If you have practical experience in music and a keen interest in the technical, cultural, historical, and philosophical questions it opens up, this programme is for you. In each year you are given a range of options both in music and other subjects, allowing you to design a degree pathway that caters to your own particular interests and strengths.

In each year you are given a range of options from which to choose, allowing you to design your own degree to cater to your own particular interests and strengths.

If you want to pursue a professional career as a theatre director, underpinned by a clear intellectual understanding of your practice, then our exceptional and practical MA course is ideally suited to you.

It provides an opportunity to develop your directing practice through an active engagement with critical thinking so that you will have the tools to become an independent creative artist in the industry.

The diversity of our student intake is our course's strength. It's open to those with professional as well as academic experience.

As well as taking part in master classes by visiting professional artists, you will learn from and work with staff who are both academics and professional practitioners with industry knowledge.

You will study a broad range of approaches to performance-making from traditional text-based work to intercultural and digital performance and contemporary devising.

We teach you at our brand new performing arts building in Stratford with its industry-standard studios and theatre production spaces. Beyond the University, you will also have the opportunity to show your work in professional venues.

The MA Theatre Directing course takes a practice-based approach as it explores different directing methodologies - naturalism, realism, intercultural performance and contemporary devising practices.

You will gain the skills needed to create innovative and exciting performance work and to be able to operate as a professional theatre director and independent creative producer.

Your modules will feature Director Training, which looks at the key building blocks of working with an actor on voice, body and offers an in-depth Stanislavskian approach for the director working with text.

The Staging Performance module develops your skills as an independent producer and builds up to your performance, for which you'll be mentored by a professional theatre company.

You will study a range of contemporary performance practices as well as honing advanced research skills as you prepare for your dissertation piece - a final directorial showcase performance to be enacted in a professional venue.

We believe this is a unique master's course, combining the academic study of performance with a practice-based approach to the art of acting.

It's ideal if you want to pursue a professional career in the theatre, to develop a deeper understanding of your craft and hone your performance skills.

Based at our new, state-of-the-art University Square Stratford building, you will work in close collaboration with students and academic staff on our equally excellent MA Theatre Directing course as you produce and perform a range of innovative work of professional quality while also being given expert tuition in the skills of acting.

Taught in the evenings and on Saturdays and available for both part-time and full-time study to fit around your needs, it's a course geared to equip you with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to be a stage actor.

You will be guided by leading theatre practitioners, who will both teach and mentor you. After a final degree show in which you will have the chance to showcase your talents, you will leave our course ready to discover that all the world's your stage.

The MA Performance Design course explores scenography and performance-making from various perspectives informed by current research and innovative practices including immersive and participatory forms of performance design, design-led performance, audience experience and contemporary spectatorship.

On this course, you'll experiment with the creative application of design elements, including space, light, sound, costume and digital media, discovering how to shape live performance and generate meaning for contemporary audiences.

This course allows you to extend your own creative practice through developing an understanding of the theories and concepts of scenography and designing for live performance.

You’ll use our specialist facilities to explore the performance experiences that can be created with space, light, objects, costume, sound, projection and other digital technologies like virtual and mixed reality, creating original performance work that is design-led.

You’ll work collaboratively to create dynamic cutting-edge work and you’ll develop skills in documentation and reflection so that you can develop your individual creative practice. 

You’ll devise and carry out an independent research project into an aspect of performance design that interests you. You’ll also examine contemporary performance practices, from immersive and participatory experiences to site-specific work staged outside of traditional theatre spaces and locate these within their wider social and cultural contexts. 

This distinctive course offers opportunities to develop the critical and analytical techniques needed to evaluate and evidence the relationship between musical engagement and wellbeing.

You’ll gain skills that are directly related to careers in areas including arts therapies, education, community music, music administration, policymaking, and research impact employment or to continue to PhD study. Your understanding of the topic will be expanded and you’ll develop the skills needed to conduct independent research while learning to identify the methodological and ethical challenges of researching in real-world settings.

The core Applied Professional Practice module will provide you with opportunities to take a proactive and self-reflective role in your work, developing professional relationships with our partner organisations. Your major project will be a dissertation on an aspect of music and wellbeing of your own choosing, and you can pursue an optional module in another area of music such as music psychology, musicology, performance, or arts management.

This course caters for a wide range of musical interests and tastes and enables you to build the specialist skills necessary to progress in music management, whether as an independent/DIY musician, as part of a large music business, or in any other part of the global music industry.

Through core modules you’ll explore the promotion and management of live music, the contemporary recording industry, music publishing, and management in the creative industries more broadly, developing your understanding of the music business through real-world examples. Your major project will take the form of our distinctive music management project giving you the chance to put all your learning and research into practice, as well as offering you an opportunity to develop your music management CV. You’ll have the chance to study digital business, entrepreneurship or intellectual property law, gaining knowledge and skills that you can then apply in your project work and in your future career.

This course is ideal if you wish to pursue a management career in the music industry, including as a self-employed musician, and for existing music industry managers wishing to enhance their skills or undertake continuous professional development.

Looking to expand your artistic and academic portfolio while developing as a theatre practitioner working in various performance styles and disciplines? Our MA in Theatre Making is for you.

Benefit from our unique network of theatre companies and arts groups, and craft your creative journey. Work independently, in companies, or with external partners, under our expert guidance.

And experience hands-on theatre creation for different audiences and settings. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to learn how to launch and manage your own theatre company.