MA Dramaturgy (Taught)

Delivered in exclusive partnership with Leeds Playhouse, this Master’s programme is designed for aspiring dramaturgs, theatre-makers and creative practitioners who want to build a professional career in new work development.

Rooted in real industry practice, the course gives you direct access to the Playhouse’s Artistic Planning team and the Furnace Artistic Development programme, immersing you in how new theatre is commissioned, shaped and produced today.

You’ll explore multiple pathways into dramaturgy, including analysing text to collaborating with artists across storytelling, movement, design and music. Through hands-on projects, workshops and placements with leading northern practitioners, you’ll build the core skills that drive contemporary theatre: narrative craft, character development and structural innovation.

Because dramaturgy is continually evolving, you won’t just learn existing models; you’ll interrogate them. You’ll examine competing definitions of the role, test them in practice, and ultimately shape your own creative identity as a dramaturg.
Graduates leave this MA with:

· Industry experience embedded in a major UK producing theatre

· A strong creative portfolio of new work and collaborative projects

· Professional networks across the North’s vibrant theatre sector

· A clear artistic voice and the confidence to influence how new theatre is made

This is a programme for future-focused theatre-makers ready to define the next chapter of dramaturgy.

Our MA equips you with the core skills, creative insight and professional experience needed to work confidently as a dramaturg in today’s theatre industry.

Leeds Conservatoire proudly partners with key organisations across the region, ensuring access to a vibrant and diverse creative community.

You will master the building blocks of storytelling and develop a deep understanding of text through both practical and reflective approaches. You’ll learn how to analyse, shape and reimagine the fundamentals of story: structure, narrative arc and character, so you can build your own creative methodology. This course encourages experimentation, giving you the tools to break conventions, innovate and establish a distinctive dramaturgical voice.

The course allows you to gain hands-on experience taking a project from initial idea to final production. You’ll work across a range of theatrical forms, including new writing, script development, devising, physical theatre and dance-led performance; collaborating with writers, directors, performers and other creatives. This holistic approach prepares you to respond flexibly to the wide variety of processes used in contemporary theatre-making.

Come and explore dramaturgy through classics, adaptations, translations, contemporary plays, musicals and, most importantly, brand-new writing. You’ll refine your personal craft and creative process by developing your own pieces alongside industry-led projects, building a portfolio that showcases your artistic identity.

This programme offers immediate and meaningful exposure to the professional theatre world. You’ll engage directly with leading practitioners, artistic planning teams and new work development departments, gaining first-hand insight into how theatre is made at a major UK producing house.

Students also collaborate with a broad network of theatre-makers, from literary departments to independent companies, experiencing the many forms the dramaturg’s role can take across plays, musicals and dance.

Creative and Collaborative Thinking

Students will explore various methods of creative thinking and problem-solving, which will become the initial starting points for later development of new work.

Weekly sessions will focus on case studies of performers, work or artists to critically analyse how research is used in the development of new work and in the telling of personal narratives or stories.

Case studies may include practitioners such as Kate Tempest, Frantic Assembly, Pablo Helguera, Javaad Alipoor, debbie tucker green, Lin-Manuel Miranda or other contemporaries.

This work will be student-led, tailored to the student’s area of interest. Students will interrogate the role of the dramaturg by pushing the boundaries of what makes theatre through collaborative work with the other MAs.

Ensemble Devising

This module aims to develop key skills in creating devised material within an ensemble setting. Actor Musicians, Actors and Dramaturgs will be encouraged to explore performance material created from personal storytelling, narrative and experiences, working in small companies on various projects.

These practical sessions will be tutor-led, where students are taken through a range of methodologies to explore producing work using various storytelling techniques.

As the students develop as an ensemble company producing their own work, they will be given the opportunity to run these small companies themselves.

Students may explore practitioners/companies such as Red Ladder, Interplay, Frantic Assembly, Kneehigh and The Pappy Show, but will adapt and tailor techniques to their personal vision and intentions appropriate to postgraduate study.

Dramaturgy students will help shape these pieces as the performers bring them to life.

Dramaturgy and Dramatic Writing

Through both practical and theory-based sessions, Dramaturgy students will work with leading practitioners, theatre-makers and literary departments to build their knowledge and develop their skills for careers in script development, practical theatre-making and writing.

Students will deepen their understanding of the building blocks of performance; structure, character development, pace, tone, genre and language etc. In tutor-led sessions, students will learn the various ways to approach, analyse and develop texts, working with classics, adaptations, translations, contemporary plays and musicals, and (most importantly) new writing from both established and first-time writers.

Students will also explore the role of the dramaturg in other theatrical practices; dance, opera and puppetry. Students will then be encouraged to develop their own process and practise through individual development of their own work.

Major Project

The Major Project will be developed over a term and will be a based on the student’s area of interest, culminating in a performance and/or sharing . Major projects can be in collaboration with other MA students from across the Theatre MA’s or something entirely individual.