Theatre and Performance Studies
Theatre and performance studies brings together the practical experience of making and performing with the critical and historical understanding of performance as a cultural form. It is a discipline that asks both how to make theatre well and why theatre matters, examining its history from ancient Greek drama through early modern performance to contemporary experimental and devised work, and developing your capacity to participate in performance traditions as both practitioner and informed analyst.
The University of Bristol is one of the UK's leading institutions for theatre and performance studies, with an internationally regarded Drama Department that combines practical training with serious scholarly engagement. The programme, which includes a foundation year, accommodates students who want a supported transition to degree-level study before engaging with the full curriculum. You will develop practical skills in performance, direction, devising, voice, and movement alongside critical and historical study of dramatic texts, performance theory, and the sociology and politics of theatre.
Bristol's Drama Department has its own studio performance spaces, and you will make and perform work throughout the programme, with the opportunity to develop your own artistic voice and to encounter different approaches to making performance, including physical theatre, documentary theatre, and site-responsive work.
A typical entry tariff of 152 points reflects the academic expectations at Bristol, and selection may involve a portfolio or audition element for the practical components.
Graduates pursue careers as performers, directors, theatre educators, devising practitioners, arts administrators, dramaturgs, community theatre workers, and creative producers across theatre, live art, education, and the broader creative industries. Many also proceed to postgraduate study in performance, theatre, or applied theatre, and Bristol's reputation supports strong progression into both professional practice and academic careers.