Program Overview

Are you looking to develop and hone your skills as an independent creative practitioner and postgraduate academic? This programme offers a bespoke learning experience tailored to your own specialisms and ambition, all within the Northumbria Theatre and Performance hub.

MA Theatre and Performance is an innovative postgraduate programme that is rich in opportunity and diverse in content and reach. The programme promotes creativity, experimentation and risk-taking for students as makers and scholars. It fosters an enhanced understanding of the skills required for sustaining careers in academic and professional arts sectors. This MA is firmly embedded in the cultural community of professional practice and academic scholarship in North East England.

Our programme aims to generate the theatre and performance makers and scholars of the future. We offer you the opportunity to explore an area of developing practice.

You will benefit from research groups combining academic innovation with critical exploration. You will engage with the creative and cultural industries through Newcastle Arts organisations recognised for their excellence, such as The BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Northern Stage and Live Theatre, Gallery North, GIFT and Alphabetti Theatre providing excellent opportunities to explore and develop your work.

Our Theatre and Performance MA is housed within an exciting, research-active subject area. It includes students studying Fine Art, Media, Film and Television Production and a vibrant Post Graduate Research (PhD) community.

The programme will provide you with advanced skills and an understanding of practice and research, within a wider professional context. It will enable you to reflect critically and imaginatively on your own learning and thinking. This will help you understand the complex relationship between working as an artist and theorist within an industry and academic context.

The programme is led by academic staff and industry professionals. It aims to acquire the necessary skills for professional and academic work. Past graduates have gone on to work as a contemporary theatre maker, performer, writer, facilitator, community-engaged practitioner or further study. You can also check out a Film Studies degree that opens the door to a world of cinematic exploration, offering the chance to analyse and appreciate the artistic, cultural, and social significance of movies from various genres and eras.