Drama, Theatre and Performing Arts

At Kent, you will develop your individual voice and hone skills to express yourself creatively through performance.

Whether you want to be a stand-up comedian, actor, director, writer, producer, choreographer, or set designer – or even start your own theatre company – you’ll have the opportunity to explore your passions at Kent.

With a wide range of topics including acting, community theatre, musical theatre, puppetry, dance, stand-up comedy, and even alternative cabaret, there are plenty of opportunities to tailor the programme to your interests.

Theatre, drama and performance have the power to connect people, bring communities together and examine big issues. You’ll explore all this when you join our warm and inclusive creative community.

Our strong connections with industry and local arts venues will give you the chance to put your learning and creativity into action through placements, internships and other opportunities.

You can see shows and even take part in them at our fantastic on-campus venue, the Gulbenkian Arts Centre – which puts on an incredible programme of theatre, dance, music and film.

You can also take this course with a year in industry or year abroad.

Canterbury - The authentic campus experience

• Everything you need on your doorstep – stunning views, nightclub, cinema, restaurants. We have it all!
• Easy to get around – walk (20 mins) or catch the bus (5 mins) into Canterbury city. We're under an hour from London.
• Meet your people – over 250 clubs and societies to get involved with at Kent.

The following modules are what students typically study, but this may change year to year in response to new developments and innovations:

Stage 1:

Making Performance 1: The Fundamentals;
Making Performance 2: Staging Texts;
Making Performance: The Festival;
Popular Performance and Citizenship;
Performance Skills;
Puppet and Object Theatre.

Stage 2:

Compulsory modules currently include the following:

Creative Careers;
Theatre & Adaptation;
Performance Design and Technologies.

Optional modules may include the following:

Acting;
Introduction to Musical Theatre Dance;
Popular Performance Project;
Costume and Fashion;
Disability and the Arts;
Writing for Performance.

Stage 3:

Compulsory modules currently include the following:

Creative Project;
Dissertation.

Optional modules may include the following:

Physical Theatre - Ensemble Devising;
Directing Theatre, Staging Ideas;
Stand-Up Comedy;
Psychology of the Arts;
Arts Internship;
Acting Shakespeare;
Community and Participatory Performance.