Drama

Outshining the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in the Guardian University Guide 2012, the University's Drama courses are renowned for their strong practical emphasis on all aspects of dramatic production, combined with the study of the theory, history and social significance of drama.

Alumni have gone on to work in a wide variety of professions, as well as all aspects of theatre, television and film – as actors, writers, directors, technicians, managers and arts administrators.

The undergraduate courses also offer students the chance to spend a period of time on placement with a professional company or venue (in fields such as TV, radio and film, as well as theatre), enhancing future employability and widening horizons.

Recent external assessments include the following comments: 'The Teaching Quality Assessment report highlights the "distinctiveness and diversity" of the programmes provided by Drama. The unit is small but makes use of this to ensure excellence in staff-student relations and delivery of the programmes; it is highly dynamic, witness the improving research profile and constant innovation in teaching'.

Drama teaching is centred in the professionally-equipped 200-seat Drama Studio. The Studio is a completely flexible theatre building which can be reconfigured to support end-stage, thrust, in-the-round, traverse or promenade performances. It houses excellent sound and video editing equipment and a small scenery workshop.

All Drama students are automatically members of the student run Minotaur Theatre Company and produce their own programme of work in the Studio and elsewhere, ranging from large-scale collaborations with the University Drama Society to experimental productions, cabarets and festivals of new writing. Recent student productions have fared very well at Edinburgh and the National Student Drama Festival.