![Two actors sit on the floor of the set in front of a phone booth covered in posters and stickers](/sites/default/files/styles/1_1_media_tiny/public/2022-02/DSC00754.jpg?h=446f20ed&itok=G7_m26JM 400w, /sites/default/files/styles/1_1_media_small/public/2022-02/DSC00754.jpg?h=446f20ed&itok=l9YHhGxv 750w, /sites/default/files/styles/1_1_media_medium/public/2022-02/DSC00754.jpg?h=446f20ed&itok=xyWLipNM 1000w)
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MA Collaborative Performance Making
A one-year Masters programme aims to bring together early-career theatre practitioners to develop new theatre and performance work.
MA Collaborative Performance Making applications for 2025 open in September 2024
Key information:
- Art form:
- Performance | Production Arts
- Fees:
- Application Fee: £37 GBP; Tuition Fees: See Fees section below
- Deadline:
- 4.30pm on 2 April 2025 for September 2025 entry (applications open on 30 September 2024)
- Level of study:
- Postgraduate
- Mode of study:
- In-person
- Contact details:
- pa_applications@gsmd.ac.uk
About the programme
This one-year Masters programme aims to bring together early-career theatre practitioners to develop series of new performance works. These practitioners include:
- Stage Managers
- Production Managers
- Set Designers & Scenographers
- Lighting Designers
- Costume Designers
- Sound Designers
- Video Designers
- Directors & Choreographers
- Writers & Dramaturgs
- Puppeteers
- All-round Performance-Makers
Students form an ensemble at the beginning of the year and work together to devise, design and produce a series of new performances. The programme aims to offer a laboratory-style environment, which values, first and foremost, collaboration and process-based learning.
Follow the MA Collaborative Performance Making Instagram to see recent work and projects.
Apply now
Programme Structure
This 180-credit Masters programme is comprised of four modules and runs from September to September. It is open to all early-career practitioners interested in making performance collaboratively. Building on your existing experience and skill set, you will work as a collective to create four shows over the year in different contexts and venues. You will discover how you work best in a group, what drives you and inspires you as a practitioner, and where your creative and practical strengths lie. You will also complete an individual research project, develop a professional portfolio and be assigned a mentor from a pool of professional practitioners with whom the School has strong working relationships.
Collaborative Practice
As well as making two performances in different theatre venues within Guildhall School, you will embark on a project in collaboration with the Little Angel Puppet Theatre in London, and also spend a month at the Centre de Creation in Bergerac, France, where you will create a circus show.
When possible, the programme also includes a three- to four-week residential project, intended to take you into an unfamiliar area of work. The idea is to offer an opportunity for creative collaboration, unconstrained by preconceptions or prejudices.
Final assessment
Final assessment will include a folio which will illustrate the individual’s contribution to the various projects they have engaged with over the year.
Research
Students will be required to complete a specialist research paper. This allows students to independently develop a specialist area of research under the guidance of the module tutor and in consultation with staff who have expertise in the student's area of interest.
Integration
A final substantial self-reflective component will be submitted at the end of the programme followed by a Viva Voce.
Programme Specifications
See the full programme specifications, including module specifications and assessment criteria.![Actors on the sparse set of Residue under low lighting, one sits on the floor and the other stands in a telephone booth covered with stickers and posters on the inside](/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_media_tiny/public/2022-02/DSC00735.jpg?h=fc98c582&itok=_Z6qL8sh 400w, /sites/default/files/styles/16_9_media_small/public/2022-02/DSC00735.jpg?h=fc98c582&itok=OVs6FIeW 750w, /sites/default/files/styles/16_9_media_medium/public/2022-02/DSC00735.jpg?h=fc98c582&itok=WEvYD7Wr 1000w)
![Production Arts student working on the tension wire grid](/sites/default/files/styles/12_6_media_small/public/2022-02/MB4_3357.jpg?h=2547323a&itok=82BJzbhs)
Our Facilities
All of our venues are particularly well-equipped for lighting and sound and provide dramatic and adaptable environments. They are stimulating and exciting at the same time as being practical, safe and ideal for learning.
What our students say
![Two actors sit on the floor of the set in front of a phone booth covered in posters and stickers](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_media_small/public/2022-02/DSC00754.jpg?h=446f20ed&itok=iAgE_A2N 400w, /sites/default/files/styles/4_3_media_medium/public/2022-02/DSC00754.jpg?h=446f20ed&itok=FfNzinwh 600w, /sites/default/files/styles/4_3_media_large/public/2022-02/DSC00754.jpg?h=446f20ed&itok=XQ2BT2LY 1200w)
Our projects will have a general theme, but they’re open for interpretation which allows us to be extremely creative. It’s incredibly collaborative, hands-on, and rewarding.