MA Performance and Theatre Making
Canterbury, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 19,300 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for international | UK: £10,000
Key Summary
Whether you plan to work as a freelance artist, start a theatre company, or harness the power of the arts in other fields through your creative skillset, this intensive Masters’ prepares you through a holistic curriculum.
You will undertake performance training and develop your individual approach to dramaturgical practice in a range of forms, experimenting with elements of devising, writing, adaptation, or directorial/choreographic decision-making. To support your work as a ‘thinking practitioner’ you will also study the wider political, social and intellectual contexts of the field in Britain, Europe and beyond.
As the course progresses, you will conceive and realise more complex public-facing creative projects in your area of interest, and acquire best-practice skills in facilitation and inclusive audience/community engagement, in line with funders’ expectations. You will further apply and deepen your learning through placements or fieldwork study, alongside building your professional network and acquiring key skills in managing a creative career, such as marketing, branding, and developing funding applications. The course culminates in a theoretical or practical dissertation project, supported by supervision and completed through independent study and/or practice.
Why study Performance and Theatre Making at Kent?
A wide range of expertise
You will benefit from studying with a staff team of leading specialists in the field of theatre and performance, whose teaching is informed by their own creative practice and world-leading research across subjects such as contemporary performance practice, psychophysical performance training, adaptation and translation, community/participatory performance, arts and health, comedy and popular performance, physical acting, Shakespeare, and European theatre.
Students regularly connect with our staffs’ exciting activities in a range of areas, including participatory dance theatre (Moving Memory); autism, identities and creativity (Playing A/Part); Chekhov technique in and beyond theatre (The Chekhov Collective UK); performances and special projects led by staff in partnership with professional companies (such as Good Chance’s Walk with Amal, and Projekt Europa’s Project Encounter); our Funny Rabbit Comedy Club; performance opportunities offered by the Gulbenkian Theatre; and much more.
Join a supportive creative community
Drama at Kent is distinctive for developing and supporting innovative arts professionals, both through our courses and our bespoke Graduate Theatre Company Scheme. We celebrate our alumni’s achievements and contributions to the arts and to communities, including Olivier Award winners, companies leading in inclusive theatre- and dance practice, internationally recognised playwrights and actors, industry-shaping producers, and so much more. You can hear from our alumni directly via our ProperJob Gradcast, the podcast that asks how Kent Drama alumni have built their career as artists.
Become part of a vibrant academic network
Postgraduate Drama and Theatre studies at Kent provide a vibrant hub for the development of creative practice and research. We encourage postgraduate students to make use of our close links and contacts with local, national and international (especially European) theatre companies, venues, artists and research projects, to enhance their research and professional development.
Drama at Kent was amongst the first Departments in the UK to offer, since the late 1990s, MA and PhD degrees by practice-as-research. Our international staff team of leading and emerging researchers and practitioners has an excellent reputation for research and supervision, ranking in the top ten of UK institutions for research excellence in Drama and Film in the latest Research Excellence Framework (2021).
Excellent facilities
The award-winning Jarman Building offers professional standard drama facilities, along with social spaces and a dedicated centre for postgraduate students. In addition to the two performance studios and the Gallery in the Jarman Building, Drama & Theatre facilities across the Canterbury campus include two further theatre spaces – the 113-seat Aphra Theatre (a courtyard-type gallery theatre space) and the Lumley Theatre, which is a flexible and adaptable studio space – as well as further rehearsal facilities in Eliot College and an extensively equipped construction workshop and costume collection.
Scholarship value
The award covers tuition fees, return airfares and living costs for a one-year taught Master's programme.
Deadline
Deadline for Commonwealth application: - 12 December 2024.
Hold an unconditional offer (with the only outstanding condition, international fee deposit) of a programme of study from the University of Kent - 31 January 2025
Criteria
To be eligible to apply for this scholarship, candidates must:
- Hold an undergraduate degree at UK first-class level equivalent.
- Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by one of the eligible Commonwealth countries listed or be a British Protected Person.
- Be a permanent resident in one of the eligible Commonwealth countries listed above.
- To be committed to the University of Kent, you can apply for more than one course and/or to more than one University, but you may only accept one offer of a Shared Scholarship.
- Not have studied or worked for one (academic) year or more in a high-income country.
- Be unable to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship.
- Return to their home country as soon as their period of study is complete. In some circumstances, a student may be permitted to remain in the UK if seeing doctoral study and satisfy certain strict conditions.
- Hold an offer by the deadline for a full-time postgraduate taught degree on one of the eligible courses at the University of Kent:
- MSc Artificial Intelligence
- MSc Infectious Diseases
- MSc Cyber Security
- MA International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- MSc Applied Actuarial Science
- MSc Conservation Science
- MA English and American Literature
Further details
Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, set up by DFID in 1986, represent a unique partnership between the United Kingdom government and UK Universities.
Funded by the UK Department of International Development (DFID), Commonwealth Shared Scholarships enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development. They are aimed at those who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.
These scholarships are offered under six themes:
- Science and technology for development
- Strengthening health systems and capacity
- Promoting global prosperity
- Strengthening global peace, security and governance
- Strengthening resilience and response to crises - Access, inclusion and opportunity.
How to apply
To be considered for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship you must:
- Make a formal application for a postgraduate degree at the University of Kent commencing September 2025/26. This can be done online here.
- Complete the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) online application process. For information on how to do that and full details of the application process please go directly to the Commonwealth Scholarships webpages.
- Applications will be considered based on Academic Excellence and a completed application.
- The Commonwealth will accept applications until 12th December 2024 (closing at 16:00 GMT).
Stage 1
Compulsory modules currently include the following
- Acting and Performance Training
- Dramaturgical Practice
- Performance Contexts
- Facilitation and Community Practice
- Creative Festival
- Industry Study
- Dissertation
Many career paths can benefit from the creative, practical and critical thinking skills that you develop as a postgraduate student on the MA Performance and Theatre Making. Students have gone on to work as performers, theatre-makers, directors, choreographers and playwrights; in the areas of creative producing, production management, technical management and design; in the fields of education, and community arts, and health and wellbeing; and many more.
Teaching and assessment
Assessment consists of 100% coursework, including essays, performances, funding budgets, reviews, written reflections on own practice, analysis of professional practice, presentations, reports, placements, practice-as-research portfolios.