BA in Drama and English

What you will study

The Drama and English course is an ideal choice if you're interested in the theatre but want to study other literary forms.

You'll learn about the theatre as a cultural institution, through the study of drama, literature, dramatic theory and performance practice.

You'll explore the history, theory, criticism and practice of theatre-making and literature. For instance, you can study playwriting alongside textual analysis of plays, or Shakespeare alongside world literature.

Modules

Each level is made up of four modules each worth 30 credit points. Typically, a student must complete 120 credits at each level.

Year 1

The main themes of the course: the history and practice of theatre-making and writing in the global city, are introduced in Year 1, enabling you to identify and understand the focus that will characterise your learning throughout the degree.

Core modules

• Staging Histories
• Performance Vocabularies and Methods
• Reading London: Drama, Poetry and Prose
• Race, Nation, Identity: Literatures of the World

Year 2

As you progress, you'll come to a fuller understanding of the relationships between various practices of writing and authorship, and the London theatre scene in its myriad contexts. In Year 2 the two core modules approach contemporary writing and the stage from historical, critical and practical perspectives, but with a distinctly London-based focus.

Core modules

• The Play Today
• Transforming Realities: Innovation and Social Change in Twentieth Century and Contemporary Literature

Optional modules

• Shakespeare: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
• An Actor Prepares
• Write Action: Introduction to Dramatic Writing
• Sex and the City: From Victorian Metropolis to Modernist Wasteland
• The Theatre Director: crafting productions for the stage
• Deadly Desires/Dangerous Discourse: Gothic Literature and Theory

Year 3

In your final year, you'll choose from a range of option modules, allowing you to follow your own fields of interest in both Drama and English. You'll also have opportunities to contribute to public performances, either in an acting capacity or "behind the scenes," via our links with The Rose Theatre in Kingston.

Core modules

• After Modernism: Avant-Garde Performance from the 1940s to the Present Day
• Radical Writers

Optional modules

• Drama Production Projects
• Dissertation
• Special study: Staging the Nation Identity Politics in Contemporary Drama
• Special Study: Tragedy, Catastrophe, Trauma
• Beyond Text: Advanced Dramatic Writing
• Black and Asian Writing
• Making Shakespeare: Text, Performance and Adaptation

Please note

Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.

After you graduate

Drama and English graduates work in the creative industries as actors, writers, directors, stand-up comedians, outreach workers, technicians, producers and events managers. In addition to pursuing careers as writers, they work in publishing, journalism, advertising and marketing, arts management, new media, education, community arts, the public relations industry, business, and therapeutic fields.

A number of graduates go on to postgraduate study in Theatre and English Literature, or to teacher training. Our alumni have published novels in a variety of countries as well as gained employment in a range of industries where accurate writing is valued. We have industry links with publishers, theatre professionals and literary agents, as well as working writers in a variety of fields.