Drama, Theatre and Performing Arts

Drama, theatre, and performing arts sit at the heart of how human beings tell stories, explore emotion, and make sense of shared experience. The performing arts span traditions from classical drama and contemporary theatre to physical performance, devised work, and live art, and they engage with politics, culture, and identity in ways that few other disciplines can match. Studying them at university means learning both to create and to think critically about what performance is and what it can do.

At the University of Kent, this three-year full-time programme offers a broad and exploratory education in drama, theatre, and the performing arts. You will work practically, developing skills in acting, directing, writing, design, and production, and you will also study the history and theory of theatre from ancient Greek drama to the present day. The programme encourages you to define your own creative interests and develop your own artistic voice, with access to dedicated performance spaces and a community of performers, directors, and theatre-makers.

Kent's location and character give the programme a particular openness to European and world theatre traditions alongside British ones.

The degree is genuinely broad in scope, and whatever your creative ambitions, whether acting, directing, writing, producing, design, or arts management, you will have the opportunity to explore and develop them. You will also develop strong communication, collaboration, and project management skills that are valued well beyond the performing arts sector.

Graduates from drama and theatre programmes go on to careers in professional performance, directing, arts administration, theatre education, community arts, casting, production management, and writing. Many also work in teaching, broadcasting, film and television production, or event management. The degree provides a strong foundation for postgraduate study in theatre, performance, or related arts disciplines.