Theatre and English, BA (Hons)

Course summary

Storytelling is part of every culture and reveals much about a person’s lived experience, values and aspirations within a given time, whether presented as drama or prose on a page.Theatre and English BA will help you to become a critical and creative communicator equipped for a variety of creative roles as you discover the richness of theatre making and literature side by side, developing as a creative along the way.The theatrical side of your course will teach you specialist skills in a range of performance genres like physical, musical and digital theatre.A blended approach to learning means you’ll have a mix of practical classes in acting, writing and ensemble production, together with more theoretically focussed content, with plenty of opportunities for collaboration.You’ll learn theatre in Brunel’s purpose-built Antonin Artaud Performance Centre (AA), which is rather like being in drama school with its main theatre, two studio spaces, rehearsal rooms and recording studios.AA facilities regularly host Arts@Artaud nights showcasing new music, film, creative writing and drama presented by Brunel students.The English half of your course commences with a module on ‘Reading Resilience’ to help prepare you with the necessary skills for literary studies.In years two and three a wealth of optional modules await you covering a variety of periods and genres from Shakespeare to Jane Austen, to contemporary and genre fiction.Established links with the creative industries offer plenty of opportunities to hear from guest speakers and alumni on campus. Off campus, Brunel’s easy access to central London helps to facilitate regular class trips to explore theatre and culture.Uniquely for a theatre degree, the option of a work placement year is an unmissable opportunity to find out where your interests lie and to increase your attractiveness to future employers.Students from the course have completed placements in a variety of organisations including the London’s Park Theatre, Rose Wisksteed Casting, Unicorn Theatre and Icarus Theatre Company.

Year 1 Core Modules Reading Resilience Perspectives 1: Introduction to Theatre Studies World Literature, World Literacies Creative Reading Portfolio Ensemble Production Optional Modules Acting: Essential Skills Applied Drama Practice 1: An Introduction Physical Theatre 1: Between Dance and Theatre Theatre Making 1 Digital Performance 1 Musical Theatre 1 Year 2 Core Modules Perspectives Optional Modules Writing 2: Experiments in Language for Performance Physical Theatre 2: Performance and Embodiment Acting Beyond Naturalism Digital Performance 2 Musical Theatre 2: Histories, Practices and Theories The Nineteenth-Century Novel Shakespeare: Text and Performance Modernism Romanticism and Revolution The Women’s Movement: 20th Century and Contemporary Writing Contemporary British and Irish Fiction Genre Fiction Theatre Making 2 Applied Drama 2: Project Performance as Research: Second Year Production Module Post-Colonial Writing Year 3 Core Modules Final Production (Practical) Written Dissertation Project English Project Written Dissertation Single Optional Modules Perspectives 3: Battling with Ideas Professional Experience and Development Advanced Physical Theatre 3 Psychogeography Advanced Musical Theatre 3 Post War and Late 20th Century Literature 1945-2001 Victorian Literature and Culture Jane Austen and Her Novels Writing Ireland The Creative Industries Violence Psychogeography Advanced Acting The Canon Re-loaded New Writing: Page to Stage Chaucer to Shakespeare Creative Industries and Labour Practices Digital Performance and Technology 3 Modern and Contemporary Lesbian Literature Writing Poetry for Performance