Theatre and Performance

Theatre and performance studies go beyond training actors: the discipline examines what performance is, how it functions across different cultures and historical periods, and what it can do that other art forms cannot. It draws on theatre history, critical theory, cultural analysis, and practical making, developing students who can think rigorously about performance and create it with purpose and skill. As the lines between arts and everyday life continue to blur, theatre and performance studies is increasingly concerned with forms of practice that extend beyond the conventional stage: site-specific work, live art, participatory and socially engaged performance, and the ways in which performance shapes identity and community.

The three-year full-time Theatre and Performance programme at Queen Mary University of London emphasises that studying theatre means being a skilled writer, researcher, and collaborator as well as a skilled performer. You will study a variety of cultures and historical periods across a range of plays, site-specific performance, live art, and socially engaged practice, developing your critical vocabulary alongside your practical capabilities. You will be challenged to make discoveries using a mixture of practice and theory, and the programme benefits from Queen Mary's location in east London, which places you in one of the world's most diverse and creatively active cities with easy access to a huge range of live performance.

With a typical entry tariff of 152 points, the programme attracts students who bring both intellectual ambition and creative commitment. Graduates from theatre and performance programmes work as directors, performers, theatre makers, dramaturgs, arts administrators, community arts practitioners, drama teachers, and in roles across broadcasting and the wider cultural sector. Many also pursue postgraduate study in theatre, performance studies, or applied theatre.