Curious about studying Applied Theatre (Community and Education) - BA (Hons)at Birmingham City University? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
School of Acting, Bournville
Full Time
Sep 2026
3 Year
Our BA (Hons) Applied Theatre course is part of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and aims to inspire the next generation of passionate and skilled theatre-makers. Our focus is on developing the skills and understanding needed to create compelling new performances and theatre projects with purpose. We are concerned not only with how we make theatre, but also why. Most of what you will learn through studying Applied Theatre will be through practical experience. You will bring the skills and passion you have and learn how to apply them, as well as gaining new skills in facilitation, devising, and all aspects of theatre-making. You will not only create new drama, but also gain the knowledge and understanding needed to engage communities, and explore the world in the wide variety of environments covered by the term Applied Theatre – such as schools, community or health centres, prisons, hospitals, or out on the streets. Our strong industry links and relationships with experienced practitioners and companies working in the field allow us to prepare you for a varied career. As the course progresses, you will work increasingly independently, spending six weeks of the second year on a full-time placement, and in the third year collaborating with fellow students in forming professional ‘companies’, working collectively in live situations. The course ends with a festival of Applied Theatre, which serves as a showcase of your work and a bridge to a wide range of employment. At Royal Birmingham Conservatoire we believe that creating theatre with social and political objectives can have a significant impact on the lives of individuals and communities. We use performance as a tool to explore the world, raise awareness, educate, empower, and instigate real and lasting change. As an emerging practitioner we will supply you with artistic space, autonomy and choice. With a primary focus on performance, you will also explore the reasons behind the work looking at its history and theories while developing an understanding of the need for constant research, discussion, reflection and development of your practice.
Professional Placement Year\ This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies. If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course. Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.
The module explores the range of work covered by the term, ‘Applied Theatre’, looking at its roots in political social and educational theatre, and tracing lines through to current provision. Students will be given a directory of 60 small-scale theatre companies in the Birmingham area, and encouraged to make contacts and see work. Within the module there will be the opportunity to see work and work with some of these professional practitioners.
The module will cover the history and theory of Theatre-in-Education, introducing key practitioners, and exploring key texts. Looking at the roots of TIE in progressive education and in earlier theatre practice, the module will cover TIE practice from the first company at the Coventry Belgrade in the 1960s, through to current provision in the UK. There will be an opportunity to see examples of professional Theatre-in-Education with local companies, and some timetabled discussion events, and there will be a practical approach to exploration of theories and methods, and some introductory skills sessions on facilitation and drama conventions.
The module will introduce Community Theatre, investigating the history and key philosophy of work of this kind. You will look at current practice through examination of the work of local companies, and will visit a community project, looking at the process of researching with a community, to create work responding to specific needs. The assessment is through the creation of a group piece of performance [5 minutes] aimed at a specific community group, and a brief individual account – a short reflective commentary - placing the piece in the context of its intended audience, and the principles and practice of community theatre.
The 60 credit module takes place through the whole of Year One, and from week 10 of Semester Two it is the full-time activity. You will work with a tutor or professional practitioner as director, and collaborate to perform a new piece of theatre for a young audience, either from adapted or commissioned script or through a devising process. The play will be performed by the whole year group to a public audience. Through the year you will have classes on performance skills [acting, singing movement voice and text] which as the play develops will shift from general classes into direct support for the piece.
The core of this module is the full-time professional placement in Semester 2. You will be responsible for arranging a full-time placement in an applied theatre company, arts or education organisation, or appropriate related organisation, for a period of 6-8 weeks during Semester 2. You will be supported in making this placement, which can be in Birmingham, elsewhere in the UK or abroad. The placement needs to be full-time and related to the course.
Building on Drama for Learning 1, this module will expand your drama teaching and facilitation skills through practical application in live contexts. You will add to your toolkit of drama conventions, exercises and approaches in a series of workshops, and you will then have an opportunity for an extended application of these skills, working with West Midlands Fire Service to create interactive workshops for school groups visiting the Safeside facility.
This module will look at a number of areas of Applied Theatre where a group or practitioner is working from a particular viewpoint, individual or collective, and explore the history, philosophy and themes of this work. You will trace the origins of ‘political’ theatre in a range of movements, and look at key texts, and explore the issues raised by devising or writing around themes.
Continuing from the performance module in Year One, you will work in small groups to create a new piece of applied theatre and perform it to a specific target audience. Initially exploring the process of devising, in a series of workshops you will then form small groups, and each group will use a devising process to create a new original piece.The piece will then be performed to its intended audience. Each group will be directed by an MA Student, tutor or professional practitioner, and will be responsible for researching, devising, rehearsing and performing the completed piece.
This module covers many of the practical aspects of working within the field of Applied Theatre. It is built around each student creating an Applied Theatre ‘project’ of your choice and compiling a full business plan for carrying it out. There is flexibility in the nature of the project, with students encouraged to consider their intentions after graduation, and create a resource of value to them. This could mean you work on something that you intend to do when leaving [for example a plan for setting up a company and carrying out a full-scale Applied Theatre performance project, or a plan for an individual freelance project offer] or it could be a hypothetical project, designed to explore wider issues around developing Applied Theatre practice, or to develop those areas and skills that you feel will be of most benefit to you [for example you could look at how a company might plan work in a specific community or country, or you might create a plan designed to assist a teacher in a term’s work with a particular class]. Each student will need to agree the scope of their plan with the module leader during individual tutorials, and further individual tutorials are available through the module, along with a range of sessions designed to explore careers and employment across the field.
The module follows from the previous Drama for Learning modules and takes the facilitation and drama skills you have learned to a professional level. In groups you will explore the role of a Learning and Participation team in a theatre and create work to accompany an existing production. You will receive relevant inputs initially, including from professional practitioners, exploring the role of a Learning and Participation team in a theatre, digital and IT-based approaches, and also advanced workshop skills.
You will work for an extended period in a small group, running an extended project with a community group. [In previous years, projects have been run with older people, with young people with learning disabilities, with nurseries, with refugees] The division into groups, and the decision about the target community group will be made through meetings before the beginning of the academic year [i.e. at the end of Year 2] so that arrangements can be put in place. You will be appointed a professional practitioner as mentor and tutor for the project. Early in Semester One you will produce a group plan with details of the aims and scope of the project. The group will research the needs of the chosen community, and construct an extended project, using appropriate Applied Theatre and drama approaches.
The final module of the Applied Theatre course consists of a Festival of Applied Theatre pieces, created by students. You will work in a small group, forming a ‘company’, and together devise, produce and perform a new original piece of applied theatre aimed at a specific ‘audience’. Each group will be mentored by a member of staff or visiting artist, and will be given a small budget for the production. The Festival will take place in one building or area each year, and the company will be tasked with deciding how to use the space, so that the piece might be ‘site-specific’ or ‘site-responsive’ – taking account of the qualities of the place. The organisation of the Festival as a whole, including arrangements for ticketing, marketing and technical support, will be in the hands of the companies, with this process being mentored by an industry professional. The Festival will also house an exhibition of the Personal Projects and examples of Community Project work, and serve as a showcase of your work for invited professional practitioners.
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