Do you want to explore what Shakespeare means in today's world? Immerse yourself in Shakespeare's works and learn from expert academics at our Shakespeare Institute. You'll also get to work with theatre practitioners at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) as part of our unique collaboration.

Pursue your creativity and your passion for Shakespeare and experience the thrill of producing your own creative response to his poetry and plays. This course is ideal for any aspiring academic, actor, writer, or director looking to explore Shakespeare from perspectives like academic research, theatre performances and public engagement. 

Our MA Musical Theatre Creatives is an individually-tailored MA for anyone interested in creating new musical theatre and a professional career as a creative in the industries, whether as a composer, writer, choreographer, lyricist or something that has yet to be defined.

This unique course focuses on students' particular needs to develop their skills in their field (composition, dance and dramaturgy etc), whilst simultaneously generating work as a collective with other creatives across the MAs.

Working with leading institutions from across the North and with practitioners that include composers, lyricists, and book-writers (the creative team of a musical), students will leave the course with a portfolio of work to take into the industry, to peers to build a creative team with, and leave with a unique artistic voice to shape the theatre of tomorrow.

The Musical Theatre Company course combines rigorous conservatoire training with continued, collaborative, student-led development of new work, preparing students not only to gain employment in the musical theatre industry, but as artists creating their own work.

With weekly classes in a range of dance styles, voice, acting, and singing (including audition technique), students will form a company and use these skills to engage in continued and collaborative development of new work (alongside students from the other MAs), guided by leading directors and practitioners working in the industry today.

Working towards public performances at the end of the year, students will leave prepared for auditions, the rehearsal process and the life of a working actor, having developed the knowledge, skills and contacts necessary to succeed in this highly-demanding industry.

Our MA in Musical Direction is designed to fully-prepare highly-skilled musicians to embark upon a career as a musical director. With tailored one-to-one classes, students will hone their musicianship and be exposed to a wide-range of working practices, working alongside key practitioners, companies and industry professionals from across the region.

This MA encourages students to interrogate the role of the musical director and redefine it for themselves, through the continued collaborative, student-led development of new work across the year.

With collaboration and individual artistry at the heart of all of our Theatre MAs, students will leave this course not only fully equipped to adapt to the changing face of theatre, but also with the skill set and tenacity required to drive that change.

Our MA in Dramaturgy focuses on the development of new work and individual artistry through collaborative practice.

Whether as a practitioner shaping theatre though storytelling, dance or music, or as a dramaturg in a literary department dissecting text, students will be introduced to a multitude of ways of creating new theatre.

Working with leading practitioners and institutions from across the North, students will learn the key components of storytelling, character and structure.

‘Dramaturgy’ has several definitions, due to the ever-evolving nature of how theatre is created. Students will explore them all and be encouraged to define it for themselves, leaving this MA not only with a comprehensive understanding of how things have been done, but a vision for how they want to do things in the future.

This MA is the only postgraduate course of its kind in the UK and has been re-developed in response to the changing needs of the industry and in consultation with previous graduates. We designed the course as a conversion degree, and we welcome applicants from non-arts related subjects.

This course is ideal if you want to add a vocational stage management emphasis to your undergraduate degree, or if you have significant workplace experience and would like to gain a formal qualification.

From theatre productions and arts festivals to music gigs and charity events, the entertainment and live events industries are growing rapidly. At the same time, the work of stage managers is becoming more complex and technically challenging. This means that arts and events companies are looking for skilled stage managers with more holistic and integrated perspectives regarding the management of entertainment and live events and the artistic, economic, social and environmental conditions in which they function.

This course has been developed in response to this need and is rooted in a belief that effective stage managers need training that is both practical and critically reflective. It will develop your knowledge of the contemporary issues affecting the management of entertainment and live events while equipping you with the practical skills that are essential for developing a career in the field.
The course is run in partnership with the Edinburgh Stage Management School, which specialises in postgraduate vocational training and combines a well-established industry focus with successful graduate employment. It combines the best aspects of the vocational, practical and academic models.

MA/MSc Human Resource Management for the Creative Industries course, taught in our creative specialist Business School, is a degree that gives you a unique opportunity to tailor your HR skills to better suit this dynamic sector of the economy.

Ideal for those seeking a more specialised route into careers within areas like gaming, fashion or publishing, this course will give you the knowledge and skills to thrive within the creative industries’ organisational context, and support you to develop the specialised management and leadership skills needed in the sector.

You will manage your own learning and development and enhance your own skills in critical enquiry, logical thought, creative imagination and independent judgement. You will also develop and consolidate informed professional and ethical competence across a range of industry specialisms.

Read me aloud