BA in Production Arts and Design

BA in Production Arts and Design

The Production department consists of the BA Production Arts and Design and the BA Production Technology and Management, and both of these programmes work very closely with each other in the classroom and on Conservatoire productions. The Head of Production and Programme Leader for the two undergraduate production programmes is Ros Maddison. Ros has been leading the department since 2002 before which she taught stage management.

Prior to this, she worked as a freelance stage manager across Scotland for many years. Ros has been External Examiner for a variety of other institutions including RADA and Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. She became a Fellow of the Royal Conservatoire in 2012. The Production Department is at the hub of performance activity in the Conservatoire and as such our students collaborate with actors, singers, dancers, musicians, filmmakers and performance artists on a daily basis. This opportunity to work with such a large and diverse range of work is one of the ways in which the Production Programmes at the Conservatoire stand out from other institutions.

The BA Production Arts and Design programme was specifically created to train aspiring scenic artists, prop makers, stage carpenters, costume makers as well as set and costume designers. Students on this programme have a major and a minor study chosen from these five main subject areas and have an individually carved pathway towards employment in these areas. The highly practical nature of the programme means that much of the students’ time is spent learning a working environment with public outcomes. This production-based content has a high level of student support from tutors, especially in level one. The students assume more responsibility for their own work on the Conservatoire productions as they become more independent in their process and practice. As our standards are rooted in industry practice, we have exceptionally strong links with professional partners from across the UK and beyond.

As the only institution in Scotland offering degree level qualifications in technical theatre and production arts, we have very close relationships with the key Scottish national companies, such as Scottish Opera, the National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Ballet as well as the majority of regional theatres such as the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. Further afield in the UK we have well-established relationships with national organisations such as the Society of British Theatre Designers (SBTD), The Linbury Trust, the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre in London.