Course Catalogue

• To provide a collaborative and co-operative context in which to explore Musical Theatre as a medium of communication for the individual and the group. • To foster students’ creative enthusiasm for Musical Theatre , by engaging in scholarship through practice • To facilitate opportunities for students to develop understanding of the techniques and skills along with the artistic and cognitive insights necessary to engage effectively in the study and practice of Musical Theatre. • To embed undergraduate learning in a learning community informed by research and evolving practice in Musical Theatre and related Performance • To enable students to view their own work in the wider context of employability and possible graduate pathways. • To promote the development of graduates who are critical independent thinkers possessing a range of transferable skills.

Knowledge and understanding is assessed via coursework including group and individual practical work supported by evaluative statements/reports, formal essays, oral presentations, dissertations and viva voce, including self and peer assessment where appropriate. Intellectual (thinking) skills are promoted through teaching in lectures, practical class, seminar group discussion and tutorial. Learning to apply these thinking skills to study o musical theatre is achieved by practical production work, formal essays and independent projects. Intellectual (thinking) skills are assessed by coursework essays, oral presentations and viva. At level six, students, with appropriate guidance undertake extended independent research and write a dissertation, which both addresses and measures key thinking skill. Workshop based classes and production projects are the fundamental means of teaching and learning practical skills. Self, group and tutor evaluation inform the learning process at all levels but particularly so at Levels 4 and 5. At level 6 students' independence to experiment, develop and test their practical skills in creative projects is supported by regular meetings with staff and peers. Students set themselves targets for the acquisition of specific skills following Personal Development Planning (PDP) meeting with tutors and have the opportunity as the course progresses to identify a particular area of specialism in practice for L6 study, which is related to their understanding of their own employability or pathway after graduation. PDP further functions as a forum for discussion and a conduit for advice towards furthering the progress of the practice and the attendant skills. Specialist teachers may be employed as necessary on courses requiring specific skills relevant to production projects. Assessment of the practical skills is via coursework, workshop and production projects. Assessment involves the staff team monitoring and marking both the process and performance against agreed and written criteria. Assessment of process learning is facilitated by tutor observation, individual logs, self-evaluative essays, self and peer assessment, and viva voce. Furthermore, there are other methods involved; for example L6 now includes a platform presentation which is a short lecture/demonstration connecting scholarship and personal practice, and simulated professional contexts (audition/interview) are employed in developing and assessing Musical Theatre Portfolio at L6. Transferable skills are taught and developed through seminars, group work, tutorials, independent study, and work-related learning. Sustained independent learning is supported by individual or group tutorials, individual or group supervision, and the formulation of learning agreements. Independence both artistically and in terms of scholarship increases incrementally with the levels. Students receive induction into basic IT skills at Level 4 and are encouraged to use these skills throughout all levels. CANVAS is used to support students' learning on all modules. The ethic of group work is established at level four, based on industry best practices, and developed throughout the programme. Communication and creative skills and endeavour are central to the programme and inform all practical and production work at all levels. Assessment of transferable skills is through coursework at all levels. The forms of assessment are structured over the three years of the degree to allow students to develop certain transferable skills, such as those of presentation (oral or written) and communication, collaboration, self-reflection and the skills involved in learning independently.

Work-based and work-related learning has been established and refined by the tutors and the students of the drama department over the past twenty years. The Level 6 course Musical Theatre Portfolio prepares the students for the demands of working in the musical theatre and related cultural industries, whilst MT Production Company offers students the knowledge to found and run own company. The course encourages and facilitates student found placements and work related learning opportunities where appropriate. There have been many examples of Drama students gaining professional employment as a consequence of their found placements at Level 6 in professional environments such as; building based theatres (front of house, marketing, community outreach), small scale theatre companies (acting, tour booking, stage management), school drama departments (assistant teachers), casting agencies or media companies (production runners etc.). Furthermore, the course provides students with input from the staff who collectively have professional credits as actors, playwrights, designers, stage managers and drama teachers. Crucially this input is supplemented by guest speakers who are currently working professionally in the field. As well as professional actors, writers, stage managers, cultural administrators and directors, many of whom are alumni of the department informing the course, ex-students who have successfully established new theatre companies contribute. Work-related learning is embedded in the practical and theoretical work throughout the programme.