Program Overview

BA (Hons) Drama and Contemporary Performance

Overview

BA (Hons) Drama and Contemporary Performance is all about your development as a theatre artist, performer, thinker, and professional, in a city with a vibrant theatre and performance scene. With a focus on cutting-edge contemporary performance and theatre, the course combines artistic practice and academic enquiry, and draws on established local, national, and international networks.

Course Information

The course focusses on developing you as an informed and original maker of theatre, whether revisiting existing texts or exploring new forms and approaches. It also builds your skills and creativity as a theatre performer, both individually and in collaboration with others. Working with leading theatre academics, artists, and professionals, you will be part of a close-knit course community, working in one of the most thriving sectors of a city internationally acclaimed for its creativity and cultural industries.

Features and Benefits

• Modern Facilities: Based in a modern and spacious new building with a range of fully equipped performance studios, teaching and social spaces, and a 180-seat theatre.
• Expert Faculty: Taught by expert lecturer/practitioners with many years of experience developing artists, performers, producers, scholars, and teachers.
• Technical Support: Excellent production support and resources provided by a large technical team.
• Creative Community: Be part of the creative and social communities of the Manchester School of Theatre.
• Vibrant Theatres: Access to exciting new professional theatre at HOME, The Lowry, Contact Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre, Factory International, and other city venues.
• Professional Networks: Strong industry connections to build professional networks and understanding in preparation for professional life as a graduate.

Accreditations, Awards, and Endorsements

• Teaching Excellence Framework: We have received an overall gold status in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), meaning we're rated as an outstanding university for our student experience.
• National Student Survey 2025 (NSS): 97.4% of students were positive about teaching staff being good at explaining things.

Year 1

In Year 1, you will be introduced to key concepts and strategies relating to the production of theatre, including performance styles and techniques, contemporary debates in the context of drama, and the creative process, before developing your own staff-led performance project.

Core Modules

• Performing: This practical module will introduce you to a range of performance strategies, styles, and techniques, with an emphasis on the performer’s integral relationship to the creative process.
• Critical Perspectives 1: This module will introduce you to key critical concepts and debates in drama, theatre, and performance. You will learn about and debate these issues in the context of drama and contemporary performance.
• Project 1: This module provides you with the opportunity to develop and apply performance practice within a staff-led, ensemble-based performance project.
• An Introduction to Directing and Dramaturgy: This studio-based module introduces and explores some of the key practices and strategies employed in the making of new theatre, using a combination of practical exercises and critical study.

Year 2

Year 2 will allow for the development of specialisations in performance and composition, acting and directing, whilst gaining an understanding of the history of theatre throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries. The year culminates in a public-facing performance and critical reflection.

Core Modules

• Performing and Acting: Building on the work undertaken in the Performing module at Level 4, this module will introduce students to key practical skills in acting and performing informed by a range of artists and companies.
• Critical Perspectives 2: This module will contextualise contemporary theatre and performance within the historical, artistic, and conceptual contexts of the 20th and 21st centuries.
• Project 2: This module facilitates a range of staff-led public-facing performance projects, in which you will engage directly in the creative process, performance, production, and critical reflection.
• Theatre Making: This module explores collaborative theatre-making in relation to contemporary play texts and devising practices, and includes an extended experience of creative collaboration working in small groups.

Year 3

In Year 3, you will enhance your understanding of and discuss critical issues in drama whilst developing research skills and self-evaluation methods. The year also features two performance projects undertaken with the supervision of tutors and professional artists.

Core Modules

• Project 3: This module provides you with the opportunity to engage in two performance projects, one with the input of a professional artist and the other tutor supervised, with the second responding to the experience of the first.
• Professional Practice: This module enables you to adopt an informed and pro-active approach to the key professional pathways available to you when you graduate, with a focus on professional skills, profiling, contexts, processes, and outputs.
• Project 4: This module facilitates a range of student-led, supervised performance projects, in which you will engage directly in the creative process, performance, production, and critical reflection.
• Critical Practice in Contemporary Performance: This module enables you to develop your critical analysis and research skills in theatre and performance practices. Building on the work undertaken at earlier levels of study, you will further develop your independent research skills.

Study and Assessment

• Study: 40% lectures, seminars, or similar; 60% independent study in each year.
• Assessment: 100% coursework in each year.

Entry Requirements

• Typical Offer: 104-112 UCAS tariff points.
• IELTS Score: 6.0 overall with no individual element below 5.5.
• UK Students:
  • Level 3 qualifications: 104-112 UCAS tariff points.
  • GCE A levels: grades BCC or equivalent.
  • Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma: grade DMM.
  • Access to HE Diploma: Pass overall with a minimum 106 UCAS Tariff points.
  • UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma: grade of Merit overall.
  • OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma: grade DMM.
  • T level: We welcome applications from students undertaking T level qualifications. Eligible applicants will be asked to achieve a minimum overall grade of Merit as a condition of offer.
  • IB Diploma: Pass overall with a minimum overall score of 26 or minimum 104 UCAS Tariff points from three Higher Level subjects.
• International Students:
  • IB Diploma: with minimum 26 points overall or 104 UCAS Tariff points from three Higher Level subjects.
  • IELTS: 6.0 overall with no individual element below 5.5.

Fees and Funding

Tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are still being finalised for all courses.

Careers Support and Prospects

• Employed or in Further Study: 88.7% of our UK-domiciled, full-time, first-degree graduates are employed or in further study 15 months after graduation.
• Explore Your Options and Build Sought-After Skills: Through our Careers Service, you will be supported and encouraged to get ready for further study or working life, including starting your own business.
• A Career as Unique as You: This course will enable you to gain the skills and understanding to work professionally as a theatre maker, performer, director, producer, facilitator, or teacher, or to move into other creative industries, as well as to engage in further academic study and research. You will also develop key transferable skills including teamwork, creative thinking, leadership, and communication.