COURSE CURRICULUM

The MA in Applied Theatre is uniquely enriched by its integration with the MA Acting for Stage and Screen and MA Directing for Stage and Screen, allowing students to collaborate across disciplines and explore the intersection of performance, film, and social change. This structure creates a dynamic learning environment in which students exchange skills, perspectives, and methods with others focused on socially engaged practices. Central to the course is a strong emphasis on placements, which allow students to work directly within community, institutional, or municipal contexts. These placements are not only vital professional experiences, but also critical research opportunities that support the development of each student’s specific interests and applied theatre practice.The Research Methods in Creative Practice module lays the foundation for this by introducing practice-as-research as a key approach. Students begin crafting their final project by experimenting with ideas, methodologies, and conceptual frameworks. The Pedagogy for Social Change module supports this work by training students in facilitation methods through workshops, devising, and performance-based community engagement techniques such as Forum Theatre and theatre-in-education.Further theoretical grounding is provided in the Cultural Politics and Community module, which interrogates the idea of ‘community’ and explores its entanglements with social categories and political structures. Students engage with cultural and critical theories while examining how theatre interacts with social contexts, identity, and activism.In the Mental Wealth: Practitioners and Praxis module, students prepare for professional practice through seminars and workshops focused on funding, self-producing, and digital branding. Finally, in the Project Platform module, students create a public-facing performance or filmed project, which serves as the culmination of their studies. This final project is developed in collaboration with peers and faculty, and is presented in a professional setting, showcasing each student’s unique approach to applied theatre and social engagement.