MA Theatre and Performance is an innovative postgraduate programme that is rich in opportunity and diverse in content and reach. The programme promotes creativity, experimentation and risk-taking for students as makers and scholars. It fosters an enhanced understanding of the skills required for sustaining careers in academic and professional arts sectors. This MA is firmly embedded in the cultural community of professional practice and academic scholarship in North East England. 

Our programme aims to generate the theatre and performance makers and scholars of the future. We offer you the opportunity to explore an area of developing practice.

You will benefit from research groups combining academic innovation with critical exploration. You will engage with the creative and cultural industries through established partnerships recognised for their excellence. This includes The BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Northern Stage and Live Theatre, Gallery North and GIFT.

Our Theatre and Performance MA is housed within an exciting, research-active subject area. It includes students studying Fine Art, Media, Film and Television Production and a vibrant Post Graduate Research (PhD) community. 

The programme will provide you with advanced skills and an understanding of practice and research, within a wider professional context. It will enable you to reflect critically and imaginatively on your own learning and thinking. This will help you understand the complex relationship between working as an artist and theorist within an industry and academic context. 

You are encouraged to experiment and challenge traditional boundaries and forms, and to extend your own performance and theoretical vocabularies. The programme will enhance further skills such as communication, self-management and planning. 

The programme is led by academic staff and industry professionals. It aims to acquire the necessary skills for professional and academic work. Past graduates have gone on to work as a contemporary theatre maker, performer, writer, facilitator, community-engaged practitioner or further study. 

You can also follow the Theatre and Performance Facebook page here. This page will give you up to date information on what students on the MA Theatre and Performance course at Northumbria University are up to.

You will also develop various practical professional skills, in particular the ability to produce a substantial performance project appropriate to the pursuance of a professional career, and the ability to work independently and manage projects to a professional standard.

Our graduates go on to advanced careers as theatre-makers of various kinds, or to seed or launch their own companies.