What exactly does studying creative writing at university involve? Any good writing course will allow you to develop your skills in the creative pillars of plot, characterisation and narrative. But at the University of Salford, it doesn't end there. Our unique multidiscipline degree is designed to help you skill up for the creative industries and support your writing vocation with work that pays.
The first year of your creative writing course is designed to inspire and nurture your writing talent, while introducing you to key concepts in multimedia production and multimedia journalism. Each module will give you the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of creative writing – whether that be rediscovering your passion for reading, learning how to respond to poetry or developing yourself as a networked journalist.
Moving into the second and third year of your degree, you‘ll shape your studies to focus on the areas of creative writing that interest you most. From comedy writing and performance to screenwriting, radio podcasting and theatre, this is your chance to develop a strong portfolio in your chosen area.
This course offers a dynamic combination of practical and theoretical study. With a focus on collaborative, contemporary performance, you’ll investigate different types of professional practice and actively engage with the cultural industries locally, regionally and internationally.
You’ll develop your own creative practice within small groups at our specialist studios, based in our on-campus professional theatre, stage@leeds. Using digital technologies, you’ll having the opportunity to work with external partners and community groups which may include: Leeds Playhouse, Opera North and local theatre companies, schools, galleries, museums and institutions within the criminal justice system.
You’ll also be introduced to a range of devising techniques and to digital performance as a key manifestation of contemporary performance practice. You’ll learn through a combination of lectures, workshops, practical experimentation and working with both specialist and readily available digital technologies.
A distinctive feature of the course is an engagement with the social impact agenda, where you'll be invited to interrogate and practice the ways in which performance can make a difference to society and to consider themes such as sustainability, ethics, responsibility and inclusivity. You'll to reflect on the impact that performance has on societies and the place that performance occupies globally.
You’ll work in collaboration with external agencies and organisations as a compulsory aspect of your studies and learn to apply performance skills in challenge-based projects for public audiences. You'll become an advocate of the creative arts and apply socially engaged performance practices in diverse ways.
With compulsory and specialist optional modules spanning theatre, performance, applied theatre, design, digital performance, directing, musical theatre, event management, acting and collaborative practice, you’ll be able to follow a broad range of interests suited to your own academic and professional development.
Explore your creativity as you develop skills in dance, drama and technology.
This course invites you to explore performance from a variety of angles, encompassing dance, drama and interactive performance – not just as separate subjects, but allowing you to work at the intersection between them. As well as developing into a well-rounded, multidisciplinary performer, as you progress, you will be able to pursue and define your own area of specialism.
The Performing Arts course at Chester is taught by a knowledgeable group of staff who come from a wide variety of performance backgrounds, which will enable you to draw from a wide variety of skillsets and knowledge bases in order to help craft your own niche in this field.
While the course will focus on live performance in dance and drama, you will also learn about interactivity and the use of technology in performance, using the latest software and hardware.
In the 2020 NSS, Performing Arts as a subject grouping scored above the sector average for teaching on my course, assessment and feedback, academic support, learning resources and overall satisfaction.
As a student studying Performing Arts you'll benefit from excellent links with the professional industry, both nationally and internationally
BA Drama embraces all forms of drama across stage, screen and beyond.
You will explore everything from literary adaptation to street theatre, from activist performance to audio design, from playwriting to directing, and experimental film cultures.
You will benefit from teaching informed by recent innovations in theatre, performance, and film studies, as well as by historical practices.
Our comprehensive facilities include the purpose-built Martin Harris Centre, home to the John Thaw Studio, a fully staffed, adaptable performance, rehearsal and workshop space.
You will also be able to draw inspiration from the creative beating heart of the city itself, home to countless ground-breaking arts organisations and events - from Manchester International Festival, the world's first festival of original work, to HOME, the largest multidisciplinary arts centre outside of the capital.
You can also take advantage of strong links to partner organisations throughout the city, including TiPP (Theatre in Prisons and Probation Research and Development Centre), based here at the University, and Community Arts North West.
You also can engage with professional practitioners working in the cultural industries through your coursework and through extracurricular events.
Cygnet Training Theatre has a 40-year history of training actors. Its training takes a learn-while-doing approach, giving live performances to paying audiences from term one. Our students learn how to work as an ensemble, with the opportunity to work with multiple directors and visiting industry professionals. While our school ethos is grounded in the work of our late patron, Peter Brook, the training covers an eclectic mix of acting methods and is also able to accommodate for flexibility if the students show aptitude in other areas such as music and dance. Our courses balance classwork with rehearsal. Tutorials and group classes cover acting, voice, singing, movement, text, film, radio, and stage combat. Cygnet offers an unprecedented amount of one-to-one tuition that the larger schools are unable to offer, as well as the opportunity to study in a beautiful city.
Foundation students will have a solid grounding in acting technique as well as the chance to ‘test drive’ some other aspects of the industry such as stage management to consider how they would like to move forward with their career. Students are expected to take the ATCL Diploma (Trinity) with the option to move on to the LTCL if they continue with us. We offer support for auditions with other training providers as well as the possibility to continue training at Cygnet. Continuation of studies will be reassessed at the end of each year.
