Drama and Theatre Studies

Drama and theatre studies is a discipline that combines the critical examination of theatrical history and theory with the practical work of making performance. It asks what theatre is, what it does in society, how different practitioners and traditions have approached the staging of human experience, and how the boundaries of performance have been pushed and questioned throughout history and into the present. At its best, theatre studies develops students who can think rigorously about cultural forms while also developing the creative and collaborative skills that performance demands.

The four-year full-time Drama and Theatre Studies programme at Aberystwyth University, which includes an integrated foundation year, is offered by the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies and is designed to empower you to develop your skills and capacities as a theatre-maker and creative thinker. Taught by internationally recognised staff with a wide range of expertise, the programme encourages you to look beyond historic and established forms to explore what drama, theatre, and performance can be now and in the future. The integrated foundation year provides the additional time and academic preparation needed before you enter the main degree, making the programme accessible to students who need more space to develop their skills and knowledge at university level.

You will engage with both practical work, directing, devising, performing, and designing, and with the theoretical and historical frameworks that help you understand and articulate what you are doing.

With a typical entry tariff of 120 points, the programme is accessible and welcomed students from a range of creative and academic backgrounds. Graduates pursue careers in performance, directing, theatre-making, arts administration, cultural education, community arts, drama therapy (following further training), television, and related creative industries. Many also go on to postgraduate study or professional training in theatre, performance, or arts management.