Theatre and Production Technology

Theatre and production technology is the discipline that makes live performance possible. While actors and directors occupy the visible centre of theatrical life, the technical and design professionals who work behind and alongside the stage are essential to everything that happens there. Lighting design shapes atmosphere and directs attention.

Sound design creates the aural world a production inhabits. Stage management coordinates the complex logistics of a live show. Production management brings together budget, scheduling and team leadership.

Each of these roles requires a combination of creative sensibility, technical knowledge and the ability to work under pressure in a collaborative environment.

At the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, this three-year full-time programme develops your skills across the technical and design areas of professional theatre. You will work in production environments, developing expertise in areas including lighting, sound, stage management, production management, rigging, prop making and scenic construction. LIPA's strong connections with the professional performing arts industry and its reputation for producing graduates who are work-ready from day one are central to the character of the course.

You will have access to professional-grade equipment and spaces, and you will develop your skills in the context of real productions.

The programme develops both technical proficiency and the creative and collaborative working practices that professional theatre demands. You will graduate with a strong practical portfolio and the experience of working across different aspects of theatrical production.

Graduates work as lighting designers and technicians, sound designers and engineers, stage managers, production managers and technical directors in theatre, opera, dance, live events, television studios and other performance contexts. The skills are also highly transferable to the wider events and live experience industry, and some graduates move into television and film production.