The BA Theatre degree is a challenging and exciting programme designed to help you understand the vital ideas and contexts which have influenced theatre practice. You will explore histories and techniques of devising, producing, designing and directing, and learn how theatre works as an expression of real-world issues. Students studying BA Theatre at the University of Reading enjoy the best of both worlds, developing critical and creative skills in a dynamic environment. Your first-year studies will introduce you to the histories and critical frameworks that inform each medium, and help you develop a range of academic and practical skills that will prove invaluable throughout the degree and beyond. The second year is your chance to specialise in areas based on your personal or career interests. Through research and practice, you will explore work within and beyond classical and conventional narrative traditions, and learn about practitioners and movements that have challenged those traditions in various global and historical contexts. Your idea of theatre will be expanded by studying avant-garde, post dramatic, political and radical performance works. This degree is designed with the interaction between theory and practical work at its core, giving you plenty of opportunities to develop both your critical and technical skills. You will be based in Minghella Studios, a purpose-built study environment that reflects the way in which we think about and teach film, theatre and television. The Department of Film, Theatre and Television has a long and proud history of supporting collaborative work, and at every stage you will be encouraged to build your own knowledge and skills through working alongside fellow students in the, including those on our BA Film & Theatre and BA Film degrees. Our degrees are designed to develop the skills valued by both creative and commercial industries, providing you with a wide range of career opportunities following graduation. Careers learning, an emphasis on professional skills and work-based modules are built into the course to prepare you for your future career.