Study our BA English Literature and Film & Theatre degree and explore the creative dynamics between writing and performance on the page, on the stage, and on the screen.
You will be studying in two departments (English Literature; and Film, Theatre & Television) who collaborate with each other extensively. Both have been leaders in their fields for a long time. English Literature was one of the first university departments in the UK to study American and Canadian authors like Margaret Atwood, and we continue this tradition with a curriculum that includes the best of contemporary writing in English from around the globe. The Department of Film, Theatre & Television pioneered the study of film in UK higher education, and we continue to lead in the range and breadth of the modules we offer.
You will learn about film from its beginnings in the late 19th century to the present day, and you will be able to learn more about everything from contemporary Hollywood to avant-garde cinema, together with new forms of digital entertainment and video art. Theatre modules present you with the opportunity to study the work of playwrights such as Caryl Churchill, Sarah Kane, and Samuel Beckett. You will investigate a range of contemporary practices from popular forms of theatre to the latest performance art.
Our teaching is a dynamic mix of theory and practice, and optional modules that include group-based practical projects are available for those who enjoy practice-based study. We have a huge advantage in our £11.4-million building (opened in 2011) that features three theatre spaces, a digital cinema, a dedicated recording studio and a mixing suite. You will have access to a studio with a flexible lighting system, multi-camera facilities, a talk-back system and Chroma key, and a studio gallery linked to the theatres for live filming and mixing work. We provide industry-standard software and support from dedicated technicians, and all spaces are equipped with state-of-the-art multimedia equipment and lighting.
In your English Literature modules, you will encounter authors and genres that you may already know (from tragedy to Gothic, from Shakespeare and Dickens to Plath and Beckett). You will also explore aspects of literary studies that may be less familiar to you, from children’s literature to publishing studies and the history of the book. Our lecturers and professors have published research on everything from medieval poetry to contemporary Caribbean and American fiction so you will be learning from experts in the field. Everyone in our departments, from new lecturers to professors, teaches at every level of the degree, so you are learning from experts as soon as you begin your first year. 96% of our students say that staff are good at explaining things (National Student Survey, 2021).
We place a strong emphasis on small-group learning within a friendly and supportive environment, because we believe that studying literature, cinema and theatre should be a discursive process in which we learn by sharing ideas. We provide detailed and thorough feedback on your written work within 15 working days: this is crucial to your development as a writer, whether you intend a career in creative or professional writing.
With BA Art and Film discover film from the late nineteenth century to the modern day while developing your professional practice under the guidance of internationally renowned artists and curators at Reading School of Art.
Explore both the practical and theoretical sides of art and film and investigate how each discipline has influenced the other.
You will join a lively and creative community, explore a vast range of media, experiment with emerging art forms and develop as an artist. Your art will be complemented with modules in contemporary art theory and the history of art. You will have your own dedicated space, accessible 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and a studio tutor who will help you develop your individual and professional practice. The studios are a busy place with events, screenings, performances and exhibitions happening regularly.
There are regular trips to museums and art galleries to prompt thoughts on how art is displayed and received. You will gain professional experience throughout your degree by taking part in your own exhibitions, public art commissions and events.
In Film, you will choose from a range of modules covering world cinema, new forms of digital entertainment and video art, and the cinema of classical and contemporary Hollywood, such as musicals, melodrama, action cinema and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
Practical work complements your critical and theoretical study allowing you to apply what you learn through practice, drawing on the market-leading facilities of the £11.4-million Minghella building, including a film and television studio, cutting rooms and audio post-production facilities, three theatre spaces, and a digital cinema.
Placements and collaborations are actively encouraged and there is also the chance to experience life in another country by studying abroad. Opportunities for work-based learning and personal development complement your core learning.
All students are encouraged to work with different artists and designers in hosting events and exhibitions. Past students have enjoyed internships at Studio Voltaire and the Frieze Art Fair. Others have performed at the ICA, taken part in an Arts Council-supported film project at the Museum of Rural Life and participated in an international exhibition at the Seoul Institute of Arts in South Korea.
Regular field trips to national and international museums, art institutions and galleries allow you to consider the diverse conditions in which art is displayed and received. There are also many opportunities for you to apply to study abroad: Reading School of Art has links with universities in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, France, Switzerland and Finland.
Our BA Theatre & Performance course is designed to inspire your theatrical creativity and provide you with outlets to express it.
You will begin by studying theatre from a range of cultures and historical periods, then focus more intensively on theatre of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including the work of international and British playwrights and performance makers such as Samuel Beckett, Sarah Kane, Complicité, Caryl Churchill and Katie Mitchell.
The course investigates a range of contemporary global practices from verbatim to immersive, from site-specific work to examples of digital technologies in live performance. You will see performances ranging from west end theatre to the latest practitioners of 'intermedial' theatre and performance art. Throughout your degree, you will explore how directors, designers, writers and other theatre artists respond to and shape our rapidly changing world. You will learn practical skills from the first year, with opportunities to create performances in the final two years. You will also have the option of following a critical-only route.
You will explore histories and techniques of devising, producing, designing and directing, and learn how theatre works as an expression of real-world issues. Students studying BA Theatre & Performance at the University of Reading enjoy the best of both worlds, developing critical and creative skills in a dynamic environment.
Study BA Film and Theatre and pursue your passion for film and theatre in a course that combines critical approaches and the opportunity to create films and performances.
Drawing from the same varied and creative options offered on BA Film and BA Theatre, this course allows you to combine your study of theatre and film, and includes the opportunity to engage with television, enabling you to specialise in line with your developing expertise and interests. You will experience all three mediums through practice, and be given a variety of opportunities to collaborate in the production of films, television programmes or theatre performances. You will also have the option of following a critical-only route.
Develop and hone your writing skills, and explore the complex interplay between live performance and audience, with our BA Creative Writing and Theatre course.
Taught jointly by the Department of English Literature and the Department of Film, Theatre and Television, on this course you will:
- explore your creative writing in small peer groups
- examine theatre in its various contexts: as popular entertainment, theoretical discipline and art form
- have the opportunity to develop your practical theatre skills.
Creative writing and theatre complement each other perfectly. Exploring a breadth of dramatic work and analysing creative choices will support the development of your own creative writing. Optional practical work will enhance your ability to create compelling characters and narratives.
Develop and hone your writing skills, and explore the important relationships between film and theatre, in our BA Creative Writing and Film & Theatre course.
Taught jointly by the Department of English Literature and the Department of Film, Theatre and Television, this multi-faceted course will:
- develop your creative writing in a small-group environment
- explore a variety of literary, dramatic and film texts
- provide practical and theoretical approaches to film and theatre.
Creative writing, film and theatre complement each other perfectly. Developing characters and narratives in your creative writing, and working to improve and refine them, will make you a better writer. This will enhance your ability to create compelling characters and narratives in your filmmaking and theatre work.
Take the stage and go behind the scenes to discover the process of making theatre on our BA (Hons) Drama and Performance degree course.
You'll study the theory and history of theatre and drama, and explore drama in many forms: performance through plays, production through devising new shows, techniques in voice, movement, criticism and analysis. After your first year, you can tailor the course to your preferences, from choosing modules you’re most interested in, to designing your own path in your final year project.
At Portsmouth, we give you the power to choose how you’ll create a career in drama and performance – whether it be as an actor, designer, technician, teacher, or working in the community. The world is your stage.
Course highlights:
- Expand your knowledge by learning from our internationally recognised teaching and research staff
- Hone your professional skills by working in industry-leading facilities and with guest practitioners regularly throughout your course
- Enhance your acting, performance and production talents by taking part in workshops, productions, and self-created shows in professional venues outside the University
- Develop future-proof skills for the industry by working with advanced technologies in digital theatre design and production, such as extended reality
- Broaden your abilities by learning about the spectrum of drama: technical theatre, design, production, marketing, teaching, and many other elements
- Nurture skills you can adapt to roles in theatre and other related fields
Musical theatre dazzles, inspires and entertains us. But it’s not all about singalongs and dancing in the aisles, there is business behind the show.
Musicals exist as cultural artifacts that have been used to divert us from the pressures of the world and to confront social issues head-on using humour, passion, and pathos.
Join a lively community of like-minded people to explore the full breadth of acting skills from singing to stage fighting.
It’s a competitive industry so you’ll need to be up for the challenge, but over three years you will get to enrich your imagination, build resilience and consolidate your own working methodology. In short, you’ll develop the artistic skills to forge a successful career as an actor.
