Theatre PhD

Program Overview

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Our PhD in Theatre will provide you with a supportive and collegiate research experience within our conservatoire, the Guildford School of Acting (GSA).

Our research, which encompasses traditional and practice-based forms, addresses performance in history and contemporary culture. It includes:

Work in theatre history

Contemporary dance

Actor training

Musical theatre

Performance and cognitive science

Mental health and disability arts.

You will benefit from first-class conservatoire facilities including a 200-seat theatre, 15 rehearsal studios, six performance studios, an art gallery, a design studio, digital media labs, and high-quality recording facilities. The University Library also hosts the long-standing and internationally renowned National Resource Centre for Dance.

We’re part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s TECHNE doctoral training partnership, which offers funding and a fully formed training programme for academic, professional and early-career development.

We are ranked 5th in both the

Complete University Guide for 2022

and

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022

for drama. The University of Surrey is 33rd in the UK rankings for overall research quality by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021. The University is now also ranked in the top 20 in the UK for the overall quality of research outputs – research papers and other published works.

GSA staff contributed to the School of Literature and Languages submission which is now ranked 10th for research impact with 75% of their case studies rated for having outstanding impacts, in terms of reach and significance (4*)

Program Outline

GSA’s research activity at Surrey includes access to the Surrey Shakespeare Centre which is hosted within the School.

PhD researchers on all programmes at GSA can expect three levels of research training and support:

University-level training provided by the Researcher Development Programme and the University Library, including a PhD induction, workshops on writing skills and preparation for your confirmation and viva. There is also an annual student-led University postgraduate conference

School-level training is offered in the form of interdisciplinary seminars, visiting speaker events and conferences

PhD researchers also receive subject-specific feedback at our biannual GSA postgraduate symposium that allows you to share and develop ideas in a supportive environment.

As a research conservatoire, we can offer dedicated time and support to practice research experiments and practical modes of knowledge enquiry. We welcome proposals that will result in an 80,000-word thesis or a practice research-curated portfolio (c.40,000).