Theatre and Social Change Placements at Rose Bruford College

What you'll study

This course combines practical theatre-making skills with project design and implementation, understanding of cultural, social and creative context, writing proposals, fundraising, marketing and communications. Industry placements, case studies and ongoing input from professional practitioners and cultural activists play a major role in the course.

Theatre and Social Change at Rose Bruford College 2023

Why choose this course?

Learn from working experts and professionals

Ongoing sessions with cultural activists working in a range of arts, social, and other diverse non-traditional settings

Professional experience

Participate in an extended placement that gives you a practical and immersive experience in a working environment

Make connections

Build a national and international network of industry contacts and change-makers

Career-focussed

Acquire the essential skills required for design, making, implementation and evaluation of theatre and social change projects

Theatre and Social Change at Rose Bruford College 2023

Course breakdown

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

Year 1

Level 4 introduces and develops the academic and intellectual skills that you will need for study and professional development. In addition, you will begin to learn the practical and technical skills of the performer and creator, producer and change-maker.

Performing Change I: Techniques Intensive

This module provides you with a foundation to support both your training and future creative practice in a way that is spontaneous, imaginative and disciplined. As part of Techniques Intensive, you will work towards a competency and confidence in the basic theatre making skills, languages and techniques within 1) Movement 2) Voice 3) Production and 4) Design, preparing you for later professionalisation and focussed training.

Performing Change II: Solo Performance

The module provides you with a synthesis of the individual skills acquired in Performing Change I. These previous skills will be applied to creating a solo performance or independent creative project examining the question: ‘Who are you to make what change in the world?’

Producing Change I: London & Social Change

This module provides you with a foundation to support both your training and future producing practice using London-based theatres and social organisations as primary case studies. Over the term, day trips and theatre visits will provide an introduction to how theatre can produce social change in various ways: in dramatic content, in organisational structure, in charitable or activist context.

Year 2

Level 5 develops your skills towards a level appropriate to preprofessional work and gives experience of outside professional and community contexts, including via work placement, group facilitation and guest lecture series.

Performing Change III: Group Facilitation / Performing Community

The module provides you with a foundation to support your training and future creative practice as it relates to working as a group facilitator. This module will introduce the skills and processes of conceptualising, designing, leading and facilitating a group workshop.

Performing Change IV: Group Devising / Performing Utopia

This module provides you with a foundation to support both your training and future creative practice as it relates to working as part of a group as performer, collaborator and co-deviser.

Group Devised Performance has historically been a chosen artistic form for socially-engaged practice, with artists gathering together in aid of a shared vision, often to political or meaningful ends.

Activating Change II

The module runs throughout the whole year across two semesters. The first part of the module is a guest lecture series which features contemporary leaders, activists and change makers sharing their experiences of social change and how art is used as a tool to forward these agendas.

The second part of the module will advance the practice-based research from Activating Change I, further developing your artistic practice through embodied understandings of theory.

Producing Change III: Work Placement / Rotations

The module provides you with a progression of your work in Producing Change I+II with additional focus on the world beyond Rose Bruford/Sidcup. This module will consist of a rotation through three work placements, each focused on unique models of social change and the arts.

Organisations like Slung Low, Duckie, Home Live Art, The Sick of the Fringe, Arts Council England will be ideal locales for you to think about models for change, what social change looks like in practice, and provide an introduction to the roles and responsibilities inherent in producing and theatre-making.

Weekly placements are then discussed and analysed during a weekly seminar. All placement locations are vetted and organised by T&SC faculty, who will build a three-week ‘syllabus’ for their rotation of students. T&SC faculty will work closely to ensure the placement fits within National Student Union (NSU) and other work standards.

Producing Change IV: Producing for the Fringe(s)

This module builds on your previous placements and introduces you to new additional skills necessary for producing, using both the Rose Bruford Symposium (on-campus festival of art and research) and the Edinburgh Fringe (the world’s largest arts festival) as case studies.

For the Rose Bruford Symposium, you will work with staff and students at Rose Bruford to devise a system of application and curation, before assisting in curating and executing the overall event. The skills that you build as a team focussed on making the Symposium will be the same skills developed via your work on the Edinburgh Fringe.

Year 3

You are expected to be a self-directed learner at year 3. Module study options include, but are not limited to:

Performing Change V: Independent Creative Project

The module runs throughout the whole year across two semesters and provides you with an opportunity to lead and produce a significant creative project responding to the theme of theatre & social change. The form that your final creative project takes is individually responsive, but could include a 30-minute solo performance, 45-minute group performance, hour-long facilitated workshop for a group that you work with over a number of weeks, a durational performance installation, or a week-long campaign that you run via social media or in person.

Activating Change III

This module runs the full year and consolidates your practical and theoretical research skills and enables you to investigate, in detail, a specific aspect of Theatre& Social Change which is of particular interest to you. The module represents the culmination of your critical reflection on performance practices, as well as models and movements for social change, and gives you the opportunity to undertake a sustained piece of independent research work.

Producing Change V: Work Placement / Social Change Showcase

This six-month work placement will give you the tools you need to experience being part of an organisation, to see a season or extended period at a workspace, and to build a project for that organisation, thus becoming leaders and innovators inside of theatre & social change. The module (and the degree) concludes with a Social Change Showcase, an opportunity for you to share these projects with professionals in the field.

Teaching and assessment methods

  • In your first year, you will complete around 380 hours of indicative scheduled learning and teaching activities and 80 hours of independent learning on projects, productions, placements or self-directed study. Assessment will be through: Performances; Coursework, presentations and portfolios; Continuous practical assessment
  • In your second year, you will complete around 380 hours of indicative scheduled learning and teaching activities and 80 hours of independent learning on projects, productions, placements or self-directed study. Assessment will be through: Performances; Coursework, presentations and portfolios; Continuous practical assessment
  • In your third year, you will complete around 200 hours of indicative scheduled learning and teaching activities and 280 hours of independent learning on projects, productions, placements or self-directed study. Assessment will be through: Performances; Coursework, presentations and portfolios; Continuous practical assessment

Get a flavour

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Your future career

This is a course for creative individuals committed to an innovative professional theatre practice – as performer, maker or producer – which aims to change lives and inspire change in communities from all backgrounds and walks of life. We aim to put you in front of and amongst the profession. This includes the opportunity to build a highly relevant network and work on real projects while you study.

Careers options

Studying an Arts related subject gives you a wide range of skills that can be put to use in many careers. Our graduates will be ideally placed to go on to become:

  • Theatre makers - performers, producers and directors
  • Community arts project leaders
  • Creative practitioners and leaders in Arts organisations
  • Facilitators in the creative and cultural sector
  • Festival and Event specialists and leaders
  • Actors, entertainers, musicians and presenters
  • Arts officers, producers and directors
  • Teaching and other educational professionals
  • Archivists and curators
  • Authors and Writers
  • Activists and cultural organisers

Meet the staff

Lehni headshot from above
Lehni Lamide Davies

Programme Director for BA Theatre & Social Change

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Rose Bruford College Lecturer Phoebe Patey-Ferguson
Dr Phoebe Patey-Ferguson

Dr Phoebe Patey-Ferguson

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Rose Bruford College Professor of Theatre and Performance Brian Lobel
Professor Brian Lobel

Professor of Theatre & Performance

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How to join

UK/Republic of Ireland and international applicants

Applications are still open for undergraduate courses, submit your application via UCAS.

Institution code: R51

Course code: W412

64 UCAS points*

This is equivalent to two Cs at ‘A’ level or one Merit and two Passes at BTEC (QCF) National Diploma or equivalent.

*We offer places based upon your future potential. We may offer you a place based on lower UCAS points than shown here, or an offer that is not linked to UCAS points if we have evidence of your potential from your application and workshop audition.

Workshop audition process

The application process for this course involves a workshop and discussion.

There is no charge for participation in the workshop.

Auditions

Course Summary

Duration

3 years

Mode of study

Full time

Start date

September 2024

Course Type

Undergraduate Course

Course Fees (2024 Entry)

UK/Republic of Ireland students (Fee per year)

£9250

International students (Fee per year)

£22800

Funding and Support Additional Costs

So, ready?