English, Theatre and Performance

This distinctive, flexible and varied degree combines the study of English literature with workshop-based practical theatre work, allowing you to explore performance from both creative and critical perspectives. Designed to allow you to pursue your interests in literature, theatre and performance, the programme encourages you to integrate your literary and theatrical interests through a wide range of options. It provides you with a challenging and rewarding opportunity to combine ambitious, collaborative practical projects with rigorous critical thinking.

You’ll be able to study literatures in English from the medieval to the contemporary period, exploring richly diverse texts across different genres, including fiction, poetry and drama. Reading and understanding literature can help us to find out about ourselves and to see the world from other perspectives.  You’ll be equipped with the knowledge and skills to understand literature in the context of a variety of historical periods, places and cultures. Literature modules explore themes relevant to how we live today, including race and ethnicity, gender, climate change and nature, social class, disability, and wellbeing.

With a focus on devised and contemporary theatre, you will also develop your skills as an artist-researcher through practical workshops led by our theatre experts. With compulsory and specialist optional modules spanning theatre, performance, applied theatre, design, digital performance, directing, musical theatre, event management, acting and collaborative practice, you’ll be able to follow a broad range of interests suited to your own academic and professional development.

Throughout your degree, you’ll learn through a combination of seminars, lectures, workshops, practical experimentation and working with both specialist and readily available digital technologies. You’ll develop your skills as a critical reader and a persuasive writer, while reflecting upon the impact that performance has on cultures and societies across the world. You'll become an advocate of the creative arts, developing collaborative, creative, critical thinking and project management skills that will benefit you in a wide range of careers. Our graduates have progressed to careers in film and television, professional theatre and media, publishing, writing, events management, marketing and business, as well as further academic study.