Theatre & Performance

Theatre and performance is the study of how live art communicates, provokes and creates shared experience. It encompasses a wide range of forms, from the dramatic traditions of the stage to contemporary devised performance, physical theatre, installation, site-specific work and performance in community and political contexts. Studying it combines the intellectual rigour of a humanities discipline with the practical knowledge that comes from making and analysing work across different performance modes.

At the University of Reading, this three-year full-time programme places you at the intersection of practice and theory, and it builds substantial professional and international experience into the degree itself.

The programme includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad and a work placement, giving you direct professional experience in a theatre or performance organisation alongside academic study. You will engage with the history and theory of drama and performance, study approaches to acting, directing, devising and design, examine contemporary performance practice and develop your critical and analytical abilities as a spectator and scholar of performance. You will engage practically as well as theoretically, making and reflecting on work as part of your development as both a practitioner and an informed critic of the form.

Graduates from theatre and performance degrees move into careers in theatre, performance, arts management, education, community arts, cultural policy, drama therapy, journalism, the media and the creative industries more broadly. The combination of creative, analytical and collaborative skills developed through the degree is valued across a wide range of sectors. Many graduates work in professional theatre or performance companies, while others use their skills in education, health and community settings.

Further study in drama, performance, education or arts management is also a common pathway.