Applied Theatre MA

This course is in clearing

Overview

Course modules

The programme shares modules with MA Acting for Stage and Screen and MA Directing for Stage and Screen. Through modules such as Research Methods, Practitioners and Praxis and Project Platform, you will have the choice to work across disciplines exchanging skills with theatre and film-makers interested in social practices. The MA in Applied Theatre offers placements in community, organisational, institutional, or municipal contexts that are critically engaged with society. A defining feature of your studies, placement learning enables investigation into your specific interests through practitioner-led experiences that enhance your professional practice.

NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.

Download course specification

Entry requirements

MA:

What makes this course different

Independent projects and placements

Practice-led placements in a variety of settings, including established theatre companies.

Flexible study

Offered as evening study for students who are working or have family commitments.

Interdisciplinary practice

Work with students of Contemporary Performance Practices and Acting and Directing for Stage and Film.

Course options

Start date

MA

Applied Theatre MA, home applicant, full time

  • Home Applicant ,
  • Full time, 1 year
  • £ 10980 per year

Applied Theatre MA, international applicant, full time

  • International Applicant
  • Full time, 1 year
  • £ 16620 per year

Performing arts at UEL

What we're researching

At the University of East London, we are working on some of the big issues that will define our future; from sustainable architecture and ethical AI, to health inequality and breaking down barriers in the creative industries.

Our students and academics are more critically engaged and socially conscious than ever before. Discover some of the positive changes our students, alumni and academics are making in the world.

Please visit our Research section to find out more.

The MA Applied Theatre is affiliated with the Centre for Social Change and Justice at UEL. The centre has a focus on research-led teaching and is committed to creative interventions in addressing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The centre hosts an LGBTQ+ research network, and works on issues in poverty, health, gender inequality, education, neurodiversity, international development, housing and living costs. 

As part of your postgraduate studies in Applied Theatre, you’ll participate in seminars, reading groups, and projects run at the centre and will have membership for the duration of the course.

Find out more about the centre

Your future career

This applied theatre programme will prepare you for a variety of careers in socially engaged theatre-making. Applied Theatre postgraduates generally work in the creative industries or in social fields where creative interventions are supported. Graduates in applied theatre are also encouraged to design and fund their own partnerships with communities and to pursue PhD studies. 

Industry links

Our academic staff are professionals in the field. As such, the course is built upon current industry experience through the network of industry links within the London Theatre scene and beyond. Previous collaborations over the past few years have included work with Camden People’s Theatre, The V&A, The Space, Applecart Arts, Ardent Theatre Company, The Old Church, The Bread & Roses Theatre and more.

Graduate employers

London’s theatre scene is like nowhere else in the world, and our acting postgraduate course sets you up to take your own place in the contemporary creative industries. The work you will be doing with theatre professionals and the constructive help and advice you will receive from professional actors throughout your course is all geared towards helping you establish yourself in the industry. Your final degree show will act as your showcase to attract agents and develop your professional networks. 

Job roles

Graduates of MA Applied Theatre could go into roles like:

  • Applied theatre practitioner
  • Arts work with subjects in crisis across migration, housing, environment and economic provision
  • Neurodiverse theatre-making
  • Arts advocacy in local government
  • LGBTQ advocacy
  • Decolonial participatory practices
  • Arts and mental health
  • Community arts
  • Learning and participation managers in professional theatres
  • Cultural producer
  • Arts policy
  • Theatre in criminal justice, health and care sectors
  • Independent theatre-making
  • Further study in research

Further study

After studying your Master's in Applied Theatre, you could go on to further study with our postgraduate research courses:

MA Theatre Performance
This MA Applied Theatre is sector-leading; offering access to industry pathways and professional practitioners held in the utmost respect and providing its students with invaluable placements and contacts. This is an exciting time for applied theatre and it feels timely for UEL to pioneer the way in using theatre for social justice, politics and performance."
Rob Lehmann

Director of Young Lyric, Lyric Hammersmith.

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated careers support, further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

Our dedicated and award-winning team provide you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Online jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work.
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services
  • Careers workshops and employer events
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme which issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you’ve mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

Our Mental Wealth programme

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top

  • Enterprise and entrepreneurship support
  • Ranked 2nd for graduate start-ups (2023/24)  
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations
  • Support in starting a new business, freelancing and self-employment
  • London on our doorstep

How you'll learn

You'll gain hands-on experience through placements with professionals and companies, exploring new ways and spaces for performance.

Taught by theatre practitioners and experts, you'll learn to plan, create, and evaluate your own projects while understanding their social and cultural impact.

Guided independent study

When not attending timetabled lectures, MA Applied Theatre postgraduates will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and Moodle.

Academic support

Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas - including learning and disability support.

Dedicated personal tutor

When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of staff who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at UEL and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer.

Workload

Project development, outcomes, and impact will be captured by:

  • Interactive portfolios
  • Literature reviews
  • Critical evaluation
  • Research and development repositories
  • Presentations, workshops, and seminars
  • Reflective journals

Details of the requirements and content for portfolios and assessments will be provided in guides for each module.

Portfolios will take the form of digital and physical documents presented online using web publishing tools and or physical portfolios that have been printed and curated into a portable portfolio. From this practice, you will demonstrate and reflect upon the process of creating and preparing a body of acting work for professional display, and further development in production and or industry.

Your timetable

Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible. For our Postgraduate performing arts courses, seminars are scheduled in the evenings between 17:30 and 21:30 to enable study alongside work. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

How you'll be assessed

Assessment methods on the MA Applied Theatre degree reflect an ethos of learning that nurtures original theatre-based practices and rigorous understandings of how cultural politics is encountered and practised in collective situations.

An array of assessment types evaluates and prompts your development while offering opportunities to try out and test ideas through practice, creative documentation, critical interrogation/ reflection, and project delivery. Your final independent project can be undertaken as a practical project or as a written dissertation.

Feedback is offered within 15 working days after submission of your assessment.

Campus and facilities

What our students and staff say

Dominic Hingorani smiling
I can't think of a more exciting place to start your career, build your networks and access world-class professional theatre than in East London.

Professor Dominic Hingorani

MA Theatre Performance
I was attracted to the MA Theatre Directing course because not only does it concentrate on text-based theatre but also various methodologies and different ways to create a performance.

The Black Box studio is a professional theatre production space at University Square Stratford. I love our performances there at the end of every term."

Orsolya Nagy

MA Theatre Directing student