MA Theatre Directing

If you want to pursue a professional career as a theatre director, underpinned by a clear intellectual understanding of your practice, then our exceptional and practical MA course is ideally suited to you.

It provides an opportunity to develop your directing practice through an active engagement with critical thinking so that you will have the tools to become an independent creative artist in the industry.

The diversity of our student intake is our course's strength. It's open to those with professional as well as academic experience.

As well as taking part in master classes by visiting professional artists, you will learn from and work with staff who are both academics and professional practitioners with industry knowledge.

You will study a broad range of approaches to performance-making from traditional text-based work to intercultural and digital performance and contemporary devising.

We teach you at our brand new performing arts building in Stratford with its industry-standard studios and theatre production spaces. Beyond the University, you will also have the opportunity to show your work in professional venues.

The MA Theatre Directing course takes a practice-based approach as it explores different directing methodologies - naturalism, realism, intercultural performance and contemporary devising practices.

You will gain the skills needed to create innovative and exciting performance work and to be able to operate as a professional theatre director and independent creative producer.

Your modules will feature Director Training, which looks at the key building blocks of working with an actor on voice, body and offers an in-depth Stanislavskian approach for the director working with text.

The Staging Performance module develops your skills as an independent producer and builds up to your performance, for which you'll be mentored by a professional theatre company.

You will study a range of contemporary performance practices as well as honing advanced research skills as you prepare for your dissertation piece - a final directorial showcase performance to be enacted in a professional venue.

• Bachelor's degree: GPA of 2.5 / 4 or overall classification of "Good" or higher
• UK Bachelor's degree with Honours: Second Class, Second Division or higher
• US Bachelor's degree: GPA 2.5 / 4

Extended Diploma or Diploma

FROM

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

Diploma with 24 points including a minimum of 15 points at Higher Level

The work you will be doing with theatre professionals and the constructive help and advice you will receive from professional actors throughout your course is all geared towards helping you establish yourself in the industry.

Your final degree show will act as your showcase to attract agents and develop your professional networks. 

By having your own mentor in the last six months of your course, you will not only gain important insight and advice about the technical aspects of acting but you will receive invaluable help in developing important contacts.

Because our Staging Performance module is mentored by a theatre company, this could also open doors to performing your own work. It certainly has for previous students.

We believe our course helps nurture independent-minded, creative individuals – people like Tom Drayton, who graduated in 2014, has set up his own theatre company and is also busy with freelance work, including running workshops for children.

He produced the first ever free production of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd on the Edinburgh Fringe and, during his UEL studies, he directed and produced the acclaimed Twentysomething: a reading list, which focused on the plight of recent arts graduates following the economic recession.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.