual tutorials. During these sessions you will consider the fundamentals of dramatic writing. Indicatively these will include structure, narrative, dramatic action, genre, character, dialogue and rhetorical effect. You will study different approaches to writing including individual authorship, group writing and writing to specific briefs. You will attend masterclasses, seminars and workshops that focus on particular modes of writing for different production contexts. You will be part of a writers’ group, providing peer support in developing your writing. This vocational work is complemented by individual research and appropriate theoretical discussion and enquiry. You will address historical, theoretical and critical contexts within which traditions of dramatic writing have evolved.
You will engage in a range of projects that test and develop your skills as a writer of drama. Indicatively, these will include: forming a team of writers to evolve a television series, writing a short play script for a staged reading, writing a short film script, writing a radio play and developing and writing a complete dramatic script for production in a particular medium of your choice (stage, radio, TV or film). In undertaking these projects you will acquire an understanding of working in different formats, as well as the role of the writer in current production processes.
Through an options unit you will have the opportunity, should you wish, to explore alternative modes of writing, such as writing in the community. You will also gain some knowledge of commissioning and production protocols in different media.
We host an informal series of talks, bringing in guest speakers. Past speakers from across the industry have included Mike Leigh, Chloe Moss, Sarah Daniels, Dennis Kelly, Tim Crouch, Simon Stephens, Ronald Harwood, Tracey Letts, Paul Ashton of the BBC Writers Room, Ola Animashawun, Ruth Little and Mel Kenyon. Central also has links with the Royal Court, Hampstead Theatre and the BBC.
Additional information about the MFA
In the first year of the MFA, you will join the MA students for two-thirds of their course. The MFA extends into a second year that engages you with further specialist subject skills. You are offered extended and sustained experience, working closely with members of the related industry to embed yourself as a professional practitioner. In the second year of the course, you are encouraged to specialise in one or more directions building on the first year teaching. The MFA second year widens the opportunities to practice knowledge within a context and framework where pertinent questions can be asked, protocols tested and new structures suggested. You will be expected to undertake tutorials and occasional seminars, although these may be by Skype or virtual seminar facilities.
Within the 1200 hours of the second year of the MFA in WSBM, students will complete two full length dramatic texts in the medium of the writer's choice, an accompanying critical reflection and a portfolio comprising, for example, relevant supporting material taken from the writer's journal, any treatments the writer may have produced, a plan for professional development, indication of professional contacts developed whilst on the programme, a report on any 'placement' activity that may have been undertaken whilst doing the project (e.g. if the student attended meetings in a theatre literary department). The MfA course will work closely with a professional theatre literary department such as, for example, the Royal Court Theatre in London.
Which course is for me?
Both courses offer a masters award. The MA runs over one year, the MFA over two. The MFA offers a further embedding of skills and concepts learnt during its second year. In some countries, the MFA is more recognisable, particularly if you are interested in teaching or research in a higher education environment.
