Programme Content
Year 1: Multi-skilling for a Challenging Workplace
Theatre production is exciting because of the complexity and spontaneity of live events, and to break into the business you need a flexible attitude and a wide range of skills.
Your first year introduces you to lighting, stage management, live sound, technical drawing, CAD and scenic construction to arm you with a broad base of basic knowledge. You work on our public performances throughout the year in a variety of crewing roles, linked to subject study. Regular production meetings and seminars introduce you to the mechanics of the production process.
You also develop planning and study skills in Professional Development and look at current trends in entertainments production practice in The Context.
Year 2: Focusing your Enthusiasm
You are given more responsible and creative roles and need to deepen your skills to rise to the challenge. You choose the areas you wish to concentrate on to develop your knowledge from a range of Vocational Skills projects which explore sound, lighting design and technology, stage management, AV design, stage technology or site-specific production.
Your classes in Production Management enhance your planning and budgeting skills, as well as showing you how to deal with Health and Safety legislation in the theatre.
Finally, a placement project in one or more professional workplaces helps you to test your career options and explore new working environments.
Year 3: Professionalism into Practice
Your final year prepares you for the first steps of your career, whether you wish to keep a broad range of skills and options, or to specialise in a certain role or area of work.
Two senior production jobs will give you a head start on your CV, as well as the opportunity to lead your own projects. Employment and enterprise sessions show you how to apply for new jobs successfully or how to pitch for work as a freelancer and manage yourself as a small business.
The 21st Century Venue examines new technological developments and pressures facing the modern production environment. You demonstrate the maturity of your communication and analytical skills in the final research project, exploring an area of your choice in depth.
Teaching and Assessment
We start with practical workshops, seminars and lectures to introduce a range of technical topics and safe working practice.
Your learning is integrated throughout the year within our public performance programme and other realised projects for a live audience, so that you become used to working to a deadline and under show conditions.
You take on a more official assessed responsibility through years two and three, but can also volunteer for tasks that are more senior from the beginning to build your experience. You write evaluations of your work and placement projects in the first two years and then must articulate what you learned verbally in your final year to debrief.
Other assessment is a mixture of portolio projects, continual assessment and practical observation.