Lancaster's degree in Theatre and Creative Writing is taught jointly by the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) and the Department of English and Creative Writing. It combines the study of Theatre with the writing of original and imaginative fiction, poetry or plays. These two different focuses reinforce and complement each other.
Studying Theatre at Lancaster gives you the opportunity to learn about innovative twentieth and twenty-first century theatre and performance through an exciting and varied mix of practical and academic approaches. You will be taught by internationally esteemed, award winning theatre practitioners and scholars and will gain critical and creative skills that open up possibilities for working in theatre, while making you attractive to a wide range of other employers.
Your Creative Writing courses are taught by a team of widely published authors through a combination of lectures, readings, practice and discussion in regular tutor-led workshops. Your degree includes an Introduction to Creative Writing in your first year, and in your second and third years of study you will choose additional genre-specific units such as Short Fiction, Poetry Writing or Creative Non-fiction.
You will begin your degree with core courses including, an Introduction to Theatre Studies and Creative Writing. In your second year you’ll move on to subjects such as Theatre Techniques, Performance Composition, Work Placement, Intermediate Creative Writing and Critical Reflections. You will then complete your degree by choosing from a selection of Theatre and Creative Writing modules on offer including a final year theatre production module.
Our dynamic, flexible degree programme allows you to study literature from different periods and cultures, and across the range of principal literary genres. You will not be restricted to studying the printed word: we are intrigued by the connections between literature and film, art, history, technology, language, and everyday life, and our teaching reflects these interests. You will learn how literature addresses social, environmental, and economic concerns with the aim of creating a better, more inclusive world and developing sustainable solutions for the future of the planet.
The Creative Writing element of the programme provides you with the opportunity to progress from introductory modules on reading and writing creatively to specialised work within specific forms and genres such as fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction and scriptwriting, culminating in the production of an extended collection of creative work.
Throughout the programme you will be encouraged to stretch yourself intellectually and imaginatively by exploring literature as both a creative practitioner and a critic. Our approach will help you develop an understanding of the creative process, as well as enhancing your knowledge of genre, literary history, and the varied and dynamic academic field which is English Literature.
You will focus on becoming a careful, attentive, and informed reader and writer, sensitive to the nuances of language and style and able to produce polished and sophisticated creative work.
You join a friendly and supportive environment with an international reputation for both teaching and research. Our talented Creative Writing team regularly scoop national and international awards, and collectively share experience in theatre, television and film. Our public platforms Cardiff BookTalk and Cardiff Poetry Experiment are popular and hugely engaging.
In the media-dominated world you will be taught how to analyse the various forms of media language and representations that we consume every day; developing the ability to deconstruct a variety of texts.
This A Level will give you a broader knowledge of media focusing on set texts including newspapers, advertising and marketing, film, music video, radio, video games, magazines, television and online, social and participatory media. You will also undertake a creative project, applying the skills you have learned to research and create your own media products.
The media play a central role in contemporary culture, society and politics. They shape our perceptions of the world through the representations, ideas and points of view they offer.
The media have real relevance and importance in our lives today, providing us with ways to communicate, with forms of cultural expression and the ability to participate in key aspects of society.
Learners will study a range of media forms in terms of a theoretical framework which consists of media language, representation, media industries and audiences.
The following forms are studied in depth through applying all areas of the framework:
Advertising and marketing, film, music video, radio and video games are studied in relation to selected areas of the framework.
We have developed a strong link with the BFI Film Academy Course, and many of our students have successfully gained a place on this additional qualification run at Broadway Cinema. Students develop industry level practical skills in filmmaking by producing a short film that is screened each year to an invited audience.
You will study this course alongside 2 or 3 other A Levels and you will be able to select your chosen subjects when you apply online.
Subjects that combine well with Media Studies include English, Sociology, Politics, Film Studies, History and Photography.
Develop your acting skills to a professional standard, while exploring English literature, and gain a deep understanding of the relationship between text and performance.
We offer the only combined actor-training and English degree in the UK, allowing you to develop your acting skills while studying English literature, giving you a firm knowledge base from which to work in either field.
Acting is the practical realisation of text and is closely linked to the discipline of English. This unique combination of study will open up many options for work or further academic study. You’ll have a range of options, which will allow you to tailor the course to fit your particular interests, and have the chance to develop allied skills such as theatre directing.
Acting classes cover acting for both stage and screen, and will include substantial workshop performances as well as public productions in the final year, including the opportunity to present your own fully supported show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
When you leave the course you’ll be armed with a career action plan, a show reel and significant experience in both acting and English.
