Program Overview

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Theatre and Drama in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies is led by a vibrant group of theatre practitioners and who all work professionally in the theatre industry alongside their University teaching. There are five full time staff who specialise in areas such as verbatim theatre, performance, world theatre, digital theatre, theatre of testimony as well as playwrighting. Elizabeth Kuti is a winner of the highly prestigious Susan Blackburn prize for her play ' The Sugar Wife' as well as having plays produced in London and on BBC Radio 4. Annecy Lax is an Associate artist with the company 'Ice and Fire' where she writes and directs. 'Ice and Fire' specialise in making verbatim theatre that centres on Human Rights stories. Liam Jarvis is Artistic Director of his own company 'Analogue' whose work experiments with the way developments in digital technology can enhance and develop theatre practice. His work tours internationally and has won a 'Fringe First at the Edinburgh fringe. Mary Mazilli's work covers work on contemporary Chinese theatre and she has published two monographs in this area. She is also the founder and Creative Director of Lumenis Theatre Company. Jonathan Lichtenstein is a playwright whose plays have been performed internationally and he is also the recipient of a 'Fringe First'. Research students also benefit from the facilities at the Lakeside Theatre at our Colchester Campus. This theatre has been established for many years as a major venue for good drama and is known for its commitment to new writing for the stage. It has a studio with an audience capacity of 30 and a main house capacity of 200. Many professional touring companies bring their productions of new plays to our Lakeside Theatre and there has been a wealth of new work produced by staff and students. As this PhD involves playwriting, you work on an original full-length play or equivalent short plays (70-100 pages or 70-150 minutes playing time, 20,000-30,000 words) plus a critical commentary (40,000 words). A number of our graduates have gone on to undertake successful careers as writers. Other past students are now established as scholars, university lecturers, teachers, publishers, publishers’ editors, journalists, arts administrators, theatre artistic directors, drama advisers, and translators. We also offer an MPhil and a Masters by dissertation in this subject. Why we're great.

• We are a community of award-winning writers, film-makers and theatre-makers, as well as leading academic specialists.
• Our courses span the globe: our expertise is geographical as well as chronological, practical as well as theoretical.
• We offer talented students the support and confidence to respond both critically and artistically to their academic study.

Our expert staff

Within our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, you will be allocated a supervisor whose role it is to guide you through the different stages of your research degree. In some cases, you may have joint supervision by two members of our staff. The support provided by your supervisor is a key feature of your research student experience and you will have regular one-to-one meetings to discuss progress on your research. Initially, your supervisor will help you develop your research topic and plan. Twice a year, you will have a supervisory board meeting, which provides a more formal opportunity to discuss your progress and agree your plans for the next six months.

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Specialist facilities

If you are studying within our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, then you will have access to a range of exceptional facilities to enhance your learning and research, including our Lakeside Theatre . An essential element of our Lakeside Theatre’s programme has been the opportunity it has given students to write or direct new plays, as well as re-define classics and re-discover neglected masterpieces.

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Your future

A number of our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies graduates have gone on to undertake successful careers as writers. Other past research students are now established as scholars, university lecturers, teachers, publishers, publishers’ editors, journalists, arts administrators, theatre artistic directors, drama advisers, and translators.