Who is the course designed for?
Students on the MSt in Writing for Performance could include those currently working, or wishing to work, in the creative industries. This might include teachers, publishers, dramaturgs, literary managers, journalists and broadcasters.
Aims of the programme
By the end of the course students should be able to demonstrate the following:
Knowledge and understanding
- specialised knowledge of histories, forms, and traditions of writing for performance; of the cultural contexts of practitioners and practices within performance; of contemporary critical, analytical, and narrative theories of performance;
- advanced awareness of the relevant market and distribution demands of entertainment industries;
- enhanced understanding of the applications of performance in educational, community, and social contexts;
- detailed understanding of key performance components within the discipline, to include: ideational sources, body, space, image, sound, text, movement, environment.
Skills and other attributes
- dramaturgical and script-editing skills within a range of performance mediums that may include theatre, film/TV, radio drama, performance art/poetry, comedy, digital performance platforms (e.g., podcasts);
- developed advanced self-management skills to include working in planned and improvisatory ways, as well as the ability to anticipate and accommodate change, ambiguity, creative risk-taking, uncertainty and unfamiliarity;
- an understanding of group dynamics and project management skills in order to collaborate within collective, creative, and professional contexts as well as generating performance texts and presentations;
- honed script-writing and dramaturgy/script-editing skills, resulting in the ability to produce a full-length, production-ready script within a chosen performance medium.
Teaching and learning
The MSt is structured around four modules, each of which students must attend. In the first year, each of the four modules is preceded by guided preparatory reading and other activities, and followed by two writing assignments: one critical and one creative.
A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) offers learning support to students while they are on the programme, including learning resources, peer-to-peer and student-to-tutor discussion between modules to build a virtual community of practice.
Year 1
In the first year students will be encouraged to build on their existing strengths but also to explore unfamiliar territories.
Module 1: Beginnings: Themes, Scenes and Voice (28 September - 2 October 2020 - extended by a day due to remote delivery)
This module introduces students to the fundamental conceptual, creative, and practical elements of writing for performance. They will be encouraged to begin developing a sense of which medium they may wish to work in later, while workshops and encounters with visiting speakers will allow them to experience a wide range of writing tasks. They will begin to engage with processes of critical reflection about their own work, and about the creative practices of their peer-group, as well as being encouraged to respond analytically to a wide variety of philosophical positions within performance theory and history.
Module 2: Dramaturgy: Structure, Character, Dialogue (30 November - 4 December 2020 - extended by a day due to remote delivery)
This module will look in-depth at the function of narrative structures and story-telling forms. Writing character will be explored, as well as different techniques of writing dialogue for stage/screen/aural space/digital performance platforms. Students will be encouraged to experiment increasingly within the medium they wish to develop as a short script for the workshops with the directors in Module Three. There will be stimulating theoretical engagement as well as experiential creative practice workshops
Module 3: Collaboration: Production, Direction, Performance (8 - 11 March 2021)
In this module, students will workshop their creative piece from Module Two with the resident directors, facilitating in-depth collaborative experiences. Allowing collaborative relationships to develop early, across modules, will hopefully encourage the post-MSt production of the students’ work in visible professional platforms. Students will continue to refine their critical, analytical, and experiential practice during this module.
Module 4: Professional Engagement (7 - 10 June 2021)
This module will focus on the processes and skills involved in bringing a script successfully to market. This module completes the cycle of learning from the ‘first idea’ to a finished, commissioned, and performed script. Invited speaker panels will focus on industry engagement, with agents, literary managers, show-runners, and producers. Students will develop advanced self-presentation skills, as well as an understanding of new-writing networks and opportunities. Students will prepare and submit their dissertation proposals.
Year 2
The second year is characterised by focus on a specialist genre. Students will work independently to explore further and develop their own literary and critical skills, resulting in a full-length (90 minute) script in a chosen performance medium and a reflective and critical commentary on their work. They will work under the supervision of an expert in their chosen field with whom they will have regular contact.
Students will have five supervisions in the second year. Supervision dates will be arranged between students and supervisors (these can be face-to-face or via Skype). The fifth and final supervision will usually take place at Madingley Hall at the time of the only module in the second year, when students will meet to present an extract from their creative work to the cohort, on 4 - 5 May 2022.
It is essential that students attend all modules as their ability to complete the course will be severely compromised by missing any of these.
Assessment
Year 1
Students will be required to submit a portfolio of creative work, totalling 20 pages of script/screenplay/performance text; two critical essays of 3,000 words each; and a piece of reflective writing of 2,000 words.
Year 2
Students will be required to submit a dissertation which consists of:
- an extract from a larger creative project (a 90-minute stage play or screenplay, or two 45-minute TV episodes, or 90-minutes of performance text/stand-up text), with a synopsis of the broader work and a covering letter to a literary agent, and
- a written reflective and critical commentary, totalling 5,000 words.
Feedback
Students are given formal written feedback on their assignments and informal feedback throughout the course, including during tutorials and supervisions. Tutors produce a report for each student at the end of Year 1 and supervisors produce termly reports for each student during Year 2.
Find out more
If you would like an informal discussion on academic matters before making your application, please contact the Course Director, Abigail Docherty at ad2030@cam.ac.uk or join one of the Zoom sessions that she will be hosting on a Tuesday morning. If you would like further information about these sessions, please contact creativewriting@ice.cam.ac.uk.
If you have any questions about the application process, contact our Admissions team: mst.admissions@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746262.
For all other enquiries, contact Creative Writing: creativewriting@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746212.
