Overview
Explore different modes of performance and drama practice on our full-time Drama degree in Cambridge. Choose to study abroad for a Semester, and get ongoing support to find work placements. By studying our Drama BA (Hons), you’ll develop skills for the stage, screen and other performance media, to help you forge a career as a director, actor, performer, technician or teacher.
Careers
We work with employers to make sure you graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements.
Find out more about our placements and work experience, or the faculty's employability support.
Studying drama will give you the ideal training for any position that requires creativity, self-reliance, imagination, teamwork and the ability to organise both yourself and others.
Our BA (Hons) Drama degree will give you practical experience as a performer or stage technician, and the academic understanding needed to be a director or a teacher. We offer directly vocational modules in Applied Theatre, production skills, workshop leadership and showreel preparation.
If you have an interest in arts therapy, you could go on to take our MA Dramatherapy after you graduate.
Modules & assessment
Level 3 (foundation year)
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Foundation in Humanities, English, Media, Social Sciences and Education
This module will provide students with the necessary skills to begin studying at level 4 in courses related to the humanities, social sciences, English, media and education. Students will be introduced to the core skills necessary to succeed in higher education, including thinking critically, researching, and referencing appropriately, demonstrating appropriate numeracy and ICT skills, and communicating effectively verbally and in writing. In addition to these fundamental study skills, Students will be given an introduction to a broad range of disciplines whose skills and theories are widely applicable. Students will study a variety of writing styles in order to recognise, deconstruct and replicate various forms of persuasive, analytical, and informative writing. Students will learn the basics of intercultural studies and how these theories can be applied to real-world problems. Students will consider social perceptions held across western cultures, and the difference between social and self-perception, participating in structured discussion and argument. Students will be introduced to the core principles of psychology and will explore various current applications of psychological theory. Students will also be introduced to ethics and will learn about some of the key theories and thinkers in the development of current ethical considerations in a range of scenarios. This module is made up of the following eight constituent elements: Interactive Learning Skills and Communication (ILSC); Information Communication Technology (ICT); Critical Thinking; Intercultural Studies; Psychology; Composition and Style; Ethics; Social Perceptions.
Year one, core modules
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Studio Performance
This module will introduce you to effective working methodologies in both performance and production. This will be tested through the production of a studio-based collaborative live performance, which will also explore selected key moments in theatre and performance history through practice. We will begin by considering the historical context of the text chosen for performance, its genre and performance conventions. Your tutors’ expectations of professional discipline in practical work will be set in this introductory module. While they will direct performance and production work, you will be expected to develop your own independence and initiative. You will contribute creatively to performance and production work, to appreciate the importance of collaborative practice on your degree. You may take a variety of roles as a performer or choose to concentrate on the production processes that are essential to effective live performance. You may help to design lighting, sound, projection or video for the performance, working with professional technical staff. You may alternatively work on creating effective set design, choreography, or costume and make-up. One or more student stage-managers will be needed for the whole performance, working in collaboration with all other performance and production roles. You will be expected to actively participate in all the aspects of the rehearsal and production processes that are relevant to your role. You must demonstrate reliability as collaborative performers and production staff by full attendance, punctual arrival at rehearsals and high levels of concentration within sessions. These factors and your creative contribution will inform your mark for the process of rehearsals week by week. This will be 30% of the module mark. The remaining 70% of your mark will be based on the quality of the live performance, whether you appear as a performer or make your contribution in a production role. -
Production Skills
In this module you'll be introduced to the production skills required to stage live performance, and will gain hands-on experience of the main aspects of technical theatre, such as stage management, lighting, design, sound and multi-media. This will allow you to work safely and creatively within our theatre spaces throughout your degree, and will also prepare you for the application and transference of your skills to professional environments. You'll be taught through practical workshops, where you will gain increasing independence in running the theatre space, and be allocated a position within a backstage crew to support one of our large-scale productions. As part of this crew you'll have responsibility for one aspect of the production, such as lighting design, marketing or stage management, and will be assessed on your contribution to the success and smooth running of the show. Your role will require you to develop specific technical knowledge and skills, and to engage in both independent research and collaborative working. You will also develop valuable transferrable skills, such as team work, communication skills, working to deadlines and organising public events. -
Theatre Analysis
On this module you will study theoretical methods of analysing performance, before composing and performing on an ensemble live event. Your initial work will focus on how practitioners create meaning on stage and how these meanings can be read and multiplied by an audience at the moment of reception. You will be introduced to the discipline of performance analysis, learning to ‘read’ live performance. For early formative assessment, you will be asked to submit a 300-word ‘diagnostic’ essay, which can form an introduction to your full essay submission later. You will receive feedback and advice on this short piece and then will be asked to develop it into a written analysis of one of a selection of theatre shows, visits to which are scheduled early in the semester. You will then explore a related range of exercises from The Viewpoints Book, focusing on the physical elements that compose a live performance. These will include tempo, duration, repetition, spatial relationships and topography, kinesthetic response, colour, sound, gesture and voice. This practical work is designed to complement your theoretical analysis. Whereas your analysis separates a live performance into its constituent parts, your practical work will now challenge you to arrange a series of physical components into a cohesive ensemble performance. In this way, you will consolidate your theoretical work with experiential learning about the composition of performance. You will work in small groups to devise an original live piece inspired by your exploration of this range of performance elements. The semester culminates in the presentation and assessment of these performances. -
Staging and Production
This module will involve you in staging a directed public performance. You will form a company and take on a performance and/or significant backstage role to work alongside your director in the realisation of a contemporary performance text. You will engage in a full rehearsal process, in which you will analyse and explore your chosen text within the context of your wider studies of C20th to contemporary performance and associated theories. Your rehearsal process will involve active participation in the interpreting and staging of your text, requiring you to engage with post dramatic practices such as the adaptation and deconstruction of course materials. This module requires professional discipline, including a willingness to take direction from others and to contribute ideas and work positively towards creative solutions. You will be assessed on the final ensemble performance piece in the moment of live delivery for 70% of your mark. The remaining 30% will reflect your conduct, attendance, contribution and participation in the creative process throughout rehearsals. -
Applied Drama
In this module you will be introduced to the theories and practices of applied theatre. You will study the underlying principles and key skills associated with a range of specialist contexts, such as Prison Theatre, Theatre in Education or Theatre for Social Change. The module will introduce you to a range of pedagogical approaches to facilitating and creating drama, increasing your understanding of the needs and abilities of specific sectors of the community that might be deemed ‘vulnerable’. In-class discussion will develop your awareness of ethical issues related to working in this field and will encourage you to relate theatre practices to wider socio-political contexts. This module will allow you to explore Applied Theatre through practical workshops and the critique of case studies from within the field. You will be taught through workshops that combine seminar discussion with practical drama activities, with opportunities to share your own research and develop your theatre facilitation skills. Formative assessment will be by a workshop plan and rationale, followed by the delivery of a group devised workshop for your peers. The final assessment will allow you to apply facilitation skills developed in class within a clearly defined and familiar context. This will lay a foundation for applying those skills in more specifically defined and challenging employment contexts later in the degree and after graduation in careers such as teaching, arts therapies and community work.
Year one, optional modules
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Performance Practitioners
This module will introduce you to the work of key theatre practitioners, from influential figures of the twentieth century to those working today. You'll examine a range of major practitioners and explore different modes and approaches to their work through both critical and practical engagement with their ideas, methodologies and creative strategies. The module will be delivered through a mix of theoretical seminars and practical sessions, with space for you to explore the rehearsal techniques studied. The practitioners might include Antonin Artaud, Peter Brook, Vsevelod Meyerhold, Yukio Ninagawa, Jerzy Grotowski, Ariane Mnouchkine and Elizabeth LeCompte. You'll be assessed through a formative oral presentation and a summative workshop demonstration, in which you will be required to explore selected practical methodologies by leading a workshop for your fellow students.
Year two, core modules
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Making Performance
This module offers you the opportunity to perform in, design and produce a large-scale public performance, created from a selected source text. While production work will be led by a tutor, students also must agree effective methods of decision-making, show full commitment to rehearsals and production meetings and demonstrate a willingness to participate in all aspects of work on the production. This module is designed to develop your skills in performance and production work to a high level; there will be a variety of roles on-stage and back-stage for your group to manage and deliver effectively. Collaborative production modules require professional conduct from all students; measurements of such conduct will include reliable attendance, punctual arrival at rehearsals, high levels of concentration within sessions and a willingness to take direction from others. You will liaise closely with professional staff at the theatre venue during intensive technical rehearsals and your own developing professionalism will be tested during this time. For assessment, 70% of the mark will be based on the quality of the live performance and 30% on a consideration of attendance, professional discipline and your creative contribution throughout the production process. -
Practice as Research
This module will introduce you to a research methodology that treats the live, spatial and embodied nature of performance as a means of generating knowledge and understanding. You'll explore how performance can be designed to test or demonstrate ideas that are not amenable to library research alone, but are practice-led. 'Practice as Research' is a methodology that expands the concept of ‘knowledge derived through doing’ into a research strategy; as such, this module is particularly valuable if you are planning any kind of practical work for your Major Project. Discussion of PAR and more traditional research strategies for the Major Project will be an important aspect of this module. Practice as research will also be useful for all additional performance-based explorations of ideas that you'll encounter at levels 5 and 6. The purpose of this module is to give you strategies that will underpin the research credentials of your future practical work. It will cover both practice-led research and research-led practice. You'll explore how an understanding of ideas can be derived from existing live performance work and how such work can also generate new knowledge. These examples may encompass live art, activist performance, installations and exhibitions, workshops and performance laboratories in acting training. You'll be assessed through your own design of a practical project informed by practice as research principles, which will be performed live, with an introductory (or concluding) rationale for its design, alongside an outline of the ideas with which the performance engages. -
Scenes and Shorts
This module will give you an opportunity to perform in short plays and scene studies that will combine into a substantial themed production. The short play demands intensive work in understanding its variety of forms and often experimental nature, and the technical aspects of such works can also be exacting. Therefore, there are many roles you can take up on this module, including performer, technician, or stage manager, with each team working to facilitate efficient turn-arounds between separate works. You will focus on works that are typically for small casts and of short duration, such as the short plays of Samuel Beckett, Bertolt Brecht, Caryl Churchill, Harold Pinter or Martin Crimp. Alternatively, you might focus on scene extracts from companies such as Forced Entertainment, Complicité, DV8 or Vincent Dance Theatre. You might also use a a performance style such as naturalism, Dadaism, physical theatre, postmodernism, the post-dramatic or performance art to pull together sequences on the module. The nature of scenes and shorts will allow you to work intensively and independently in small groups in rehearsals before coming together to produce a single show featuring all of your work. Your small-group rehearsals will be self-managed, requiring professional discipline and full participation to drive work forward. If you choose a production role, management of the whole show will be a substantial responsibility. You may choose to be assessed in the capacity of performer, producer, technical staff or a combination of these roles. In each weekly rehearsal session you will receive feedback on your developing work, culminating in assessment based on your process work week-by-week as reflected in the final performance. -
Performing Shakespeare
This module will introduce you to the field of contemporary performance theory and practice in relation to Shakespeare. You'll study a range of 20th and 21st century critical and directorial interpretations of plays by Shakespeare, exploring issues like power, sexuality, gender, justice, morality, religion and war. You’ll look at how critics, directors and actors generate meanings from Shakespeare's plays, drawing on details from primary texts, secondary criticism and examples of contemporary creative responses to the plays. For your assessment, you'll select a sequence from one of Shakespeare's plays to stage as an ensemble performance, supported by practical workshops. This performance may include interdisciplinary work involving music, song and a variety of performing styles. You'll also attend seminars that will guide the development of your project proposal, and group tutorials to help you set up your group project. In preparation for the ensemble performance, you'll submit a 1,500-word analysis of how your chosen play has been interpreted in contemporary criticism, and examine a range of creative responses to it in the theatre and on film.
Year two, optional modules
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Principles of Dramatherapy
This module is an introduction to the theory and practice of dramatherapy, as practised by registered professionals in the UK. It will not train you to be a therapist, but will equip you with knowledge of the field and some introductory skills that will be useful if you are considering dramatherapy as a vocation. You'll be introduced to the clinical field and will learn about the principles of dramatherapy and other related professions, such as work in applied theatre, teaching and nursing. You'll be taught through experiential workshops linked to theoretical seminars, and also a possible field trip. Audio-visual presentations will enable you to view clinical work in process. Through these activities you'll be able to evaluate, develop and analyse your potential in this discipline and explore the application of arts media to therapeutic situations. Your assessment will comprise small group practical work in which you will actively demonstrate an understanding of the use of drama as a therapeutic tool. You'll be individually marked during this task, according to the specified learning outcomes. The knowledge you gain on this module can be applied to other modules. It may involve improvisation, role-play or performance, and can contribute to a basic understanding of groups and how they function. -
Twentieth-Century Drama
On this module you'll examine the development of drama in the 20th century through the study of selected plays and performances, and the influence this work has had on contemporary theatre in the 21st century. The module is largely text-based, but may also include works that encompass dance, music, physical theatre and devising. You'll focus on a range of movements and issues in the post-war period, indicative content may include the emergence of an apparently apolitical 'theatre of the Absurd'; the resurgence and subsequent subversion of social realism in British drama; and the impact of the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK in 1968. In the later twentieth-century period, indicative topics may include the literary play-text vs. devising and physical theatre and the antecedents of post-modern performance. Other issues relevant to twentieth century drama might be included at the discretion of your teaching staff. Your assessment will comprise two 1500-word essays, one half-way through and one at the end of the semester. -
Physical Theatre
On this module you'll focus on physical theatre techniques as developed by key practitioners and companies. Figures and topics might include Jacques Lecoq at the International Theatre School in Paris; experiments in dance theatre by Pina Bausch; the plays and performances of Complicité or Steven Berkoff; and the techniques taught by Frantic Assembly. In weekly workshop sessions you'll engage practically with physical methodologies for creating original performative work. These methods may include improvisation exercises, development of mime and gestural languages, experiments with neutral and expressive masks, ‘non-human’ movements, multi-role playing, clowning, chair duets, ‘pedestrian’ dance and the analysis of play-texts for their potential transformation into physical theatre performances. The movement of the body through space, and what this might be made to mean, will be a central concern on this module. This is a deceptively simple proposition, but the development of physical precision, rhythm and disciplined ensemble performance is a labour-intensive task. You'll be expected to be self-critical and able to develop your own physical work towards increasing clarity and complexity. Weekly sessions are collaborative in nature and you must be prepared to play a full part in the exercises undertaken. It is essential to wear suitable clothing to these sessions to enable you to ‘play’, according to Lecoq’s meaning of that term, which includes maintaining discipline in your work. You will be asked to work independently in small groups to devise a physical theatre performance for your assessment. You'll be asked to explain the rationale for your piece in advance of performing it, as based on ideas drawn from key contemporary physical theatre practitioners. -
Professional Theatre Practice 1
Entry to this module requires Course Leader approval. Please be aware that the roles available for professional supervision will vary; you must pick a reserve module in case the role you wish to pursue cannot be offered. This module is designed to accommodate specialist training under professional supervision in defined area of theatre production. The type of work undertaken will be driven by the staffing requirements of a particular theatre or studio placement. Indicative areas of work may include developing technical skills in lighting, sound, video or specialist software, stage design, stage management, wardrobe and make-up, theatre management or marketing. You will work under the supervision of professional staff to understand the demands of each role and to gain practical skills specific to your defined aspect of theatre production. This is a module dependent on experiential learning and you must demonstrate a professional attitude to co-operation with the theatre staff under whose supervision you will work. You will be expected to be flexible in adapting to the jobs assigned to you and be willing to work during the particular hours that may be necessary in your role. Your hours will increase during production weeks; you must demonstrate your professionalism as a responsible, reliable and competent member of the production team at this time. You will be assessed by the quality of your work as visible during a performance event. Where your work is less evident during a performance, such as marketing or theatre administration, a portfolio of work covering your role will be presented. This will be followed by an oral examination, where you will be expected to bring critical thinking to bear on the work experience gained. -
New Media Performance
This module will introduce you to recent innovations in contemporary theatre and performance through a practical and theoretical consideration of new technologies and forms of information exchange available to theatre-makers at the start of the 21st century. You'll examine the technological interventions that give rise to mediatised performance as well as the new methods of its dissemination, and explore these in practice by using technologies of sound, music and video to produce a piece of mediatised performance. You'll be expected to engage with the interfaces between live performance, digital technologies, social networking sites, mass participatory sites of video performance, and experimental film-making. You'll also learn about the production of mediatised performances that can be used as a multi-media element within live theatre practice, studying selected multi-media practitioners as you produce, react to and question the value of such technologies in performance.Your final assessment will be the production of a short mediatised performance piece designed for dissemination through digital technologies. -
Community Theatre
This project-based module will give you direct experience of working as a performer and facilitator within the local community, developing your awareness of employability contexts, your ability to work with and for vulnerable groups, and a wide range of transferable skills. Working as an applied theatre company, you'll be set a brief to design and deliver a performance project for an outside organisation, such as a local charity, museum, Sheltered Housing Unit, school or health care provider. Practical workshops and seminar style teaching will introduce you to the given context, the ethical and practical challenges related to it, and a range of performance styles and methodologies appropriate to successfully meeting the project brief. You'll then engage in a collaborative process to devise and deliver a performance off-site. Your project will be assessed through a formative proposal outlining your performance ideas, then summatively through group performance. The module will offer you direct engagement with the local arts community, such as children’s theatre companies at Cambridge Junction theatre, primary or secondary schools, or local charities. The preparation of your project will develop your awareness of the ethical, practical and creative issues that must be considered when making performance for specific target audiences and in off-site locations. It will also enable you to form meaningful links with local arts venues, service providers and community groups, allowing you to explore the diverse career opportunities within this field while gaining real-world experience of community theatre.
Year three, core modules
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Major Project
The individual Major Project will allow you to undertake a substantial piece of individual research, focused on a topic relevant to your specific course. Your topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an academic member of staff. The project will require you to identify/formulate problems and issues, conduct research, evaluate information, process data, and critically appraise and present your findings/creative work. You should arrange and attend regular meetings with your project supervisor, to ensure that your project is closely monitored and steered in the right direction. -
Performance Showcase
This module will offer you a creative, project-based opportunity to synthesise and develop skills and understandings acquired elsewhere on the programme. Beginning with pre-existing musical theatre productions, performances or play-texts, , you will start by adapting, reinterpreting, creatively reworking and retelling this material. Supported by a staff director in first part of the module, you'll work towards the creation of increasingly new and devised work for public performance. The first part of the course will involve workshops and exercises in which you will explore practically various methodologies of devising. You'll also be introduced to the work of various performance and theatre practitioners and companies who use devising in their creative process, to examine strategies for inventing your own original devised performance. You'll then begin the production process, developing, rehearsing, designing, marketing and realising a piece of devised performance drawn from the initial stimuli. This work will be created as a whole group to be presented to an external audience, the ensemble taking increasing control of their own creative decisions throughout the rehearsal process. At this stage, you will need to demonstrate self-discipline, professionalism and full commitment to additional rehearsal sessions as your show moves towards production. Your learning outcomes for the module will be assessed at the end of the semester through a set of public live performances in a commercial venue.
Year three, optional modules
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Contemporary Texts
On this module, you'll focus on contemporary drama, theatre and/or performance produced in the 21st century. You'll explore, in practice, potential new stagings of the pieces selected, while considering their original reception and production. In the absence of substantial critical evaluation of such recent performances, you'll be expected to develop and defend your own independent and evidence-based judgements concerning this work. You'll also conduct internet searches to access available review notices in newspapers or periodicals and to research any relevant recent scholarly articles or chapters. You'll encounter a range of performance pieces, such as authored play-texts, and techniques used by contemporary devising, dance theatre, music theatre and physical theatre companies, as appropriate. For your assessment, you'll produce a live performance adapting a sequence from any work studied on the module. As formative assessment prior to your performance, you’ll be asked to present a rationale of your creative ideas for this adaptation, an edited script or some work in progress for review. This work should be considered in relation to the original staging of the piece, with your rationale explaining your decisions as directors in creating a new staging and an adapted script. A good explanation of your ideas at this point will clarify your purposes in the live performance assessment, which carries 100% of your mark for this module. -
Site Specific and Immersive Theatre
On this module you'll focus on significant developments in contemporary theatre through detailed analysis and exploration of site-specific and immersive practices. You'll be asked to consider place and space as theoretical concepts and explore the influence of performance space on audience reception and on your own creative practices. You'll engage with a range of theoretical perspectives from theatre historians, performance scholars, philosophers and cultural geographers, and with a range of performance practices such as site-specific, promenade, immersive, digital and applied theatre. You'll take part in seminar discussions and reading group sessions, and a number of practice based workshops, off-site visits and theatre trips. These activities will allow you to develop a sophisticated understanding of the contemporary theatre context that you'll be entering after graduation, and working towards the assessment will allow you to imagine your own creative input to that context. You'll be asked to develop and thoroughly research your own idea for a new site-specific or immersive theatre performance. This will be assessed through an oral presentation in which you'll ‘pitch’ your creative idea, demonstrating its originality, thoughtful relationship to place, creative use of space and practical viability. This will allow you to be ambitious and work on a larger budget/scale production than you would usually be able to at this stage in your career. It will also develop a range of highly important transferable skills, such as presenting, budgeting, researching, exploring creative partnerships and fitting your work into the contemporary scene. -
Acting for Camera
On this module you will your skills in acting for the camera by producing short dramatic works adapted for video. The videos produced may form part of a showreel for use after completing your degree. You'll explore the preparation of video material for a variety of new media and develop basic video production skills accordingly. Regular video playback will allow you to critically reflect on the work produced and highlight where improvements may be made in performances, choice of shots or editing. You'll be expected to participate fully and professionally in all the practical work for this module. For your assessment, you'll work independently to develop a shooting-script that adapts a short stage scene to film, and be assessed by the quality of your acting performance as captured on video. -
Provocations
On this module you'll explore a range of contemporary performance and live art practices that are challenging, often controversial and sometimes disturbing. You'll examine how the body can be explicitly staged in performance art and the ways in which it can be a vehicle for expressing identity positions that are marginalised within dominant western culture. As such, you'll encounter contemporary performance practices that articulate racial, gender, transgender, queer, disabled and refugee identity positions. You'll consider the ethical implications of this practice, its relationship to its audience and its effectiveness as a strategy of resistance to mainstream stereotypes. Content may include the extremism of live art by Franko B, Ron Athey, Kira O’Reilly and Marina Abramovic; activist interventions by Richard Dedemonici and Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping; representations of race in Brett Bailey’s Exhibit B; queer identities in Split Britches’ Belle Reprieve; transgender performance by Heather Cassils and the representation of disability in dance works by Bill Shannon. In seminars, you'll explore the relationships between performance, the body and identity through a combination of videos, web material, reviews, interviews and critical essays from major theorists in the field. Your assessment will comprise a 3,000-word essay, with advance formative assessment by tutorial appointments to discuss your plans, arguments and case-studies. The practitioners that you'll study may deploy shock-tactics in the delivery of their work - you'll be expected to be intellectually curious, ask questions about this work and be open to new ideas, practices and processes. -
Postmodernism
This module will give you an interdisciplinary perspective on postmodernism, addressing twentieth century works that explore some of the fundamental concepts underpinning postmodern practices. These include, for instance, the themes of the unfinished, of the incomplete, and of openness. Instances will be drawn from both the performing and non-performing arts, highlighting conceptual and pragmatic connections in an interdisciplinary way. The delivery of this module will include both lectures and workshops. In the lectures, you will discuss the above ideas in conjunction with examples selected from theatre, music theatre, opera, literature and the visual arts. Examples might include works that develop non-linear structures, multinarrative, open forms, and incomplete and juxtaposed narratives. Examples of practitioners might include Pirandello, Beckett, Berio, Crumb, Calvino, Borges, Zizek and Eco. At the same time, you'll encounter some of the principal philosophical and interdisciplinary concepts that have informed these postmodern practices. Such reflections will inform you in creating brief devised projects as part of the practical workshops. In these, you'll interpret and elaborate the themes of unfinished-ness, incompleteness, and openness, as discussed in class. Your devised projects must demonstrate an ability to put into practice the topics explored during the module, and may incorporate movement, spoken and acted text, visual art, music and sound design. Also, you will have to take into consideration the interdisciplinary ideas explored in class. Your assessment will comprise a live performance of the above devised projects, and a 1,500-word essay contextualising the live performance within the broader postmodern discussion. -
Solo Showreel
This module will give you the opportunity to explore the creative and technical applications of showreel-making, as you design, create and perform in film footage aimed at career promotion. The term showreel is intended here as a form and format in which you can embed your own performative and creative work on video. You can work toward, for instance, filmed monologues, a brief music video, choreographic routines, sequences of theatre or music-theatre performance, or other drama and performing arts applications to be agreed with the module tutor. As part of the module, you should consider choice of repertoire, performing for the camera, storyboard making, video-shooting techniques and locations, and video editing. Although the showreels will aim at promoting solo work, the production process leading to the final outcomes might include small group work, within which you act as a mini film crew and explore different production roles. You must demonstrate a willingness to participate in all aspects of the production and efficiently collaborate towards shared goals. As the module focuses on practical and creative work, it requires professional conduct from all students. This will be measured according to a high level of concentration within sessions, a willingness to take directions from the tutor, and an efficient and professional ethic of group working. Similarly, your engagement will be measured according to the preparation shown in class following the independent tasks the tutor will set on a weekly basis. 70% of your mark will be based on the showreels produced. These must demonstrate an understanding of the topics and practices explored during the module, an understanding of the aesthetics appropriate to showreel making, as well as a sense of creativity and professionalism. The other 30% will be a practical process mark, considering your contribution to the production processes as well as regular engagement with the material encountered both in class and during independent study. This module will support and enhance your future career, allowing you to generate tangible material for future promotion and employability. -
Workshop Facilitation
This module will encourage you to examine and explore teaching and leading participatory workshops in drama and the performing arts. You'll gain practical experience and skills that can be applied as a practicing professional in educational, professional and community contexts. The module will also equip you with theoretical and methodological knowledge relevant to a workshop leader and enable you to practice and develop confidence in delivering effective and well-prepared sessions. Topic areas may include philosophies of education, the sociological and psychological elements of arts pedagogy and the variety of contexts for drama and performing arts workshop education. You'll be expected to reflect on the responsibilities of leadership in creative contexts and develop enhanced skills for future employability. You'll develop skills in independent learning, research and communication of process and product throughout the module. Your assessment will comprise live workshop facilitation, in which you'll lead aspects of a prepared workshop (approximately 15 minutes) and a 1,000-word critical refection that evaluates and contextualises your workshop facilitation. As part of the module, you might be invited to identify a work placement as a workshop facilitator. This can be undertaken either in ‘sandwich’ mode during the semester or in a ‘block’ during the Easter vacation. The nature of your involvement in the placement should contribute to your ongoing reflection as well as your final, assessed workshop facilitation. -
Professional Theatre Practice 2
Entry to this module requires Course Leader approval. Please be aware that the roles available for professional supervision will vary; you must pick a reserve module in case the role you wish to pursue cannot be offered. This module is designed to accommodate specialist training under professional supervision in a defined area of theatre production. The type of work undertaken will be driven by the staffing requirements of the Mumford Theatre, Covent Garden Studio or another regional theatre placement. At level 6, this module will test your skills at an advanced level, with minimal supervision of your role. Your work will often be autonomous, taking a leading role in a production team. Indicative areas of work may be the demonstration of technical skills in lighting, sound, video or specialist software, stage design, stage management, wardrobe and make-up, theatre management or marketing. This is a module dependent on experiential learning and you must demonstrate a professional attitude to co-operation with the theatre staff, tutor and students, some of whom may be under your guidance. You will be expected to be flexible in adapting to the jobs assigned to you and be willing to work during the particular hours that may be necessary in your role. Your hours will increase during production weeks; you must demonstrate your professionalism as a responsible, reliable and expert member of the production team at this time. You will be assessed by the quality of your work as visible during a performance event. Where your work is less evident during a performance, such as marketing or theatre administration, a portfolio of work covering your role will be presented. An oral examination follows, where you will be questioned on the practical experience and knowledge gained during your production role.
Optional modules available in years two and three
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Anglia Language Programme
The Anglia Language Programme module will allow you to study a foreign language as part of your course. You may choose to take two language modules in place of options on your course from the second semester of your first year, or in the second or third year. You can choose from the following: Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Italian, Japanese, or Spanish. In order to experience the learning of a new language, you must select one that you have not learned before.
Assessment
For a full breakdown of module options and credits, please view the module structure.
Modules are subject to change and availability.
You’ll show your progress mainly through performance and practical work, with some small written components or longer essays if you choose theoretical options. The methods of assessment will include studio and public performances, essays, presentations, critical reflections, and a Major Project, which can be practical or written work.
Where you'll study
Your department and faculty
Using our creative expertise and industry connections in Cambridge and beyond, we create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
At Cambridge School of Creative Industries, we believe in the importance of experimentation and risk-taking to create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
Whether writing bestselling fiction, creating challenging documentaries or sharing a piano with people on the autism spectrum, the expertise of our staff goes far beyond teaching. Their research produces significant funding success, leading to important publications and international conferences.
Where can I study?
Cambridge
Our campus is close to the centre of Cambridge, often described as the perfect student city.
Study abroad
You can apply to study abroad for one semester, and get funding to help you cover the cost
Field trips
You'll have the chance to broaden your experience on one of our field trips. Past trips have included Venice, Italy
Facilities
You’ll have access to all our creative industries facilities, including two dedicated drama studios, a highly flexible black-box performance space as well as an additional rehearsal space. In Years 1 and 2, you'll also have the chance to put on a production in our Mumford Theatre, which presents a range of touring professional touring companies, local community and student theatre, as well as music concerts.
Fees & funding
Course fees
UK & EU students starting 2020/21 (per year)
£9,250
International students starting 2020/21 (per year)
£13,500
Fee information
For more information about tuition fees, including the UK Government's commitment to EU students, please see our UK/EU funding pages
How do I pay my fees?
Tuition fee loan
You can take out a tuition fee loan, which you won’t need to start repaying until after your graduate. Or alternatively, there's the option to pay your fees upfront.
Scholarships
We offer a fantastic range of ARU scholarships, which provide extra financial support while you’re at university. Some of these cover all or part of your tuition fees.
International students
You must pay your fees upfront, in full or in instalments. We will also ask you for a deposit or sponsorship letter. Details will be in your offer letter.
Paying your feesFunding for UK & EU students
Most new undergraduate students can apply for government funding to support their studies and university life. This includes Tuition Fee Loans and Maintenance Loans. There are additional grants available for specific groups of students, such as those with disabilities or dependants.
We also offer a fantastic range of ARU scholarships, which provide extra financial support while you’re at university. Find out more about eligibility and how to apply.
Funding for international students
We offer a number of scholarships, as well as an early payment discount. Explore your options:
Entry requirements
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Audition
You will be invited to perform an audition as part of the application process.
For more guidance on how to prepare for this, please visit our creative industries auditions page.
Important additional notes
Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements. Other equivalent qualifications may be accepted for entry to this course, please email answers@anglia.ac.uk for further information.
We don't accept AS level qualifications on their own for entry to our undergraduate degree courses. However for some degree courses a small number of tariff points from AS levels are accepted as long as they're combined with tariff points from A levels or other equivalent level 3 qualifications in other subjects.
Foundation year entry requirements
- 5 GCSE passes at grade 3 or D or above and evidence of two years post-GCSE study at Level 3
- If you have achieved at least grade E in one A level, or equivalent, you are exempt from the two year post-GCSE study requirement, but you still have to meet the GCSE requirements
- If English is not your first language you will be expected to demonstrate a certificate level of proficiency of at least IELTS 5.5 overall including 5.5 in each band/component
International students
We welcome applications from international and EU students, and accept a range of international qualifications.
English language requirements
If English is not your first language, you'll need to make sure you meet our English language requirements for postgraduate courses.
Improving your English language skills
If you don't meet our English language requirements, we offer a range of courses which could help you achieve the level required for entry onto a degree course.
We also provide our own English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT) in the UK and overseas. To find out if we are planning to hold an ELPT in your country, contact our country managers.
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