Modern Languages and Drama

Modern languages and drama is a combination that develops two quite distinct but complementary sets of capacities: the ability to communicate with depth and nuance across cultural and linguistic boundaries, and the skills of performance, analysis, and creative collaboration that characterise the study of drama and theatre. Together they prepare you for a world in which cultural awareness, communication, and creativity are premium attributes.

At Royal Holloway, University of London, this four-year full-time joint honours degree allows you to deepen your understanding of drama and theatre while gaining genuine fluency in one of French, German, Italian, or Spanish. You will study performance practice, theatre history, dramatic theory, and textual analysis alongside your chosen language, its literature, and the cultures in which it is embedded. The combination means you are not simply studying language in the abstract but exploring how performance, storytelling, and cultural expression differ across national and linguistic contexts.

The programme includes a sandwich year and a work placement, providing valuable professional experience that complements the academic study, and Royal Holloway's strong connections with the performing arts in London enhance the practical dimension of the degree.

The breadth of skills you develop, spanning language, performance, critical analysis, collaborative working, and international cultural literacy, makes graduates genuinely versatile. Careers open up in theatre and the arts, international business, education, journalism, diplomacy, broadcasting, and cultural organisations. The placement year strengthens your CV further.

The degree also provides a strong platform for postgraduate study in either languages, drama, or theatre studies.