MA Theatre Design

Course Overview

Set design for Small Family Business

One Year Full Time plus Flexible, Part Time Module

Pathways within the Masters programme are:  

• Scenography (Set & Costume Design)       • Set Design
• Costume Design                                      • Costume Construction
• Puppetry                                                 • Lighting Design
• Sound Design

Whether you have studied an art and design subject at undergraduate level or have a more practical background within the profession, our MA Theatre Design programme will enable you to develop your creative skills and industry awareness to an advanced professional level.

Preparing for Work

The MA Theatre Design provides you with training in specialist areas of set and costume design and realisation, equipping you with the relevant knowledge and skills to maximise your employment potential within the theatre, film, television and related performance-design industries.

Our graduate employment rates are outstanding and our students have a reputation for the high level of professionalism they are able to demonstrate upon graduation. In recent years, RWCMD students and graduates have also experienced great success in the prestigious Linbury Prize for Theatre Design. Very recent graduates are currently working as designers with companies such as The Royal Ballet, Royal Northern Ballet, The Royal Shakespeare Company, West Yorkshire Playhouse, No Fit State Circus, Diversions Dance, and the BBC (Doctor Who, Torchwood). Our costume and set realisation graduates are also working at the highest level within the performance industries.

At the end of your course you will have the opportunity to present your work to potential employers in exhibitions in Cardiff and London.

Production Work

In the unique setting of an active music and drama college, you will be able to contribute to our busy programme of public performances including mainstream and alternative theatre, opera and musical theatre. The College has one large scale flexible theatre space, one studio theatre, and regularly stages productions at external professional venues, providing valuable opportunities for you to work in a variety of performance contexts. As a department, we also mount a major site specific production each summer involving puppetry in performance.

Professional Links

All College productions and projects are supervised by designers and design practitioners from within the industry, and you will also work alongside professional theatre directors, reflecting the practices and conditions of the professional environment.