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.

You are encouraged to experiment and challenge traditional boundaries and forms, and to extend your own performance and theoretical vocabularies. The programme will enhance further skills such as communication, self-management and planning.

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.

Another option is to apply for one of our Theatre Courses which is the first step toward unleashing your passion for the dramatic arts and honing your skills in the world of theatre.

The programme sits within a wider culture of postgraduate research in the arts, incorporating a range of programmes such as the Master of Fine Art (MFA) and the Arts MRes. You will be part of a sustainable and burgeoning postgraduate community, crucial to the development of community practice which is embodied in the vision of the NPA.

As a student on this programme you will form part of a wider interdisciplinary community of artistic research and practice, incorporating specialist resources beyond those tailored to Performing Arts, offering ongoing opportunities to share work and collaborate with a range of artists from other disciplines. Your learning journey will be bespoke offering you an opportunity to identify and explore in depth an area of particular interest to you. You will be encouraged to network amongst peers and acquire skills that will set you up for industry.

The programme is designed to give you access to staff research expertise, including specialisms in solo performance, experimental practice, auto/biographical and documentary theatre and performance, new writing, directing, performance and philosophy, intercultural performance, collaborative, community and participatory projects.

The Northumbria Performing Arts team are frequently involved in creating performance work regionally, nationally and internationally and the collaborative nature of our practice is such that it already benefits from the interrelationship with our undergraduate programmes. You will benefit directly from our commitment to the integration of theory and practice and the production of contemporary performance work that is responsive to its practical, theoretical and social context.

NPA provides a base for your developing practice, incorporating a range of resources including specialist spaces and equipment, as well as access to a dedicated team of distinguished, internationally recognised and award-winning practitioners and researchers.

Based in the Department of Arts, you will be immersed in a vibrant culture, where performance work is produced and presented by staff and undergraduate students. You will have access to our seven studio spaces where performance work can be rehearsed and developed, and four spaces suitable for performances of different scales.

City campus has open access computer facilities, which are available to students during non-teaching hours. The Hylife project provides students with 24-hour access to library catalogues, electronic databases and periodicals. Students will use the learning portal PebblePad and will create their own personal website, to help build an electronic portfolio of their learning.

Our programme builds on the excellent partnerships within NPA to provide a course rich in professional opportunity and research-led teaching.

Our researchers promote the global reach of the region through projects including the Neues Schloss curatorial initiative at Gallery North and GIFT, the Gateshead International Festival of Theatre. Key partners such as BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Live Theatre help us create stimulating environments for collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

You will benefit from research groups combining academic innovation with critical exploration, engaging with the creative and cultural industries through established partnerships recognised for their excellence. Our academics are experts in physical performance practices, narrative identity, gender performance and cultural studies and dialogic exchange.

A principal objective of this course is to facilitate the planning, management and review of your own learning so that you will function more efficiently and effectively in your future career. You will demonstrate a capacity for self-directed learning necessary for all independent creative practitioners.

The central pillar of the programme is the Performance Project module in which you will deliver a substantial performance project exploring a specific aspect of practice within a proto-professional environment. This project provides a unique opportunity for you to explore your specific interests and skillsets, while developing working relationships with professionals and organisations within the field.

You will graduate from this programme with transferable skills including: self-motivation, innovation and independent thinking; the ability to think laterally and multi-task; effective organisational skills including project planning and time management; the ability to work creatively in individual and group situations; and the development of effective interpersonal skills through communication with specialist and non-specialist audiences.

You will also develop various practical professional skills, in particular the ability to produce a substantial performance project appropriate to the pursuance of a professional career, and the ability to work independently and manage projects to a professional standard.

Our graduates go on to advanced careers as theatre-makers of various kinds, or to seed or launch their own companies.