Drama BA (Hons)

Explore your creative identity with our Drama degree.

• Pursue your passions. Choose to specialise, broaden your skills base or combine Drama with another subject you love.
• Experiment, reflect and innovate. Learn by making, producing, performing, directing and collaborating.
• Graduate with a host of skills valued in a range of industries, from theatre to media to education.

Studying Drama at Bath Spa gives you the performance, critical and creative skills you need to launch yourself into a variety of exciting careers.

You'll explore your creative identity through the core and optional modules in areas of practice such as play production, performing, writing and directing, and topics such as Shakespeare, musical theatre, physical theatre, applied theatre and media and performance.

Among many of the options open to you will be acting, directing, education, theatre production, arts administration, or arts therapies; you could also choose to progress to further study, for example in as Directing, Creative Producing, Performing Shakespeare, Creative Writing and Scriptwriting.

Ways to study Drama

Drama at Bath Spa allows you to choose between a programme with a clear and specialised trajectory, or a more open and varied study experience.

You can study Drama as a single honours award (with the option of a professional placement year), or opt for one of the pathways or combined awards listed below.

Pathways

If you wish to specialise in-depth in a particular area of study, we offer a bespoke pathway:

• BA (Hons) Drama (Musical Theatre).

Combined awards

• Study Drama with another subject

We’re looking for dynamic individuals with an interest in exploring a wide range of drama and performance forms. You’ll typically have CCC or above at A-Level including a C grade, or above, in Drama, Performing Arts or English.

On your application form you should refer to:

• Your experience, skills and interests
• Performance work, plays or the books that have influenced your thinking
• Shows in which you have performed
• Why you think Drama at Bath Spa is the right course for you.

We equip you with creative, collaborative, writing, presentational and communication skills that are useful in many professional and vocational areas.

Some graduates choose to pursue postgraduate study, especially in teaching or vocational training. Recent graduates have gone on to study Master's degrees at Central School of Speech and Drama, Yale Theatre School and the Royal Academy of Music.

Other graduates launch careers in the creative industries, including working with theatre and media companies. Some of our Drama graduates are now:

• Founder of an award-winning theatre company
• Executive Director of a theatre school
• Principal of an Academy of Performing Arts
• Dramatherapist and Tutor.

You’ll study plays, practitioners and genres that have been particularly influential in shaping contemporary theatre and performance. We give you the opportunity to explore:

• Theatre practitioners
• Playwrights
• Performance making
• Writing, directing and performing.

The course also includes a focus on:

• Plays and musical theatre productions in the University Theatre
• Theatre in education performances and workshops in local schools
• New plays written by students
• New and existing works devised, directed and performed by students.

Course structure

Year one

Build the foundations. You’ll gain skills in working with play texts as part of a theatrical ensemble, performing and directing, theatre production and performance; these will underpin your work in years two and three.

Year two

Apply your skills. You’ll work with local practitioners, collaborate with local venues and learn from visiting professional companies and artists. You'll also have the opportunity to apply yourself in a variety of performance projects. Our focus is allowing you to create original work, while you explore your particular areas of interest such as physical theatre, applied theatre, musical theatre and theatre production.

Year three

Develop your specialisms. Increasingly, you'll define and manage your own work, and carry out research into an area of drama or performance of your choice. You may explore topics such as performance, staging gender, modern American drama, staging Shakespeare, musical theatre, theatre for social change, media and performance, and devising. There's also the opportunity to collaborate with staff on projects relating to their areas of expertise.

How will I be assessed?

We use a variety of assessment tasks across the programme, including:

• Public performance
• Playwriting
• In-class performance of devised or published work
• Oral presentations
• Performance of backstage/technical roles
• Critical reflection
• Working as part of an ensemble
• Script analysis
• Devising
• Individual and group research projects.

How will I be taught?

You'll be taught through a range of activities including lectures, workshops, seminars, skills classes, rehearsals, tutorials, work placements and theatre visits.

Work placements, industry links and internships

You’ll benefit from visits from industry professionals. Previous visitors have covered a range of specialisms including: playwriting, directing, acting, television production, theatre in education, and children’s theatre. We also have partnerships with local venues, local schools and local community groups.

You'll also get the chance to take part in Dramafest – a festival of performance that's devised and run entirely by students. This event typifies our way of teaching, which is to enable you to experience a wealth of roles and approaches so that you can find your passions and choose to specialise in them if you wish.

Drama students create the material for Dramafest, then perform and produce it. They design and construct the sets. They take on roles in stage management, publicity, and health and safety. In doing this, they gain transferable skills such as project management, collaboration and teamwork, that they can use in a range of careers.

Dramafest will be a chance for you to discover your strengths and define your own roles within a project; an invaluable skill in the workplace.