University takes centre stage with leading theatres to launch unique playwriting degree
The University of Salford is to launch a playwriting Masters degree which, for the first time in the UK, will be run in formal partnership with some of the country’s leading theatres.
The affiliation with Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatre and the Octagon Theatre Bolton will involve the organisations teaching two modules of the MA, offering aspiring playwrights a unique opportunity to learn from professionals and gain an insight into the running of major theatres.
The course will also be taught at the University of Salford’s MediaCityUK base, with facilities including an experimental performance space – the Digital Performance Lab – incorporating the latest audiovisual and broadcast technologies, and professional standard TV and radio studios.
Suzanne Bell, New Writing Associate at the Royal Exchange Theatre, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the University of Salford in this new way of working. This supports our ambitions as an organisation to nurture and develop new talent, placing the role of the playwright at the heart of our work and ensuring this industry flourishes in future generations.”
Course creator and programme leader Jennifer Tuckett, from the University’s School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences, commented: “The MA in Playwriting is the culmination of a new approach to industry-partnered teaching which the University has been pioneering for the last five years. In that time we have seen the number of students studying playwriting at the University rise from zero in 2008 to over 80 in the last academic year.”
A free launch event for the MA, taking place at the University’s MediaCityUK building on Friday 19 April, will give prospective students the opportunity to talk to staff and learn more about the course, which will accept 15 students a year. Attendees can also take part in a free masterclass led by award-winning playwright Alistair McDowall, who is a winner of a Judge's Award in the 2011 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.
For further information on the launch event, and to book a place, visit the University's events page. To find out more about the MA in playwriting, go to the course information page.
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