The Course
Performance and entertainment technology is playing an increasingly central role in the live arts, from traditional theatre to live music festivals, corporate events and cruise ships.
You need to be multi-skilled in this increasingly competitive field, so this programme builds from a broad base of practical theatre knowledge to introduce you to wider areas of media, arts and event production, where skills can be transferred to great effect.
Average places available: Up to 30 each year
Career prospects
Typical destinations are working in theatre production, lighting and management, touring lighting design for music, musical theatre sound, opera stage management and production management for events.
Individual graduates are working in stadium stage automation, CAD for architecture and events, aerial rigging for Cirque du Soleil, technical management for cruise ships and multipurpose venues, broadcast camera, radio production, lighting at the National Theatre and stage management at the RSC.
Each year we conduct a survey of our alumni who graduated almost four years earlier to find out what they did after leaving us. You can see the results of the latest survey by clicking on the factsheet image:
The Graduates
Theatre and Performance Design and Technology graduates have progressed to work in diverse organisations including
- Aardman Animation Studios
- Adlib Audio
- Apollo Victoria Theatre (Wicked)
- BBC News and Sport
- BSkyB
- Bush Theatre
- Cardiff Millennium Centre
- Cirque Du Soleil, Macau
- Crucible, Sheffield
- De Montfort Hall, Leicester
- Disney, Florida
- Donmar Warehouse
- Drammen Theatre, Norway
- Guggenheim Museum, Venice
- Lichfield Garrick
- Lime Pictures (Hollyoaks)
- Liverpool Echo Arena and Conference Centre
- Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse
- Liverpool O2 Academy
- Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
- National Theatre of Cyprus
- Nickelodeon
- No Fit State Circus
- Octagon Theatre, Bolton
- Oslo Nye Theatre
- Pleasance Ltd
- PRG
- Royal Caribbean International
- Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
- Royal Opera House
- SHUNT
- Sky News
- Stadttheater, Giessen
- The RSC
- The National Theatre
Many Theatre and Performance Technology graduates go on to work in live sound or lighting on either stage shows or for music gigs, ranging from work with Bat for Lashes to Girls Aloud. Others work in broadcast sound for media companies such as the BBC and Sky News. Some go on to stage large-scale corporate events for blue chip clients, or have taken several tours with cruise ships and holiday companies as live technicians.