Design for Theatre and Live Performance

Design for theatre and live performance is the discipline of creating the visual world of a production, transforming empty stages into environments that serve the story, the performers and the audience's imagination. Set designers, costume designers, lighting designers and sound designers all contribute to the total experience of live performance, working collaboratively with directors and other creative artists to realise a shared vision. This is design practice that exists in real space and time, facing the constraints of budgets, schedules, technical systems and the live moment in ways that no other creative field quite replicates.

At Nottingham Trent University this three-year programme develops your creative and technical skills across the full range of theatre design practice. You will learn to develop and communicate visual concepts through drawing, model-making and digital design tools, and you will gain the technical knowledge of construction, materials, lighting technology and production processes that professional practice requires. You will work on productions and projects that develop your ability to collaborate with directors, producers and technical teams, building the interpersonal and professional skills that the industry demands alongside your creative capability.

Nottingham's position as a city with a rich and diverse performance scene provides a real context for your practice throughout the programme.

Graduates work as set designers, costume designers, production designers, props makers, lighting designers and technical managers across theatre, opera, dance, live events, television and film production. The design skills you develop are also valued in related fields including exhibition design, event production and themed environments. Many graduates build portfolio careers that combine design work across different sectors.

Some go on to postgraduate study in theatre design, scenography or related areas, particularly those who want to develop a more research-oriented practice or to work at the higher end of the professional theatre sector.