Postgraduate Study in the Centre for Drama & Theatre Studies
The Centre for Drama and Theatre Studies offers the following postgraduate degrees:
- MA by research
- PhD by research
- Master of Theatre Performance
- Graduate Diploma and Master of Theatre by coursework
The Centre is supported by Monash’s excellent research libraries, research seminars, postgraduate studies programs and performance spaces. There are postgraduate study rooms and opportunities for postgraduate teaching available for qualified students. A limited number of scholarships are available at the MA and PhD level through the Faculty of Arts and Monash University.
The seven full-time academic staff members at The Centre for Drama and Theatre Studies offer postgraduates a wide range of expertise cutting across the entire field of performance, from theatre practice to theatre history, theory and dramaturgy. Active, producing scholars with national and international reputations publish on topics such as intercultural and Southeast Asian theatre, Australian theatre history, Māori and New Zealand drama, Musical Theatre, the history of acting, Holocaust memory, Shakespeare and early modern performance, audience memory, embodiment, and drama on film. Staff members with active links to the profession provide strengths in devising new work, scenography, technical theatre, design, musical theatre, scriptwriting, community-based theatre, therapeutic movement, and educational theatre.
Prospective candidates are invited to discuss their proposed research with members of staff at any time, and details of individual staff members’ research interests may be found on the DTS academic staff page.
Students may also receive co-supervision with expert staff in other schools and faculties at Monash, such as Comparative Languages, Asian Studies, Political Science, Critical Theory, Literature and History.
To find out more about the Postgraduate Study in the Centre for Drama and Theatre Studies including, entry requirements, fees, etc., please refer to the relevant pages in the Faculty of Arts Postgraduate Handbook and Future Students Website. Also, feel free to contact the Postgraduate Coordinator for Drama & Theatre Studies, William Peterson.
An overview of our postgraduate degrees follows:
Master of Arts and Ph.D. by Research
The Centre of Drama and Theatre Studies offers a Master of Arts and PhD by research for Australian and international students who have completed an undergraduate degree to Honours level (H2A) or equivalent.
Research students must produce a written thesis that makes a significant contribution to knowledge (MA) or an original understanding of the field (PhD); approaches to research which engage actively with performance as research are also encouraged.
Master of Theatre Performance
Course name: MA (Theatre Performance) Course code: 3939
The MA (Theatre Performance) is a 100% research degree. Candidates will be required to develop and present a live performance in a public venue, and later to submit a critical commentary. The performance will normally be 50-60 minutes and the commentary 10,000 -15,000 words. The equivalent combined word total is 35,000 – 40,000 words. The performance will normally be in one of the fields of directing, theatre making, dramatic writing, or theatre design. The performance will embody the results of the research investigation, which will be into the contexts, theoretical influences, aesthetic elements and performance making processes of the project. The critical commentary will be an explication and analysis of the performance research project and will address methodological and theoretical issues that arise during the research investigation.
Length of course: Normal period of candidature: 2 years full time; Maximum period of candidature: 2 years full time; Minimum period of candidature: 1 year full time.
Graduate Diploma & Master of Theatre by Coursework
Overview
The Master of Theatre/Graduate Diploma in Theatre program is designed to give students the opportunity to expand on their existing knowledge of theory and practice in contemporary theatre. The course equips students for advanced practice in the performing arts and also has broad applications across a range of areas including teaching and community work.
Students gain a creative and critical understanding of current theatre practice, including its history, production, and reception, as well as the cultural and aesthetic issues that inform its ongoing evolution. Within the professional, community and educational contexts in which it operates, the program embraces a distinctively diverse, intercultural, and international ethic that encourages interdisciplinary approaches to the theory and practice of theatre and performance.
Postgraduate Coursework Units Offered
Level 4 core unit:
- DTH4000 Dramatic criticism, theory and methods
Level 4 electives:
- DTH4004 Rethinking theatre history
- DTH4002 Creating the new: theatre and its experiments
- DTH4003 Performance investigation
- DTH4001 Design for theatre
Level 5 core unit:
- DTH5005 New critical approaches
Level 5 electives:
- DTH5007 Research project
- DTH5002 Creating the new: theatre and its experiments
- DTH5006 Theatre industry project
Course Structure
The Masters course consists of 72 points of study at fourth and fifth year level while the Graduate Diploma consists of 48 points of study at fourth year level. Both courses offer a range of units that can be combined as two primary sequences of study:
- Creating and evaluating contemporary theatre
- Theatre research and analysis/historical and theoretical contexts
Additional information about the course structure is available in the relevant section from the Faculty of Arts Postgraduate Handbook.
Related Faculty/University Pages
- Postgraduate Entry Requirements, Course Structures,
- Scholarships and Prizes - postgraduate (coursework)
- Monash University Handbooks