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Theatre Directing at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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Course summary

This MFA Theatre Directing offers you professionally recognised training. The result of a collaboration between Birkbeck and the Arts Council England, Equity and UK Theatre, it gives you a unique opportunity to work with theatre directors, actors, writers and designers, while also preparing you for the realities of working as a director in the industry. To pursue this MFA, you will have directed one or two university or professional-level productions and be focused on becoming a professional theatre director. Why choose this course?

  • This course benefits from unique partnerships with industry bodies and leading practitioners.
  • It offers you a three-month secondment to a drama school learning how actors are trained for today’s theatre.
  • It also offers you a six-to-nine-month secondment with a theatre company where you will have the opportunity to assist on at least three productions. Collaborators include the Royal Exchange Manchester, Leicester Curve, Octagon Theatre Bolton and Mercury Theatre Colchester.
  • You will engage in workshops run by expert professionals, including Mike Leigh, Mike Alfreds, David Eldridge, Natalie Abrahami and Lyndsey Turner. These concentrate on the director’s relationship with the designer and the writer, to equip you with a practical understanding of how theatre companies and pieces of work are funded and managed.
What you will learn On this course you will examine the director’s relationship with key collaborators: the actor, the writer, the designer, the industry and the production. You will be introduced to a wide range of methodologies and the approaches of leading practitioners to encourage you to develop your own toolkit and unique artistic vision for the work you wish to create. The emphasis throughout is on your creative and intellectual development as an independent artist. How you will learn This is a full-time two-year course with classes and sessions that mostly take place during the day, but with the expectation that you will regularly attend theatre productions. As well as the secondments at a drama school and a producing theatre, you will attend practical workshops and seminars with leading directors, writers, designers, casting, movement, intimacy and fight directors, who will share their work with you. You will also undertake two design projects with designers in training at Wimbledon College of Arts. Highlights
  • Our Centre for Contemporary Theatre runs a postgraduate reading group and offers opportunities to show work in progress as part of our summer festival, Arts Week.
  • Birkbeck was ranked 2nd in the UK for its English Language and Literature research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
  • We offer a number of bursaries for postgraduate students.
Careers and employability On graduating, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:
  • the skills, knowledge and ability to work as a professional-level theatre director
  • the ability to critically reflect on and to evolve your practice as an independent creative artist
  • communication and presentation skills
  • an ability to work independently and collaboratively.
Possible career paths for graduates include:
  • theatre director
  • artistic director
  • associate director
  • opera director
  • theatre producer
  • literary manager
  • dramaturg.
Recent graduates have directed productions at prestigious theatres including:
  • The National Theatre
  • The RSC
  • The Globe
  • The Royal Court
  • English National Opera
  • The Almeida
  • The Young Vic
  • The Old Vic
  • The Lyric Hammersmith
  • The Gate
  • Sheffield Theatres
  • The Royal Exchange Manchester.
Many of our graduates have won awards such as: the 2014 Olivier Award for Best Director; the James Menzies-Kitchin Award in 2021, 2015 and 2012; the Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme Award; the Stage Debut Award in 2019; and the Stage Award for Best Fringe Theatre.

Modules

For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.

Assessment method

A combination of oral presentations with supporting material; practical exercises; the assessment of your practice as a director by peer and leading practitioners; and a final dissertation.

How to apply

International applicants

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests. If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses and foundation programmes to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.

Entry requirements

Either a second-class honours degree (2:2) or above from a UK university (or a directly comparable qualification from a non-UK university), together with some significant experience of professional or professional-level theatre; or an undergraduate- or postgraduate-level diploma from a recognised UK drama school (or a directly comparable qualification from a non-UK drama school), together with some significant experience of professional or professional-level theatre (normally three years); or extensive professional experience. Considerable importance will be attached to your ability to demonstrate commitment to professional theatre directing. If you are considered to be initially qualified, you will then be interviewed. Applications are reviewed on their individual merits and your professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be taken into consideration positively. We actively support and encourage applications from mature learners. There are two application deadlines: Friday 24 January for interviews in February and Friday 2 May for interviews in late May and early June. There is no advantage in either deadline but overseas students may wish to apply earlier in order to have more time to secure visas. You do not need to have completed your current qualification to start your application.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £11070 Year 1
Northern Ireland £11070 Year 1
Scotland £11070 Year 1
Wales £11070 Year 1
International £20340 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases. The MFA Theatre Directing is an extremely popular course and has a limited number of places. For this reason, you are required to commit to the course by paying a non-refundable deposit of £500 to secure your place. This deposit is part of the overall course fee, and not an additional amount.
Theatre Directing at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS