DRAMA NEWSLETTER

APRIL 2015

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Hello! I thought you would be interested to hear what

we’re up to in Drama at Manchester this summer. I’ve put

together this short newsletter to give you a brief insight

into what it might be like to study Drama here. As a Drama

student you can follow our Single Honours Drama course

or choose to specialise in Drama and Screen. About one

third of our students take Drama with English too.

Students are very busy preparing their practical work

for assessment – from devised pieces, to films, to

presentations - and thinking about essays. But it’s not all

work! A great new arts venue called HOME has opened in

the city centre and they’re looking for staff and volunteers;

Manchester International festival has just put out a call for

volunteers for this summer’s events too. We’re organising

a trip to see Benefit, a new play written by one of our

tutors and staged by Cardboard Citizens. Some students

are rehearsing for Titanic which the Musical Theatre

Society is staging before the end of term - we really do

think that there’s something for everyone here!

As a Drama student graduating from the University of

Manchester you’re not only leaving with an internationally

recognised degree, you’ll have a chance to encounter so

many different experiences and develop all sorts of skills.

You’ll be able to fulfil your potential here and put yourself

on a great path for your future work. I hope you can take

the time to look through the information here and I really

hope I get to see you in in Manchester in September!

Alison Jeffers

Admissions Tutor for Drama

Drama Drama and English Literature Drama and Screen Studies Study Abroad Opportunities What next? Professional Lives. Department News and Events Contact Us

CONTENTS

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DRAMA (3 YEARS)

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This Single Honours course is designed to give you the maximum

opportunity to take advantage of the range of topics taught in drama. In your

first year, you receive an invaluable foundation in the study of theatre and

film. Through lectures, discussion groups, workshops and master classes, you

are introduced to core concepts in drama. In the first year all students have

one free option which enables them to study from a wide range of courses

outside Drama including history, modern languages, anthropology , English

and many others. In your second year, you follow a smaller number of options

which allows you to create your own plan of study by choosing the range of

practical and study courses offered. These include physical theatre and

devising, applied theatre, playwriting, contemporary playwriting and

adaptations of Shakespeare. Project options in the third year include devising

a studio theatre production; writing a play with expert tuition from

professional playwrights; making a video documentary; and working on a

theatre residency in a prison setting. All students have an opportunity to

pursue an individual piece of research which results in a dissertation.

3 DRAMA AND ENGLISH LITERATURE (3 YEARS)

This challenging and highly sought after degree aims to help you develop an analytical understanding of drama combined with the study of English literature. Students follow core courses in each subject in the first year and have the same access as single honours students to all the Drama options in the second and third years. In English, you can select from a wide range of courses covering many different aspects of English literature from Introduction to Old and Middle English, to Creative Writing, to Critical Theory. In Drama, students can select from courses covering a huge range of subjects, from contemporary British cinema to applied theatre and physical theatre and devising. All students have an opportunity to pursue an individual piece of research which results in a dissertation. There is plenty of scope for independent study and original research and the choice from both Drama and English options allows you to follow your particular interests, in consultation with your tutors and academic advisor.

DRAMA AND SCREEN STUDIES (3 YEARS)

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You should choose this Single Honours course if you wish to take

advantage of the opportunities that Single Honours Drama offers, but would

also like to focus more specifically on the study of screen including film, TV

and new media. Students follow a carefully designed core course in the first

year that covers aspects of screen, theatre and performance. In the second

and third years you can choose from a wide range of options, from both

theatre and screen. These can include the study of film music, fantasy

cinema, mockumentaries, different ‘national’ cinemas, Bollywood films,

devised theatre, directing for theatre and screen and many others. Screen

Studies students have the opportunity to learn the skills needed to make

their own films and, in the third year, students can make a 20 minute drama,

drama documentary or documentary film. All students have an opportunity

to pursue an individual piece of research with results in a dissertation.

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STUDY ABROAD OPPORTUNITIES

Students may apply to spend one semester studying abroad

during the second year of their degree and many Drama

students are successful in getting onto this scheme. Exchange

partners are offered through the Erasmus Exchange scheme (in

Europe) and the Worldwide Exchange scheme (eg. USA, Canada,

Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore). For more

information about the Study Abroad Programme please consult

the following: www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/

expanding-study/study-abroad/

“My experience on the Study Abroad programme has built

my confidence and given me a fearless ability to talk to anyone. I

was able to choose from a wide range of subjects and I returned

with a stronger work ethic and a far more open mind about

possible career paths. It was also wonderful to study in the sun

rather than the rain, for a change!” Alaina Black

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What next? Professional Lives

Every semester we arrange special sessions with past students to

come and talk about the work that they have done since they

graduated. Sometimes our visitors graduated quite a while ago and

this year we’ve been joined by actors Toby Jones and Roger Allam

who both studied Drama here.

This semester we’re joined by four students who graduated only

two years ago but in that time they’ve set up a theatre company

called Tie-Dye and completed a major applied theatre project in Sri

Lanka! As well as talking about their work they’re here to recruit our

graduating students for their next project and they’re offering an

amazing opportunity to do some really valuable work after

graduation. When we asked them what they thought they had

learned from their degree they said:

“Doing Drama at Manchester gave us the spark and the passion. The

course helped us establish the foundations for a career in the arts and

continues to support and nurture our professional development after

graduation. Life after Manchester was totally defined by life at

Manchester.”

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Tie-Dye Drama

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DEPARTMENT NEWS AND EVENTS

First year students have been working with Manchester Drama graduate Dickie Beau who is now a highly successful artist and performer. Dickie has been sharing his experience and exploring with the students aspects of performance that he uses in his work. Graduating in 1999 Dickie now says of his time doing Drama at Manchester “It is not the fact of having a drama degree from a respectable university that influences my professional life; it is more the case that the academic principle of enquiry, and of exercising independent thought, have become central to what I do.”

Also this semester students had the chance to see Carran Waterfield, their tutor in devising and physical theatre, doing her own devised piece as part of a research project that is being carried out by Jenny Hughes, one of the lecturers here. Jenny is researching the relationships between theatre and poverty both historically and in current times and she has worked with Carran to develop a piece of theatre about this subject. The idea is to use theatre as a way to discuss some of what Jenny is discovering through her research in an interesting and accessible way outside the university.

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Drama in Manchester. It’s not just for the degree!

The Drama Society has just completed a hugely successful season of plays

rounded off by the MIFTAs – Manchester’s own special award ceremony. Some

of the highlights included a performance of Clockwork Orange in the Anthony

Burgess Foundation and Punk Rock by Simon Stevens performed in the

Manchester Museum. The John Thaw Studio in our building saw the premier of

Grey by second year drama student Michael Honnah.

Every week we send out a student newsletter with a round-up of

opportunities for all our students. As well as loads of information about jobs,

bursaries and internships from our Careers Service, this week’s newsletter had

information about a scholarship for a two week intensive actor training course

in Russia, performances in a secret location with artist and activist who calls

himself ‘the vacuum cleaner’ and performances of Titanic by the Musical

Theatre Society.

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CONTACT US

ug-drama@manchester.ac.uk

Undergraduate Admissions Office School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Room A19, Samuel Alexander Building

The University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester

M13 9PT United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)161 275 4987