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.
This course can be combined with other courses to make a full programme. It goes well with any subject but particularly works well with Art or Media based subjects and English and Humanities courses. In the first year you will complete an AS level.
This courses allow you to combine practical performance with theoretical work, based on studying set plays and their stage history. The course has a practical feel and will be largely taught in studio spaces. It is delivered over two years and combines the study of one set play, alongside the performance of one scripted piece and one reinterpretation of an existing text, plus two further performance pieces, one scripted and one devised, and the study of two set texts.
Assessment is by practical performance and written coursework (60%) and written examination (40%).
What topics will I study?
You will:
We offer a wide range of theatre trips to a variety of venues across the year. We ask that students have an open mind and attitude and learn to appreciate theatre and performance in a range of forms, styles and genres. We also invite professional theatre practitioners to come into College and provide both practical and theoretical workshops in order to enhance the learning experience.
This course offers extensive training in contemporary and jazz dance techniques, acting and singing. We also teach you about the performance industry and the opportunities that are available.
You will take part in five assessed performances over the year in front of an external audience, as well as having the exciting opportunity to audition for a full length musical, with students previously performing Les Misérables and Sweeney Todd.
Our teachers are industry professionals who are passionate about the subject and will continually push you to be the best performer you can be. If you are looking for a lively, engaging and creative course, Performing Arts is the perfect choice for you!
This course is available as:
Drama & Theatre combines the study of practical performance with the history and social context of theatre. It is the study of a range of practitioners and acting styles, as well as reading and analysing plays. It also includes learning about stage-craft and stage management skills in set design, lighting and sound.
Studying this subject will enable you to explore the history and social context of theatre and play texts. It will challenge you practically and academically and you will develop your own performance skills, which can be transferred to a variety of career paths and opportunities.
Join us for this challenging and rewarding A-Level that combines academic and practical skills, while developing your performance, analysis and critique of theatre. You’ll develop and perform classical and contemporary text extracts and create your own original devised piece of theatre.
On this course you will explore your textual and performance analysis abilities and practical performance skills to increase your understanding of how theatre works, and to develop you as a performer and director.
In the first year of the course we explore different styles of theatre and you will have the opportunity to develop both your analytical and research skills as you study the contexts and themes behind key dramatic texts. You will explore these through practical workshops, leading to your own written reports and performance presentations, which demonstrate your practical ideas and ability.
In your second year you will create and perform your own piece of devised theatre, and perform your final chosen text extract to an external examiner. Both of these projects will be supported by a 3000 word piece of coursework. You will watch and evaluate live theatre and analyse two set texts in preparation for your final examination at the end of year 2
The course will help you develop your subject specific skills related to performance and the theatre, as well as various transferrable academic and personal skills.
On this course you will have the opportunity to go on a number of trips. In the past we have seen productions in Brighton, Chichester and London and had tours of Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre. Students have also done workshops at the Globe as well as with Frantic Assembly.
