
MA Theatre
Lincoln, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 up to 2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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EARLIEST START DATE
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TUITION FEES
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STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
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Introduction
The course aims to provide a 360-degree perspective on performance to reflect the need for a portfolio career in the 21st Century, with a designated focus on dramaturgy.
MA Theatre places an emphasis on the vast range of recent developments in drama, theatre, and performance practice and research. The program makes full use of the expertise of staff across the School of Fine and Performing Arts, which embodies in-depth knowledge of contemporary theatre-making.
The staff has expertise in running professional touring companies, playwriting, dramaturgy, theatre criticism, and writing successful research grant applications and funding bids. Our research-active team publishes dramaturgy and theatre-making in academic literature.
Students have the opportunity to benefit from a combination of practical experience and theoretical study. This approach is designed to enhance career prospects by preparing students for a variety of roles in theatre, media production, management, research, and education.
Research Areas, Projects, and Topics
MA Theatre has benefitted from close links with the School and College expertise-sharing initiatives Critical Encounters and Tower Talks, and the program leaders aim to nurture these and other such opportunities going forward.
Features
In the past, MA Theatre students have taken part in study trips to Nottingham, Sheffield, and Leeds. There may be opportunities to attend professional and peer networking events such as Critical Encounters, hosted by the School, and the Tower Talks event for postgraduate students and staff across the College of Arts.
There is potential for students to get involved with extracurricular activities with The Lincoln Company which regularly takes shows to the Edinburgh Fringe every year.
Students may also have the opportunity to engage in Horizons, a blended learning initiative designed to help them develop subject-specific employability skills, and interdisciplinary and digital skills, drawing on the University of Lincoln’s six research themes.
Placements
The core work-based learning module, Dramaturgy in Practice, offers a choice of three placement pathways - industry, pedagogy, or online - giving students the opportunity to engage with artworks in progress through placements in the industry regionally; with drama lecturers on practical undergraduate modules; or through digital collaborations.
A list of possible placement hosts will be provided, but students are welcome to source their own. It will be up to the student to liaise with their host, negotiate how they will work with them, and cover additional travel costs incurred.
Interviews and Applicant Days
Applicants may be asked to attend an interview in person, via telephone, or online. Written evidence will be required in the form of a recent sample of critical or creative writing. It is expected that prospective candidates will have researched the course and be prepared to speak about it. Please contact Programme Leaders for further information.
"This information was correct at the time of publishing (July 2023)"
Admissions
Curriculum
Dramaturgy in Practice (Core)
Why are critical skills important within contemporary theatre-making contexts? In what ways might those skills feed into theatre-making processes? How might we market ourselves as critical theatre-makers to attract the interest of arts-based educational institutes, organizations, and industries? And how might we contribute meaningfully to the work of such bodies?
This module provides opportunities to apply critical practice to creative processes in mutually beneficial ways.
Perspectives on Performance (Core)
What features characterize contemporary theatre and performance practices? What factors have shaped their development in comparative national and international contexts? How have theatre and performance responded to contemporary society? What are the key issues facing arts practitioners and institutions today? And which theoretical frameworks might help us to understand the contemporary landscapes of theatre and performance?
This module examines these questions by offering a range of perspectives on performance from experts within and beyond the University of Lincoln.
Research Methods (Core)
How can we deepen our approaches to research? How might deep and specific approaches to research enrich the critical and creative work that we produce? What are the distinctions and overlaps between various research methodologies and the different final projects that they are capable of producing?
This module provides opportunities to see research practices anew: as creative and intellectual stimuli, and as integral to the production of original work.
Writing about Theatre (Core)
What do different professional, cultural, and theoretical contexts lend to our understanding of theatre? How might we analyze a piece of theatre deeply and communicate that deep knowledge in a range of ways? How might we write about theatre with clarity and precision for different readers?
This module examines and puts into practice a range of professional modes of writing about theatre: as scholars, as critics, and as theatre-makers.
Writing for Theatre (Core)
How do we write for theatre? How do we perform writing and how does our writing perform? How does what we write reflect who we are and the world in which we live? How might we give voice to the unspoken and speak truth to power? How might we find the words that events make us speak? How might words paint a thousand pictures?
Taking questions such as these, students have the chance to write a new piece of theatre and reflect on that process with a view to becoming critical theatre-maker.
Making Theatre for Young Audiences (Option)†
Making Theatre for Young Audiences challenges students to discover and develop through studio-based, collaborative making the fundamental methodologies of their own unique artistic practices, leading to a full-length performance at a professional venue. Making Theatre for Young Audiences aims to help students answer the following questions of their practice: How can we explore and extend the boundaries of contemporary TYA performance-making? What are the significant conceptual and methodological questions that arise through making? What does it mean to collaborate? What are the ethics and aesthetics of the ensemble? How can practical methodologies be developed through studio practice to deliver a venue-based performance for young audiences?
Practice as Research Project (Option)†
This module gives students the opportunity to pursue a self-initiated Practice as a Research project, based on an area of their choice, resulting in a piece of practical work and a critical reflection. Working under the supervision of a member of staff, each student undertakes a project which may be informed by their experience on the course. Their Practice as Research projects should demonstrate a deep understanding of the issues central to their chosen subject.
Research Project (Option)†
This module gives students the opportunity to pursue a research project, based on an area of their choice, resulting in a conventional dissertation taking the form of an extended piece of academic writing.
Working under the supervision of a member of staff, each student undertakes a project which may be informed by their experience on the course. Their Research Project should demonstrate a deep understanding of the issues central to their chosen subject.
How You Study
MA Theatre is taught across the academic year through lectures, seminars, group workshops, and blended learning strategies. It utilizes facilities including the performance studios of Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, the University's online learning platform, BlackBoard, and the latest digital technologies, allowing the School to engage diverse learners through a variety of means.
In between scheduled sessions, students are expected to engage in self-directed study, supported by academic staff. This includes allocated and autonomously researched journal articles, book chapters, and relevant journalism, as well as watching video content and engaging with other materials, often suggested or made accessible through each module's online learning site. Students can also undertake regular formative assignments that are not assessed as part of their final grade but are designed to have significant benefits to their learning.
Programme Structure
Semester A
- Perspectives on Performance
- Dramaturgy in Practice
- Writing about Theatre
Semester B
- Perspectives on Performance
- Research Territories
- Writing for Theatre
Semester C
- Research Project (Dissertation or Practice as Research)
Contact Hours and Independent Study
Weekly contact hours on this programme may vary depending on the individual modules and the stage of the study. The postgraduate-level study also involves a significant proportion of independent study exploring the material covered in lectures and seminars. As a general guide, for every hour spent in class, students are expected to spend at least four to five hours in an independent study.
How You Are Assessed
Modules are assessed by a combination of written essays, critical portfolios, student blogs, funding forms, learning agreements, prospective journal articles, pitches, panel discussions, individual and group presentations, and/or focused practical workshops or performances. Student progress is subject to continuous assessments on all modules in the programme in addition to final assessed outputs.
Assessment will focus on: the demonstration of practical and theoretical engagement with research; articulation and demonstration of knowledge regarding a wide range of theatre performances; critical enquiry and analysis; and contextualising students' own work and the work of others within the field of historical or contemporary performance practice and scholarship.
Students in the MA Theatre play an active role in choosing the focus and, in some cases, even the modes of their assessments in consultation with relevant module tutors and in ways that align with their individual career goals. This practice embraces the University of Lincoln's core ethos of 'Student as Producer' by empowering postgraduate students to shape and take ownership of their learning.
Assessment Feedback
The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to students promptly – usually within 15 working days of the submission date.
Gallery
Program Outcome
How You Study
MA Theatre is taught across the academic year through lectures, seminars, group workshops, and blended learning strategies. It utilises facilities including the performance studios of Lincoln Arts Centre, the University's online learning platform BlackBoard, and the latest digital technologies, allowing the School to engage diverse learners through a variety of means.
In between scheduled sessions, students are expected to engage in self-directed study, supported by academic staff. This includes allocated and autonomously researched journal articles, book chapters, and relevant journalism, as well as watching video content and engaging with other materials, often suggested or made accessible through each module's online learning site. Students can also undertake regular formative assignments that are not assessed as part of their final grade, but are designed to have significant benefits to their learning.
Scholarships and Funding
Several scholarship options are available. Please check the University of Lincoln website for more information.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Theatre graduates from this programme have gone on to work in the theatre industry in areas such as writing, devising, performing, dramaturgy, and otherwise making theatre. Graduates have formed theatre companies and worked with arts venues, either in administration, marketing, or backstage. Some have gone on to postgraduate research to become lecturers in further and higher education.
The University Careers and Employability Team offers qualified advisors who can work with you to provide tailored, individual support and career advice during your time at the University. As a member of our alumni, we also offer one-to-one support in the first year after completing your course, including access to events, vacancy information, and website resources; with access to online vacancies and virtual and website resources for the following two years.
This service can include one-to-one coaching, CV advice, and interview preparation to help you maximize your future opportunities. The service works closely with local, national, and international employers, acting as a gateway to the business world.