Rose Bruford College - International Theatre Practice and Performance MFA

What you'll study

Multidisciplinary training with elements of acting, directing, writing and collaborative ensemble practices.

This programme, designed specifically for US-based students, is delivered in partnership with National Theater Institute (NTI) in Connecticut.

Study at two different locations:

National Theater Institute in Connecticut, USA
Rose Bruford College in London, UK

Please note: Course content is regularly reviewed to make it relevant and current. Course modules are, therefore, subject to change

International Theatre Practice and Performance Rose Bruford College

Why choose this course?

Expert training

Drawing on the benefits and experience of two noteworthy educational institutions with an excellent history of delivering high-quality vocational theatre training, you will study performance and in its totality: acting, directing, playwriting, music theatre, theory, history, and dramatic literature, as well as several basic aspects of technical theatre creation.

Unique approach

Explicitly designed for US-based candidates, this MFA programme offers a unique global degree across two continents. The program uniquely integrates British and American approaches to theatre training. This program attracts highly motivated, internationally-minded students who are interested in developing a multimodal practice (including skills in acting, directing, writing, and collaborative ensemble creation) while also focusing on self-sustaining approaches to theater making.

Industry contacts and networking

Build a network and make connections on both sides of the Atlantic. Past and upcoming visiting lecturers, tutors and mentors include Joyce Henderson, a performer with Complicité; Katie Mitchell, theatre and opera director; Claudia de Serpa Soares, Sasha Waltz & Guests ensemble (Berlin, Germany); Billy Barry, an ensemble member of Batsheva Dance Company (Israel); Jay Skelton; Mita Pujara and many others.

Graduate Visa

On successful completion of the MFA, students will be eligible to apply for a Graduate visa, granting permission to stay in the UK for at least two years. With a Graduate visa, students can work in most jobs, look for work, be self-employed, continue living in the UK with partners/children (if they’re eligible), do voluntary work, travel abroad and return to the UK.

Multidisciplinary

Students undertake a practical investigation into contemporary performance, directing and writing and their relationship to making new ensemble and performance creation.

MFA Course Structure

The MFA programme has a unique pattern: it is taught for two years across two continents. The programme will benefit from the courses already on offer at Rose Bruford College and its international partners, which have been developed, structured and used as the springboard to build the MFA.*

Module 1. Laboratory Intensive (30 credits)
Module 2. Advanced Practice (30 credits)
Module 3. Performance skills (30 credits)
Module 4. Languages of Practice (30 credits)
Module 5. Performer, Writer, Director as Theater Maker. (60 credits)
Module 6: Final Independent Project (60 credits)

This final module facilitates the creation of your original creative work. This may be a performance, a conceptual paper, a multi-dimensional proposition of a project that you have developed, and a pitch to professional organisations; it may be the practical articulation of your own practice or a model and vision for your future organisation.

It could be a book or a proposition for a PhD; it may be presenting your Research and Development for a theatre production or creating a showreel, professional portfolio, and audition material.

It will be the culmination and distillation of the practice and vision you have developed over the course of your studies and reflect the integrity and originality of your practice. Your final project can be understood as the proposition that launches you into the professional world.

* The ITPP course is currently under review. The current guidelines apply to Autumn 2024 entry only.

MFA Year 1

Based at the National Theater Institute, Connecticut, USA.

MFA Year 2

Based at Rose Bruford College in London, UK.

MFA Programme Summary

Ivan V Talijančić

Programme Director, MA/MFA Collaborative Theatre Making & MFA International Theatre Practice and Performance

How to join

This programme is only suitable for US citizens. If you are not a US citizen, you will not be eligible to apply for this course, but you may be interested in one of our other Postgraduate programmes.

Course fees

The course fee includes:

Tuition for the semesters in the US and the UK
Housing and food for the US semesters
One-week residency in New York City
Local transport in the US
Graduation robe hire
2 graduation guests’ transcripts/degree

Institution code:

Course code:

Entry requirements

Applicants for Masters Programmes will be expected to have a good undergraduate degree in a related subject area. The College also encourages applications from those without formal qualifications who may be accepted on the basis of professional experience.

We are accepting late applications to our postgraduate programmes until 30 June for International applicants and 31 August for Home applicants.

Please contact us at [email protected] for information on entry criteria if you are applying from outside the UK. You can also visit our international students page.

Application Guidance

Application and self-tape

When you submit your online application, you will be asked to submit an application form with digital self-tapes, no more than two minutes each, performed in English:

Submit a contemporary monologue (no longer than 2 minutes).
Discuss your interest and motivation to participate in the ITPP course (approximately 3 minutes).

In addition to steps 1 and 2, dependent on your discipline, you must also submit a work example. Below are some examples of what you may wish to include:

If your background is primarily in writing: 10-15 page excerpt (from a script or another form of your creative writing).
If your background is primarily in directing, link to a video excerpt from a fully staged production you have directed (up to 10 minutes) or a directing portfolio/website.
If your background is primarily in acting, link to a reel or a video excerpt from a fully staged production you were featured in (up to 10 minutes).
Multidisciplinary artists are encouraged to apply: if you are a director/writer/composer, for example, you may submit materials that give a sense of your work in each area.

If you require additional guidance with your submission, you may contact [email protected] for assistance.

In all cases, the selection panel will look for ability, self-motivation and criticism with an informed enthusiasm capable of sustaining you within the MFA programme’s highly rigorous and challenging conditions.

We charge an audition fee of £35. There will be no subsequent fee should you be called back for further rounds.

Interview

If successful at Stage 1, the applicant is invited to attend a live online interview. The outcome will either be an offer made or an application unsuccessful.

Funding and Financial Support

Course Summary

Duration

MFA 24 Months

Mode of study

Full time

Start date

September 2024

Course Type

Postgraduate Course

Course Fees (2024 Entry)

MFA International Theatre Practice and Performance: Year One (120 credits)

£24150

MFA International Theatre Practice and Performance: Year Two (120 credits)