Writing for Performance MA

The module provides a grounding in performance writing and introduces you to a range of genres, styles, and approaches. You will map the contemporary writing landscape, focusing on structure and disruptions of typical forms of storytelling, post-dramatic texts, and multimedia writing practices.

The module introduces you to a range of practical skills and exercises that will develop your writing skills and support experimentation. Throughout the module, you will be encouraged to value drafting, redrafting, and experimenting with genres and styles, all of which will support you to find your voice as a writer. Workshop practice will be at the forefront of our teaching, and you will work with lecturers, visiting professional writers, and your peers to hone your craft and discover ways of working that will aid your creativity and writing skills.

This module supports your individual interests in the field of writing for performance with special attention given to the wider contexts of audiences, industries, and markets. The key element of this module is situating creative work in the professional world, emphasising the place of writing in relation to entrepreneurship. You are encouraged to become an independent artist, enabling you to consider self-employment, with sessions on funding applications, pitching work, and developing an effective professional artistic portfolio within a competitive marketplace.

This module will help you develop your writing practice in preparation for your production of a full script for your Creative Project. You will study in a workshop environment, sharing your ideas with your fellow students, and working closely with a tutor to develop your ideas. There will also be opportunities to consider the performance of the written word and the interconnections between script and performance. Throughout, there will be the opportunity to work with fellow writers to explore texts and script ideas as well as experimenting with genre and style.

For this module you will produce a full script in your chosen performance genre, with the support of a tutor. There will also be the opportunity to take part in scriptwriting surgeries, and workshops.