Applied Theatre (Community and Education) – BA (Hons)

Our BA (Hons) Applied Theatre aims to inspire the next generation of passionate and skilled theatre-makers. Our focus is on developing the skills and understanding needed to create compelling new performances and theatre projects with purpose. We are concerned not only with how we make theatre, but also why.

What’s covered in the course?

*media gallery images from 2017 ‘Do You See What I See’ production.

The majority of what you will learn through studying Applied Theatre will be through practical experience. You will bring the skills and passion you have, and learn how to apply them; as well as gaining new skills in facilitation, devising, and all aspects of theatre-making. You will not only be creating new drama, but gaining the knowledge and understanding needed to engage communities, and exploring the world in the wide variety of environments covered by the term Applied Theatre – such as schools, community or health centres, prisons, hospitals, or out on the streets.

Our strong industry links and on-going relationships with many experienced practitioners and companies working in the field allow us to prepare you for a varied career. As the course progresses, you will work increasingly independently, spending six weeks of the second year on a full-time placement, and in the third year collaborating with fellow students in forming professional ‘companies’, working collectively in live situations. The course ends with a festival of Applied Theatre, which serves as a showcase of your work and a bridge to a wide range of employment.

At Royal Birmingham Conservatoire we believe that creating theatre with social and political objectives can have a significant impact on the lives of individuals and communities. We use performance as a tool to explore the world, raise awareness, educate, empower, and instigate real and lasting change.

As an emerging practitioner we will supply you with artistic space, autonomy and choice. With a primary focus on performance, you will also explore the reasons behind the work looking at its history and theories while developing an understanding of the need for constant research, discussion, reflection and development of your practice.

Community-based performances

The course is partnered with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, one of the UK’s leading production theatres, which gives you fantastic opportunities to engage with The REP’s facilities, productions and participation programmes. We also have strong ongoing relationships with the Old Rep and its burgeoning community and outreach programme, and the mac, as a major provider of new work for young people and community groups. Other key partners include Geese theatre (the UK’s leading prison theatre company) Big Brum, Safeside, Women and Theatre, Stans Café and the Playhouse.

The course embraces students from a wide variety of performance backgrounds and actively encourages you to develop your own areas of interest and practice. Recent students have included spoken word artists, musicians/singers, dancers and those with interests as diverse as puppetry and arts administration.  If you are passionate about the power of theatre, and you want to make your voice heard, this is definitely a course to consider.

Many students have gone on to work with one of the 50 small-scale and independent theatre companies in Birmingham, or elsewhere around the world, or to develop new companies, or pursue freelance work within Applied Theatre. Others have gone into other creative fields, or teaching or found that the skills they have gained on the course are transferrable across a wide range of work.

Staff, students and graduates from the course also run Outspoken, the degree course’s own production company that aims to “empower young people to be politically active in their city, using art as protest, making innovative work in Birmingham with social and political objectives.”

Why Choose Us?

• You will be taught by a team which is as skilled and experienced as any teaching applied theatre in the UK.  There are two full-time tutors who are supported by a range of professional staff, all with extensive knowledge, expertise and experience within Applied Theatre. Our team is made up of visiting tutors, and in-house lecturers, all of whom have and continue to work in industry.
• The course has many industry partners, providing you with fantastic opportunities to engage with other professionals and networks. These include Birmingham REP Theatre, Playhouse Theatre Company, Women and Theatre, Big Brum, mac Birmingham and The Old Rep