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Combining the study of traditional theatre with performance practice, our Drama and Theatre BA develops your skills and creative vision for a career in the theatre profession.
Overview
In your first year, you learn basic performance skills, technical theatre disciplines, and how to work creatively and safely on and behind the stage. Productions are directed, devised, designed and performed by students, advised and supported by their tutors. Previous examples include plays, installations, physical theatre, stand-up comedy, applied theatre projects in schools, museums and community venues and design exhibitions.
Later in the programme, you are given the opportunity to undertake work experience in the theatre world. Close links with the professional industry are reflected in guest lectures and placement opportunities.
Our diverse range of teachers includes academics with years of university teaching experience, and theatre professionals who have worked in the industry doing anything from theatre design to directing, stand-up comedy, stage management, acting or arts funding. Our technical team (made up of a production manager and three technicians) is equally well qualified, with professional experience ranging from local festivals to international collaborations in opera, film, music and performance.
The course structure has an emphasis on employability, with modules covering a range of professional practices, and we offer a range of employability support. Past graduates have gone on to become actors, theatre producers, directors, and scriptwriters among other professions.
If you wish to combine drama with another subject, we offer a wide range of joint honours degrees, which lead to a combined BA (Hons) over three years.
A place to perform
The on-campus Gulbenkian Theatre seats 340 people and is regularly used for productions and post-performance discussions. Additional facilities include the Aphra Theatre courtyard venue, the Lumley Studio, two rehearsal and teaching studios, flexible seminar rooms, a fully equipped construction workshop and a sound studio.
Study resources on campus are excellent. Templeman Library offers over a million publications, films and images. It is particularly renowned for its Drama and Theatre Studies manuscripts, including collections of playbills, programmes, prints and other theatre ephemera, as well as theatrical biography and the history of the stage in the 19th and 20th centuries. It also has particular strengths as a research resource in English Renaissance drama and European theatre, especially Russian and French drama, as well as specialist collections on Jacques Copeau and Jerzy Grotowski. There are also over a thousand PCs on campus and a range of support services for help or advice.
Independent rankings
In the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey*, 90% of Drama students at Kent had found employment or gone on to further study within six months of graduating in 2014.
*conducted by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
Drama and Dance at Kent was ranked 10th in the UK in The Guardian University Guide 2016, and Drama, Dance and Cinematics was ranked 11th in The Complete University Guide 2016.
Course structure
The course structure below gives a flavour of the modules that will be available to you and provides details of the content of this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take ‘wild’ modules from other programmes offered by the University in order that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas of interest to you or that may further enhance your employability.
Teaching and assessment
We use a variety of teaching methods including seminars, lectures, practical workshops, screenings and one-to-one tuition. Many modules include theatre visits, and theatre practitioners regularly visit us for guest lectures and workshops. We want our students to develop the creative competence to succeed in a future career in the theatre profession, or the wider creative industries.
Modules assessment is based on coursework, projects and presentations, performances, essays and dissertations.
Programme aims
This programme aims to:
- provide a stimulating environment which encourages and assists you to achieve your creative and intellectual potential.
- produce independent, motivated graduates who are equipped to meet the needs of, and to contribute creatively to, the theatre and associated media and professions.
- develop critical judgement and personal organisation skills to enable you to respond positively to the challenges of further study, training or employment in relevant career destinations.
- enhance the learning experience through a range of teaching and assessment methods that reflect and respond to the values and diversity inherent in drama and theatre studies.
- provide teaching that is informed by research and current developments in the pedagogy of drama and theatre as well as theatre practice and the arts.
- provide a broad grounding in the subject in the early stages of study, becoming increasingly specialist in the later stages.
- provide you with creative competence and understanding that is grounded in (and prepares for) professional practice.
- offer you the opportunity to apply to undertake a term or year abroad or a year’s placement in industry.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
You develop knowledge and understanding of:
- key practitioners, practices and theorists of performance, including writers, critics, directors, actors, artists, designers and producers
- historical and contemporary contexts of the production and reception of performance
- the relationship of performance to its material, cultural and historical context.
- histories, forms and traditions of performance and theoretical explanations of their impact
- traditional and contemporary critical perspectives that inform the academic study of performance
- the interplay between theory and practice
- the processes by which performance is created, realised and managed including: the reading of written text and other source material; processes of rehearsal; writing and dramaturgy; devising, directing, design, stage and technical management and producing
- the impact of theatre and performance within a range of social, educational and community contexts
- the reading, analysis, documenting and interpreting of performance
- the role of the audience; the performance and production skills necessary to communicate with audiences.
Intellectual skills
You develop intellectual skills in how to:
- read, understand and engage analytically with a range of texts, performances and other source material
- research, evaluate and productively apply information from a number of sources (written, visual, aural) in order to develop and present a coherent understanding of the theory and practice of performance
- critique performance events and processes
- undertake and manage extended independent and creative research
- understand processes of creativity and deploy and critique these in your own work
- record, document and analyse processes of making performance
- understand and apply appropriate interdisciplinary practices, concepts and skills
- present coherent arguments verbally and in writing
- understand the relationship of performance to a range of critical, historical and cultural frameworks for its production and reception.
Subject-specific skills
You gain subject-specific skills in:
- reading and evaluating scripts, performance texts and other theatre documents from a range of critical and practical perspectives
- envisioning the performance possibilities of a play text, script and other textual or documentary sources
- realising performances derived from a range of starting points (for example, a script; a theoretical position; documentary material; a specific location) and using a range of techniques, structures and working methods to develop those performances
- engaging and collaborating in production and performance
- engaging with current debates on theatre arts, productions, cultural policy and funding
- practising creative, physical and vocal skills for practice-based work, including appropriate warm-up exercises and techniques
- using technical apparatus and associated resources necessary to realise the demands of production in live and recorded performance safely, efficiently and effectively
- documenting performance processes and events
- engaging in research, whether independent, group or practice-based
- considering theories of spectatorship, developing an awareness of the audience or client group for performance, and an ability to respond and adapt to it through flexible means.
Transferable skills
You gain the following transferable skills:
- working collaboratively with others utilising a variety of team structures and working methods, understanding group dynamics and handling interpersonal issues
- developing and pursuing creative projects within specified resource constraints (for example, time, space and/or budget), therefore, developing problem-solving skills
- managing workloads to meet deadlines and sustaining focus for extended periods working on independent creative projects, developing autonomy and self-management
- using information retrieval skills to gather and critically evaluate material
- applying critical and creative skills in diverse forms of discourse and media
- identifying health and safety issues and undertake risk assessments.
- negotiating effectively with a variety of agencies (inside and outside the programme), developing interpersonal skills
- effectively and professionally communicating coherent arguments and propositions in a variety of media, verbally and in writing
- undertaking basic design, engineering, construction, and technical work
- demonstrating numeracy using scale, simple equations, simple geometry, basic arithmetic, data collection, presentation and analysis
- reflecting on your own learning and progress, identifying strategies for development, exploring strengths and weaknesses and developing autonomy in learning and continuous professional development.
Careers
The Department has developed partnerships with some of the major players in theatre in the UK including: Battersea Arts Centre, the RSC and The Gate. Selected programmes offer you the opportunity to go on work placements which can lead to future full-time employment, while the range of modules we offer ensures you develop key skills such as planning and organisation, teamworking, adaptability and leadership.
Past graduates have become theatre producers, actors, literary managers, journalists, authors, directors, performers, scriptwriters for television, stand-up comedians, casting agents, event managers, arts administrators, community theatre officers for local councils, drama teachers, and many have gone on to postgraduate study. We also support past students to set up companies and remain in Kent with the Graduate Theatre Scheme.
Entry requirements
Home/EU students
The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications, typical requirements are listed below, students offering alternative qualifications should contact the Admissions Office for further advice. It is not possible to offer places to all students who meet this typical offer/minimum requirement.
| Qualification | Typical offer/minimum requirement |
|---|---|
| A level | ABB |
| Access to HE Diploma | The University of Kent will not necessarily make conditional offers to all access candidates but will continue to assess them on an individual basis. If an offer is made candidates will be required to obtain/pass the overall Access to Higher Education Diploma and may also be required to obtain a proportion of the total level 3 credits and/or credits in particular subjects at merit grade or above. |
| BTEC Level 5 HND | Distinction, Distinction, Merit |
| BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (formerly BTEC National Diploma) | The university will consider applicants holding BTEC National Diploma and Extended National Diploma Qualifications (QCF; NQF;OCR) on a case by case basis please contact us via the enquiries tab for further advice on your individual circumstances. |
| International Baccalaureate | 34 points overall or 16 at HL |
International students
The University receives applications from over 140 different nationalities and consequently will consider applications from prospective students offering a wide range of international qualifications. Our International Development Office will be happy to advise prospective students on entry requirements. See our International Student website for further information about our country-specific requirements.
Please note that if you need to increase your level of qualification ready for undergraduate study, we offer a number of International Foundation Programmes through Kent International Pathways.
English Language Requirements
Please see our English language entry requirements web page.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
General entry requirements
Please also see our general entry requirements.
Fees
The 2016/17 annual tuition fees for this programme are:
| UK/EU | Overseas | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time |
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
The Government has announced changes to allow undergraduate tuition fees to rise in line with inflation from 2017/18.
The University of Kent is currently considering whether to increase its regulated full-time tuition fees for all returning Home and EU undergraduates from £9,000 to £9,250 in September 2017. This would be subject to us satisfying the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework and the access regulator's requirements. The equivalent part-time fees for these courses might also rise by 2.8%.
For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk
Funding
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. Details of our proposed funding opportunities for 2016 entry can be found on our funding page.
General scholarships
Scholarships are available for excellence in academic performance, sport and music and are awarded on merit. For further information on the range of awards available and to make an application see our scholarships website.
The Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence
At Kent we recognise, encourage and reward excellence. We have created the Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence. For 2016 entry, the scholarship will be awarded to any applicant who achieves a minimum of AAA over three A levels, or the equivalent qualifications as specified on our scholarships pages. Please review the eligibility criteria on that page.