Collaborative Theatre Making MA

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This course runs from January 2018.

Delivered in association with internationally renowned theatre company Frantic Assembly, this MA provides a unique opportunity to develop collaborative theatre making skills as relevant to professional level contemporary theatre across Europe, Australia, North America and Asia. Open to students from a range of performance practices including performers, directors, writers, dancers, choreographers, composers, musicians and actors this MA combines intensive practical delivery with research events and online learning. Preparing you for the industry, this course can help you to develop your own skills, practice and profile as an independent practitioner working within contemporary theatre as a performer, maker and/or educator.

The image above is from Frantic Assembly’s production of Othello: photo by Manuel Harlan

In choosing this course you will join an established Performing Arts department known for industry-facing, research-informed and practice-led provision. You will have the opportunity to study with leading professionals and academics in the field, thereby gaining insights, experience and knowledge in order to develop your own collaborative practice, industry skills and networks. You will benefit from intensive practical performance projects with Frantic Assembly and research events and seminars with leading academics and industry professionals involved in production, project management and funding. Embedded digital learning activities will further support your development as a collaborative practitioner and independent artist, helping you to develop additional skills in digital interaction and supporting flexible and innovative approaches to learning.

Photo: Frantic Assembly advanced workshop, by Scott Graham

As a student on this course you will follow a suite of mandatory modules central to collaborative theatre making. They have been designed to simultaneously develop your practical, theoretical and professional practice skills while offering you the opportunity to create your own individual pathway of specialism. For example, the MA Final Project modules enable you to design your own exit route from the course and in to the professional world whether it be performing, collaborative making, facilitation and/or scholarly research. Other key areas of study include: skill acquisition in collaborative theatre making, drawing on the working practices of Frantic Assembly; intensive collaborative performance making periods, culminating in public performances at an established performance venue; contemporary theatre theories and concepts; reflective practice strategies; professional level approaches to project management, design and evaluation; and option modules in research methodologies or education and facilitation.

Blending intensive practical performance projects led by Frantic Assembly together with supporting seminars, research events, master classes, guest speakers, workshops and online provision, this MA offers you a learning environment located at the heart of the contemporary theatre sector. Learning and assessment activities mirror and parallel professional level working methods and approaches, offering you a range of opportunities to develop your practical performance, written, presentation and digital skills.

The practical aspects of the course will be predominately taught in London with research seminars, symposiums and tutorial support taking place in Coventry and online.

Photo: The Believers rehearsals, by Helen Maybanks