Study information

Programme Specification for the 2025/6 academic year

MA Theatre Practice

1. Programme Details

Programme nameMA Theatre Practice Programme codePTA1SPASPA01
Study mode(s)Part Time
Full Time
 Academic year2025/6
Campus(es)Streatham (Exeter)
 NQF Level of the Final Award7 (Masters)

2. Description of the Programme

Our exciting and diverse Masters degree offers you the opportunity to pursue your practice-based and research interests in performance through a structured programme. It is taught by leading academics and practitioner-scholars in one of the largest and best equipped Drama departments in the country.

The MA programme nurtures the theatre practitioners of the future—practitioners who are able to collaborate across a range of performance disciplines. The programme is ideal for anyone wishing to further practical and theoretical knowledge along with advanced research skills.

The programme appeals to those who have experience or interest in performer training, devising, cross-cultural theatre, live art, site-specific performance and contemporary adaptation, or theatre and performance research.

The programme is suitable for students with a range of backgrounds (theatre, drama, performance, live art, dance, theatre in education, producing, vocal performance and related areas) and provides excellent skills and training for professional careers and PhD study.

3. Educational Aims of the Programme

Our MA Theatre Practice programme focuses on practice-based work in theatre and performance and can be taken either full-time over one year or part-time over two years. 

The MA Theatre Practice offers a dynamic framework of studio and seminar-based modules that address a range of practical and research interests.

The programme appeals to a range of prospective students: practitioners who want to develop, deepen and contextualise their practice; graduates who are planning a career in arts education (schools, colleges, universities and non-formal education); and those who want to extend their research into aspects of drama and performance  they have enjoyed and benefited from through undergraduate studies.

The three compulsory seminar modules provide students with key skills and knowledges in performance analysis, cultural interpretation, theatre research and academic writing. Two compulsory practice modules allow students to study in Exeter’s specialist areas of performer training, devising/composition and inter- and transcultural theatre.

As a student enrolled on the programme, you will develop skills and techniques to further your vocational career, theoretical knowledge which will enrich and enhance your creative work, as well as the ability to critically interrogate your performance practice.

The programme aims to:

  • enable you to learn about issues relating to contemporary performance in acting, directing, performance and live art
  • enable you to demonstrate self-direction and originality in performance, and act autonomously in planning and implementing performance practice
  • develop new skills in performance and to bring those skills to the creative practice of your choice
  • provide opportunities to exercise initiative, personal responsibility and decision-making in the complex and unpredictable situations of performance
  • enable you to acquire the skills and facility in independent practice required for work
  • enable you to acquire the skills for the teaching of practice in an educational environment

4. Programme Structure

The MA Theatre Practice programme is a one-year full-time or two-years part-time programme of study at Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 7 (as confirmed against the FHEQ). If the programme is taken part-time, 60 credits are taken in Year 1 and 60 credits plus a further 60 credits (dissertation) are taken in Year 2.

5. Programme Modules

The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme.

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/studyinformation/

Stage 1

180 credits of compulsory modules

a - Choose either CDFM001 Dissertation - Written or CDFM002 Dissertation - Practice (you cannot choose more than one module from this group)

DRAM167 Contemporary Performance Practices is pre-requisite for DRAM168 Performance Practice Project

 

Compulsory Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
DRAM103 Cultural Adaptation 30No
DRAM167 Contemporary Performance Practices: Training 45No
DRAM168 Performance Practice Project 45No
CDFM002 Dissertation - Practice [See note a]60Yes
CDFM001 Dissertation - Written [See note a]60No

6. Programme Outcomes Linked to Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods

Intended Learning Outcomes
A: Specialised Subject Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

1. demonstrate knowledge of a range of international contemporary performance practices; and the ability to describe, theorise, interpret and evaluate such practices from different critical and technical perspectives, using appropriate subject specific vocabularies
2. demonstrate the ability to learn new forms and techniques of performance informed by or derived from particular cultural forms/ histories/ contexts and/or practitioners and apply these to performance-making
3. engage in advanced performance and production, based on the acquisition and understanding of appropriate performance and production vocabularies, skills, structures, working methods and research paradigms in the context of individual and collaborative creative project development
4. plan, facilitate, deliver and evaluate projects that apply theatre, participatory and performance subject expertise in a variety of contexts and settings
5. display an advanced understanding of the relationship between theatre research and theatre practice.

  • Practical studio sessions
  • Rehearsal and performance
  • Performance skills workshops
  • Lectures
  • Tutorials
  • Performance analysis
  • Critical analysis
  • Reflective writing
  • Reading
  • Individual research
  • Peer-group discussion
  • ‘Field’ visits to partner theatre organisations
  • Professional Placements

Academic staff assess the following outputs:
Assessment is via seminar presentations, essays, process contributions, presentations or demonstrations of performance or workshop practice, reflective portfolios, creative portfolios, and a dissertation, which can be conducted as a written research project or as a performance, workshop or placement project with written component

Performances are marked by first and second markers. The external examiner moderates across the range of all assignments.

Intended Learning Outcomes
B: Academic Discipline Core Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

1. operate and think reflexively, creatively, critically and technically to develop ideas and construct arguments on an advanced level
2. research and examine information, materials and experiences, formulate independent judgements, and articulate reasoned arguments through reflection, review and evaluation
3. engage in selected interdisciplinary approaches and understand different theories or paradigms of knowledge in your area of research interest
4. define a research topic (academic and/or practical), and devise and sustain a process of independent research into the field of theatre and performance;
5. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of methodologies applicable to your research;
6. articulate ideas and communicate information comprehensibly in visual, physical, oral or textual forms
7. produce written work with appropriate scholarly and professional registers/conventions
8. critically use information retrieval skills, involving the ability to gather, sift, synthesise, evaluate and organise material

  • Practical studio sessions
  • Rehearsal and performance
  • Performance skills workshops
  • Seminars
  • Lectures
  • Tutorials
  • Performance analysis
  • Critical analysis
  • Reflective writing
  • Reading
  • Individual research
  • Peer-group discussion
  • ‘Field’ visits to partner theatre organisations
  • Professional Placements

Academic staff assess the following outputs: 

Assessment is via seminar presentations, essays, process contributions, presentations or demonstrations of performance or workshop practice, reflective portfolios, creative portfolios, and a dissertation, which can be conducted as a written research project or as a performance, workshop or placement project with written component

Performances are marked by first and second markers. The external examiner moderates across the range of all assignments.

Intended Learning Outcomes
C: Personal/Transferable/Employment Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

1. work independently, set goals and manage your own workloads
2. work effectively under pressure and to deadlines
3. understand how to manage risk, health, safety and employ ethical working practices to ensure safe working contexts
4. work in planned and improvisatory ways, to anticipate and accommodate change, ambiguity, creative risk taking, uncertainty and unfamiliarity
5. identify personal strengths and needs, and reflect on personal development and opportunities for life-long learning
6. effectively lead, facilitate, participate and problem solve within team working contexts
7. consider, acknowledge and respect diverse opinions and the social, cultural and ideological positions from which they arise
8. use project management skills, involving the ability to investigate, organise, curate and realise activities at a professional level

  • Practical studio sessions
  • Rehearsal and performance
  • Performance skills workshops
  • Seminars
  • Lectures
  • Tutorials
  • Performance analysis
  • Critical analysis
  • Reflective writing
  • Reading
  • Individual research
  • Peer-group discussion
  • ‘Field’ visits to partner theatre organisations
  • Professional Placements

Academic staff assess the following outputs:
Assessment is via seminar presentations, essays, process contributions, presentations or demonstrations of performance or workshop practice, reflective portfolios, creative portfolios, and a dissertation, which can be conducted as a written research project or as a performance, workshop or placement project with written component

Performances are marked by first and second markers. The external examiner moderates across the range of all assignments.

7. Programme Regulations

Classification

Full details of assessment regulations for all taught programmes can be found in the TQA Manual, specifically in the Credit and Qualifications Framework, and the Assessment, Progression and Awarding: Taught Programmes Handbook. Additional information, including Generic Marking Criteria, can be found in the Learning and Teaching Support Handbook.

8. College Support for Students and Students' Learning

Personal and Academic tutoring: It is University policy that all faculties should have in place a system of academic and personal tutors. The role of academic tutors is to support you on individual modules; the role of personal tutors is to provide you with advice and support for the duration of the programme and extends to providing you with details of how to obtain support and guidance on personal difficulties such as accommodation, financial difficulties and sickness. You can also make an appointment to see individual teaching staff.

All students within Drama have a personal tutor for their entire programme of study and who is available at advertised ‘office hours’. There are induction sessions to orientate students at the start of their programme. A personal tutoring system will operate with regular communication throughout the programme. Academic support will also be provided by module leaders. You can also make an appointment to see individual teaching staff.

Student/Staff Liaison Committee enables students & staff to jointly participate in the management and review of the teaching and learning provision.

Specialist research resources: We have a number of specialist research resources available to postgraduates: the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum is the largest film-related archive in the UK outside the British Film Institute with extensive holdings of relevance to theatre and performance studies; and the Global Circulation Project on cultures in contact is based in Exeter. The University Library maintains its principal collections in the main library buildings on the Streatham and St Luke's campuses, together with a number of specialist collections in certain faculties. The total Library collection comprises over a million volumes and 3000 current periodical subscriptions. The University library holds a number of resources important for research in theatre and performance, including leading journals in theatre and performance studies, and enables access to many online resources, including Drama Online and Digital Theatre Plus. Students also benefit from Exeter Digital Archives, a unique gateway to a number of digital resources in Performance, including the Exeter-based ‘Arts Archives’ with extensive holdings of theatre training and performance documentation. Drama courses at Exeter are part of the Communications, Drama and Film Department which hosts a regular series of invited speakers, seminars, masterclasses, workshops and employability events.

For further information about research in our Drama Department, please see the Drama Research webpages

 

9. University Support for Students and Students' Learning

Please refer to the University Academic Policy and Standards guidelines regarding support for students and students' learning.

10. Admissions Criteria

Undergraduate applicants must satisfy the Undergraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.

Postgraduate applicants must satisfy the Postgraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.

Specific requirements required to enrol on this programme are available at the respective Undergraduate or Postgraduate Study Site webpages.

In addition to the standard supporting documents required, for applications to the Masters programmes in Drama applicants must also submit the following:

  • a statement of intent: describing your motivation for studying a Masters in Theatre Practice at Exeter. In the statement you should discuss the pathway you have chosen to follow, and what understandings and expectations you have about this area.

11. Regulation of Assessment and Academic Standards

Each academic programme in the University is subject to an agreed College assessment and marking strategy, underpinned by institution-wide assessment procedures.

The security of assessment and academic standards is further supported through the appointment of External Examiners for each programme. External Examiners have access to draft papers, course work and examination scripts. They are required to attend the Board of Examiners and to provide an annual report. Annual External Examiner reports are monitored at both College and University level. Their responsibilities are described in the University's code of practice. See the University's TQA Manual for details.

(Quality Review Framework.

14. Awarding Institution

University of Exeter

15. Lead College / Teaching Institution

Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS)

16. Partner College / Institution

Partner College(s)

Not applicable to this programme

Partner Institution

Not applicable to this programme.

17. Programme Accredited / Validated by

0

18. Final Award

MA Theatre Practice

19. UCAS Code

Not applicable to this programme.

20. NQF Level of Final Award

7 (Masters)

21. Credit

CATS credits

180

 ECTS credits

90

22. QAA Subject Benchmarking Group

23. Dates

Origin Date Date of last revision

24/01/2025