Drama with a Language

Drama with a language combines performance training and theatrical study with the development of genuine foreign language competence, producing graduates who can engage with theatre and performance traditions across cultures and who have the linguistic access to work and collaborate in another language. Theatre is a global art form with its own diverse national and regional traditions, and studying drama with a language opens access to those traditions directly rather than through translation alone. The language component also provides a practical professional advantage in an industry where international co-productions, touring and cross-cultural collaboration are increasingly common.

At the University of Sussex, this three-year programme develops your skills in performance, directing, devising, dramaturgy and theatre criticism alongside your chosen language, and the university's graduates have gone on to work with organisations including the Young Vic, Munich Kammerspiele, the BBC and the National Theatre, as Sussex notes. The programme includes a foundation year for those who need additional preparation before the main degree, a sandwich year and a year abroad, as well as work placement opportunities, providing a richly structured set of routes to develop your theatrical and linguistic practice in real professional and international contexts. You will build your performance skills through practical studio work, your critical understanding of theatre through the study of plays, performance theory and theatre history, and your language skills through structured tuition and immersive experience abroad.

Drama develops the performative, communicative and collaborative skills that are valuable across many professional contexts, and the language component adds an additional professional dimension that stands out in a competitive field.

Graduates go on to work in theatre, television, film, community arts, arts education, casting, literary management, international theatre organisations and language services. Further study in drama, performance studies or applied theatre is also a common route.