Theatre

Theatre is a performing art that has been central to human culture since antiquity, serving as a space for storytelling, ritual, social critique, celebration, and the exploration of what it means to be human. Studying theatre at degree level takes it seriously as both an art form and a social practice, developing your ability to make performance, to understand its history and theory, and to situate theatrical work within the cultural and political contexts that shape it. It is a discipline that asks you to work practically and think critically at the same time.

University of Portsmouth's three-year full-time Theatre programme develops your practice as a theatre-maker across performance, direction, devising, and production, alongside critical and historical study of theatre as a form. You will work practically throughout the programme, developing your skills in performance technique, collaborative creation, and the processes of making work from script, from physical material, or from a concept developed in the rehearsal room. You will also engage with theatre history, dramatic theory, and the study of contemporary theatre practices from the UK and internationally, developing the analytical and contextual knowledge that informs and deepens your practical work.

The programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, which are central to professional development in a field where practical experience, industry relationships, and international exposure are all genuinely valuable. The year abroad in particular gives you the opportunity to encounter different theatrical traditions and ways of working.

A typical entry tariff of 120 points reflects an accessible programme with real creative and intellectual content.

Graduates pursue careers as performers, directors, theatre educators, community theatre practitioners, stage managers, arts administrators, and creative producers across theatre, live events, television, film, and the broader creative industries. Many also proceed to postgraduate study in theatre, performance, or arts management.