English Literature and Drama BA (Hons)

University of East Anglia

Overview

On this English and drama degree you’ll immerse yourself in all aspects of the theatre while gaining a first-class academic grounding in English literature. This will give you a deep understanding of the relationships between the practices of writing in all major genres – prose, poetry, and drama – and the practices of dramatic production, acting, and contemporary theatre. Your practical skills in the theatre and your careful understanding of literature will support and enrich one another. 

You’ll develop your skills in practical stagecraft through our intensive drama training and with the resources of UEA’s Drama Studio on hand for you to use and enjoy. You’ll also encounter literature from across centuries and across genres, ranging from established classics to new work being written today. With its vivid dramatic and literary traditions and lively contemporary scene, Norwich is the perfect city in which to be a student of English literature and drama. 

About This Course

This course combines modules in English literature with practical and theoretical drama modules. You’ll largely have flexibility to decide the precise balance between literature and drama in your course. You may, for example, choose to study a wide range of genres, including the novel and poetry, or gradually to specialize in dramatic literature and performance. 

You will have access to the same range of literature modules as our full-time English literature students. That means you’ll be able to delve into periods from the medieval to the present day, explore diverse traditions from across the globe, and tackle a heady mix of genres, which currently range from the gothic to children’s literature, crime writing to Japanese fiction, apocalyptic writing to biography. It’s worth reading the detailed account of our BA English Literature degree to get a sense of the possibilities on offer.

In your practical drama modules, you will work alongside full-time drama students in our professionally equipped 200-seat Drama Studio. You’ll have the keys to this amazing space, letting you control everything in your own productions, from performance and staging to costume, lighting, and sound-design. You’ll have the chance to bring all your performance skills together in major practical projects each year. 

Studying English Lliterature will deepen your practical work in the theatre. As you get inside the words of plays in the seminar room, you’ll become better able to release their energies in your own performance. At the same time, your study of literature will be enriched by your performance work – you’ll understand how plays work from the inside. The two elements of your English and drama degree are always deepening and enhancing one another. 

You’ll be taught by our leading drama practitioners, literary critics and scholars in both disciplines. In the most recent Times Higher Education Analysis (REF2021), UEA was ranked 19th in the UK for the quality of its research in English Language and Literature, and your tutors on this degree will use that cutting-edge research to inspire you. You’ll also benefit from our highly regarded student-run Minotaur Theatre Company, which gives you the chance to gain valuable additional performance, technical and scriptwriting experience. Find out more about life in the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing on our Instagram @uealdc.

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