Why Applied Theatre at Warwick?

Warwick University is located in the beautiful county of Warwickshire. It boasts an environmentally friendly, robust and colourful campus in the midst of the green, English countryside. Surrounded by pretty little towns and villages, it’s also on the door step of the vibrant city of Coventry. Students, professionals and artists are welcomed nationwide from a multitude of backgrounds to share in Warwick’s fantastic grounds and facilities. The university hub is thriving with creativity, academia, friendships and activities which is continuously growing and developing with the times.

The Warwick Arts Centre is a creative gem in the heart of the country with so many exiting events happening on a day to day basis. It has drawn me to the Warwick campus on countless occasions, with it’s varied and eclectic programme of performances. A couple of memorable nights I had pre-postgrad days was to see the fabulous Joanna Lumley strut her stuff on stage, telling tales of her journey to stardom. And the most mesmerising, funny and touching solo performance by Shakespeare actor, Mark Lockyer called Living with the Lights On about his experience living with Bipolar. One priceless perk of studying at Warwick is the opportunity to see some shows for free!

On my look out for Dramatherapy courses, I was stopped in my tracks at the sight of Applied Theatre MA: Arts, Action, Change at Warwick. The description sang to me as an emerging pracitioner with a background in theatre and education wanting to reflect upon, refresh and develop skills. I wanted to explore theatre’s potential of inspiring creative expression for change having been considering therapy for a while. However, it soon occurred to me that to pursue my passion for making theatre, working on the ground with others, within communities, towards a shared goal I needed to tread this unfamiliar territory called ‘Applied Theatre.’

For more information about the course, follow the link: MA in Applied Theatre: Arts, Action, Change (warwick.ac.uk)

The Applied Theatre MA at Warwick is brand new to the performance and theatre department, and takes place in the even more brand new and pretty spectacular arts faculty building. We’re a small cohort of six and coming up to our fifth month into our adventure on the course, gifting us time to delve into academia and creativity. The team of lecturers work closely together and with individual students as they navigate all our interests with a lot of care and consideration. They all come with a plethora of knoweldge and skills which are interwoven into the carefully designed course making for a hybrid learning experience. Kind, proffesional, inspirational and easy to talk to, they encourage us often to attend outside events, lectures and opportunities that will support our learning.  

Contact hours are on Fridays with the option to book in time with tutors throughout the week. Students are expected to manage work in their own time and it can be possible to set some time aside for endevours outside the course. Personally, I was in a position to apply for a working bursary of £500 from the university having sourced work experience independently and in support of my development. It was absolutely golden to practice some of the skills I’ve leant already in established community settings. I couldn’t recommend this highly enough for anyone who has the opportunity as is very rewarding and an effective way to learn.

  I have met inspirational people, had some great opportunities and learning so much about the world and my practice. If you too are looking to challenge your understanding about ethical practice, strategic research methodology, professional development and socially engaged theatre, Warwick’s Applied Theatre Course could well be for you.  

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! Thanks for reading 🙂

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