Drama – (B.A.)

BA (Hons) Drama provides you with an understanding of the histories, practices, contexts and theories of drama, theatre and performance. This is balanced and supported by practical explorations, the acquisition of a range of performance techniques and the creation of live performance events. An engagement with the processes and practices of theatre-making is an important and integral part of our curriculum, and develops you as confident, versatile and exciting practitioners.
To support this, we offer a stimulating environment for drama students. Our outstanding facilities include two dedicated drama centres, complete with a flexible black-box performance space, and our Mumford Theatre, a full-size receiving house for professional touring companies.

A proportion of our course is aimed at facilitating your creative development and integrates practice and theory. Experiential learning or 'learning through doing' is fostered through workshop and laboratory-based practical exploration, where you can actively participate in the processes of theatre-making and performance in groups and individually.

You will have the opportunity to develop technical and production skills, with specialist staff training you and supporting this work. This practical exploration is balanced with screenings, seminars and tutorials that encourage critical engagement with experiential learning. Our department regularly stages theatrical works, involving you in both on and off-stage roles. In recent years these have included staging works by a wide range of playwrights, from William Shakespeare, to Caryl Churchill, Howard Barker and Sarah Kane. You will engage with devising performance works and these have been staged at The Junction in Cambridge, a professional performance venue.

You will have the opportunity to develop technical and production skills, with specialist staff training you and supporting this work. This practical exploration is balanced with screenings, seminars and tutorials that encourage critical engagement with experiential learning.

Our department regularly stages theatrical works, involving you in both on and off-stage roles. In recent years these have included staging works by a wide range of playwrights, from William Shakespeare, to Caryl Churchill, Howard Barker and Sarah Kane. You will engage with devising performance works and these have been staged at The Junction in Cambridge, a professional performance venue.

Additional course information
The majority of modules on our drama course have a particular emphasis on 20th century and contemporary theatre practice, although you can opt to study Shakespeare in your second year. Courses may include, for example, modules such as Performance Practitioners, Contemporary Texts and Devising Performance, in which we explore texts and practices from the late 20th century onwards, through both theoretical study and practical workshops.

Our course employs a wide variety of learning and teaching methods and strategies in order to accommodate the wide range of activities undertaken. Some modules are taught through small group seminars and some larger lectures, both of which involve you in detailed textual and/or critical analysis, through discussion, and which may also incorporate some practical explorations. This work is balanced between tutor-led, student-led and self-directed study, and complemented by resource-based learning, including library study and attendance at performances, galleries and installations.