Drama, Dance and Performing Arts
By Neda Mostafavi
Published: 15 August 2004
What do you come out with? BA.
Why do it? Because you adore the theatre, darling. You are fascinated by its history, you're au fait with critical theory and you want to end up in the performing arts. But you won't be taught how to act. For that you need acting school. Some courses are much more practical than others. Exeter's drama degree turns out budding actors, directors and playwrights. Warwick's degree in theatre and performance studies is much less vocational, heavier on theory and history - and on the essay-writing.
What's it about? Lancaster's theatre studies degree is practical, but grounded in theory. Students can't just be in a play; they have to relate their acting to a cultural investigation.
At Warwick, students are introduced to modern theatre practice and develop their responses to modern theatre performance with heavy dollops of history and critical theory. All that is in a European setting. Lots of Brecht and Stanislavsky. At Exeter, students are steeped in the practice of drama. They learn about production and stagecraft - and specialise in acting, directing or writing plays, whichever is their strength. Drama at Royal Holloway is a mixture of the theoretical and practical. At Surrey, the degree in dance and culture entails studying other cultures - Indian and African - and learning about modern dance, choreography, dance history and dance policy and management. Hull's Dance course combines academic study with physical performance work. The students learn to come to terms with a strong physical sense of their self. Aberystwyth offers degrees in Drama, Scenographic Studies and Performance Studies. Drama is like theatre studies including acting and directing of course, as well as stage management, theatre and education, community theatre, and theatre administration and marketing. Scenographic Studies is quite a technical course and focusses on theatre design. Performance Studies is very modern and experimental, not to be confused with Performing Art.
How long is a degree? Three years. You can do a four-year BA in dance and culture at Surrey which involves a year in the industry. Hull's Dance course can be joint with theatre performance studies.
What are the students like? Demanding, brave, engaging, hard-working and resourceful. Three-quarters at Warwick are women. They work very long hours - from 9am to 9pm.
How is it packaged? No unseen examinations at all at Exeter. Assessment is through coursework. Royal Holloway is very similar. At Warwick, 60 per cent is by exam, 40 percent is coursework. Hull assesses the final performance as well as the work which leads up to it. Aberystwyth has 40 per cent conventional assessment and 60 per cent non-conventional.
How cool is it? Very. This is a hot subject because it's the entertainment business. It is very popular. Exeter has around 1,200 applicants for just 50 places.
What A-levels do you need? Warwick and Aberystwyth like you to have an A-level in English or theatre studies. It also looks kindly on history and a language. Hull highly recommends Theatre Studies, Dance or Performance Studies depending on the degree. Exeter doesn't mind what subjects you have.
What grades? BBB at Warwick, Aberystwyth and Exeter. Ditto Royal Holloway except it will ask for AAB for combined English and drama. BBC at Lancaster. CCC is Hull's lowest offer.
Will it keep you off the dole? Yes, if you're driven. A high percentage go into creative arts or the media. Some do further degrees. Others find work in museums, the BBC, acting, films or advertising. Exeter turns out graduates who work in the social aspects of drama.
Will you be interviewed? Yes at Royal Holloway, Exeter, Surrey. Warwick talks to prospective students at Open Days after they have been made offers. Not at Hull.
What do students say? Kathy Slack, who studied at Warwick. "I liked the way the course was structured. You are introduced to the technical, practical and ideological elements of theatre and you can choose what to do in the third year. The teaching is virtually flawless. The lecturers are dedicated, interested and off-the-wall."
Where's best for teaching? Hull, Kent at Canterbury, Lancaster, Reading and Warwick scored 24 out of 24. Brunel, Central School of Speech and Drama, Dartington College of Arts, Loughborough, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Royal Holloway, Manchester Metropolitan and Bristol scored 23; Bournemouth, Bretton Hall, Canterbury Christ Church University, De Montfort, Goldsmiths, Leeds Metropolitan, Middlesex, Newcastle College, Exeter, London Metropolitan, Northumbria and Ulster scored 22.
Where's best for research? Bristol and Warwick got a 5*. Kent, Manchester, Nottingham Trent, Reading. Royal Holloway. Aberystwyth got 5. Birmingham, East Anglia, Exeter, Goldsmiths, Hull, Lancaster, Surrey, Roehampton and Glasgow all got 4.
Where's the cutting edge? At Royal Holloway it's in theatre history. At Warwick it's in information technology and virtual reality. Ancient Greek theatres are reconstructed in 3-D modelling. Students can then explore them with the aid of a mouse, testing out sightlines and acoustics. Hull now uses computer skills with video, lighting and web-based productions. Exeter specialises in actor training and actor theory as well as playwriting. Performance Studies at Aberystwyth is a relatively new field in itself, certainly at the undergraduate level.
Who are the stars? Professor Peter Thomson,an expert in Shakespeare,at Exeter; Professor Richard Beacham, at Warwick, for his 3-D modelling which has brought in almost £1m. Professor Janet Lansdale at Surrey is an expert on dance. Aberystwyth's head of Performance Studies Professor Mike Pearson, and Professor David Rabey, an expert on modern British and Irish playwrights, also a playwright himself. Dr Emilyn Claid, at Dartington College of Arts, is an authority on choreography. Dr Kant is famous for her book on dance during the Third Reich. Professor David Bradby, French theatre; Professor Jacky Bratton, feminist theatre history, both at Royal Holloway. Professor Elaine Aston, contemporary women's theatre and dance, Lancaster.
Added value: Royal Holloway has what is called a Noh stage, the only Noh stage in the West, which is a beautiful unvarnished maple wood affair with a pine tree painted on the back. It is based on the Japanese 16th-century idea. Surrey has a national resource centre for dance.
