Why study this course?
The Theatre and Film BA merges cinematic and performance languages, explored through practice and theory. Develop the skills required for successful employment opportunities within the international film and television industries, and within theatre and performing arts.
Our drama courses are first in London for overall student satisfaction according to the latest National Student Survey (NSS).
And our drama, dance and cinematics courses ranked third in the UK for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide 2023.
More about this course
London is an undisputed global hub for the creative industries, theatre and film in particular. This course combines practical and theoretical approaches to explore this area and, where possible, capitalises on our London location to help you to directly engage with prospective employers.
London Met’s theatre and film courses enjoy world-class collaborations with internationally acclaimed organisations such as Tate Modern, the National Theatre, the Royal Court and Istituto Teatrale Europeo in Rome. We host weekly industry events, such as film and theatre directors' talks, masterclasses, screenings and performances.
Our graduates have won awards in film festivals including Cannes, starred in BBC and CBS series, formed acclaimed theatre and film production companies across the globe, featured in long-running West End shows and worked successfully in all aspects of the theatre, film and television industries.
Studying this course, you’ll build a versatile approach, responding to the increasingly changeable nature of the theatre and film industries. You’ll develop skills in performing, writing for stage and screen, directing, producing and critically engaging with the language of cinema and live performance.
You can read a recent report by The Stage which features London Met as it considers the additional value that academic theatre degrees can offer students over traditional drama schools.
You can get a taste for studying this course at London Met by taking a look at our YouTube channel of impressive student films.
Assessment
Assessment on this course is both practical and written. It includes live presentations, video and multimedia projects, essays and portfolios.
Fees and key information
Apply nowEntry requirements
In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:
- a minimum grade C in three A levels or minimum grades BC in at least two A levels (or a minimum of 112 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC National, OCR Diploma or Advanced Diploma)
- English Language GCSE at grade C (grade 4) or above (or equivalent)
- a portfolio review
You will be required to attend an interview workshop as part of your application process. Skype interviews can be arranged if you live outside of the UK.
If you are a mature students with previous relevant experience you are also encouraged to apply.
If you don't have traditional qualifications or can't meet the entry requirements for this undergraduate degree, you may still be able to gain entry by completing our Film and Television Production (including foundation year) BA (Hons).
Accreditation of Prior Learning
Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course at London Met. Find out more about applying for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).
English language requirements
To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. This course requires you to meet our standard requirements
If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.
Modular structure
The modules listed below are for the academic year 2022/23 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.
Year 1 modules include:
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Thursday morning
This module offers a practical exploration of the languages of theatre and film, seen side by side. Focusing on different roles (e.g. acting, directing, writing) and on a range of case studies of play texts and films, the conventions of cinematic and live experiences will be closely compared and reflected upon. Students will engage in practical tasks exploring live performance ideas and alternating these with filming and viewing experiences. In doing so, as according to the Learning Outcomes stipulated below, the module aims to promote a comparative exploration of theatre and film, making connections between practices and providing a foundation for linking the various subjects included in the degree.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Monday afternoon
- all year (September start) - Monday morning
This module aims to expose students to the skills and strategies necessary for devising performance. Students will engage in practical exploration and debate the content and forms of individual and group devised contemporary theatre practice. Through this they will work with improvisation techniques in the development of original interdisciplinary material towards the creation of ensemble devised performance. Students will negotiate and analyse the process of collaboration towards building knowledge and ability in working inclusively, discursively and proactively in diverse collaborative environments.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Friday afternoon
- all year (September start) - Friday morning
This module introduces students to the core concepts of filmmaking (image & sound) through lectures and practical workshops in digital photography, cinematography, sound recording and editing. Through lecture and practical engagement students will also reach a greater understanding of a number of theories and histories relating to the creative uses of image and sound.
This module aims to:
1) Introduce students to the fundamental technology of digital photography/video and sound production and to a range of basic practical skills necessary for each, and therefore provide students with a range of potentially employable skills and capabilities.
2) Support some of the theoretical priorities of the School of Computing and Digital Media courses by exposing students to various aspects of digital image and sound production in relation to various media and cultural theories (including those they have encountered or are likely to encounter on other School modules) that assume or assert a relationship between image, sound and film style, and to analyze this practice/theory process through written reflection on their practical work.
3) Provide students with the experience of collaborative working practices and to reflect on their benefits and difficulties, particularly in relation to individual/group co-ordination, all of which are important components for future employability.
4) Prepare students for a ‘practical-theoretical’ strand of School of Computing and Digital Media modules at levels 5 and 6, including the level 6 Project.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Wednesday afternoon
This module explores a cross-disciplinary approach to art and cultural studies, centred in the concept of performance as a starting point. It will introduce key questions in performance, art and film theories and relate these to a selection of historical and contemporary practitioners. The module is intended to provide students with an introductory range of critical and creative strategies, which is to inform their development across the whole course, both in BA Theatre and Performance Practice and in BA Theatre and Film.
Through a range of activities, this module will examine links and parallels between artistic disciplines and broader cultural questions and introduce students to an interdisciplinary approach to research, promoting links between theoretical and creative practices in the field. The module will provide an introductory range of critical strategies and knowledge that can be transferred to a variety of subjects across the programme and develop academic skills (e.g. essay writing, study skills, assignment presentation), applicable across the course.
Year 2 modules include:
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Friday morning
Extending the range of ideas previously explored in Comparing Theatre and Film, this module will look at ways in which the languages of live performance and film may be combined in interdisciplinary practice. Through creative projects and references to contemporary practice in multimedia art and entertainment (e.g. Complicite, Secret Cinema, Punchdrunk etc.), the module will provide a range of opportunities to appreciate how the fusion of theatre and cinema may be used to engage the public in immersive and innovative experiences. In doing so, it promotes an interdisciplinary exploration of theatre and film, through direct practical experience, as well as theoretical analysis, developing connections between theory and practice and provide a foundation for linking the various subjects included in the degree. It also encourages students to experiment with analytical and experiential ways in which to envision innovations in the languages of theatre and film.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Monday morning
This module will enable students to explore a range of film and television moving image texts through practical exercises, experimentation, observation, analysis and documentation. Focusing on a series of key texts, through screenings, lectures, workshops and seminars, students will gain an enhanced understanding of how the key technical aspects – production development, cinematography, design, performance, sound, editing, post-production and effects – shape a work’s narrative, language, genre, and ideology.
Students will also engage with a range of aspects of television production, from producing and directing to technical roles, providing an opportunity to gain useful transferrable skills for employability within the broadcast television and film sectors. This practice-led work will be underpinned by a carefully critical approach to television conventions and analyses of television product in order to extend students' theoretical knowledge and understanding of the television industry. Students will be encouraged to work as self-motivated reflective practitioners, operating effectively within a team to produce a television programme.
The main aims of this module are to:
1) introduce students to various techniques in relation to contemporary television production in order to develop student knowledge and understanding of television production roles and enable students to build effectively on knowledge and skills in all aspects of production.
2) foster a critical and analytical approach to practical work, enabling students to gain further understanding (through practice) of critical theories arising on courses within the School of Computing and Digital Media with respect to narrative, genre codes and conventions and audience contexts.
3) introduce students to a range of appropriate digital video techniques for contemporary video production enabling them to build on existing L4 skills in cinematography, sound and post-production.
4) enable students to work effectively as part of a production team and encourage them to recognize the importance of effective communication and co-operative working strategies for the development of film and television projects. 5) enable students to gain and develop a range of transferable skills in audio-visual production and in working effectively with critical concepts in a practice-led context
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Wednesday morning
Developing from Performance, Art and Film Ideas 1, this module will investigate social and cultural issues that are both enacted and questioned by established texts (“texts” in the broader sense of the term, to include works in theatre, cinema and fine art). Informed by critical theory perspectives, a key emphasis here is on social interactions, as explored in the communication strategies between artwork and spectator, in the social function of a work, and in the political and ideological context depicted in this or embedded in its creation. The module will also establish a sociological study of performance institutions and their organisation within the professional industry.
The aims of this module are to evaluate the social context of performance, art and film, as it is consciously depicted by this or latently inherent to it; to refer to a variety of theoretical perspectives, ranging from critical theories, to sociological concepts, in the analysis of such practices. The learning strategy and indicative syllabus will promote innovative ways of exploring the subject in question, making use of inter-disciplinary, blended learning, field research and creative practice. - This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Tuesday morning
This is a semester-long module for Level 5 students, which aims to provide practical, theoretical and contextual understanding of choreographed theatre and performance work. In studio-based seminar workshops students will engage with a range of theatre and dance movement-based approaches and applications for choreographing performance related to professional environments and their own ideas.
Students will work towards the creating their own choreography that will be directed into a public presentation by the module leader. Critical appraisal and analysis of this performance experiment will be performed on an ongoing basis through tasks and discussions.
This module introduces students to a range of physical and choreographic approaches and methodologies to creating performance work. They will gain knowledge of some of the significant choreographic strategies used by contemporary companies and artists who successfully choreograph movement-based performance work. Students will gain understanding and experience in effectively planning, leading, staging and performing a piece of choreographed performance work and collaborate with tutors, peers and a performance space in the creation and presentation of a choreographed performance event.
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Wednesday afternoon
This module functions as an introduction to the skills and concepts behind directing both in theory and practice. Students will study key directing practitioners. They will be introduced to the role and function of the director, focusing on the relationship with the performer. They will study and apply basic directing techniques and explore and analyse the directorial process. Much of the work will be text-based, using a set text as a starting point.
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Tuesday morning
Dramaturgy is a semester-long module designed to examine and explore the role of the dramaturg. Through the module there will be an attempt to define and analyse the practice of dramaturgy with regard to a wide range of performance practices ranging from traditional playwriting to post-dramatic forms. Dramaturgy encompasses a broad range of applications, providing support to an evolving artistic work at all stages of its development. Students will learn to provide constructive input from the earliest seed of an idea to the final documentation of a performed work.
This module aims to:
• explore the role and function of the dramaturg in the context of international performance: examining writers, directors and companies by studying their innovative (post) dramatic dramaturgies, scenographies, uses of text and acting and performance styles;• discuss selected performance examples with reference to the disciplines utilised and the kinds of connections between them;
• investigate new forms in relation to the performances’ thematic and political concerns as well as the artistic context from which they emerge.
• undertake practical work in the role of dramaturg with a selected particular emphasis.
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Wednesday afternoon
Workshop Leadership is a semester-long module introducing and exploring the design and delivery of theatre workshops. The module will address the academic stimuli of drama as a teaching medium and address the concerns and practical implications of professional and client group communication. Students will undertake a combination of exercises, workshops and presentations, working with peers and external groups, to experience and practice the delivery of workshops.
Where possible, students will benefit from the University’s links to professional theatrical groups as well as diverse community groups, extending engagement and participation beyond the usual boundaries of contemporary theatrical practice.
Year 3 modules include:
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Wednesday afternoon
- spring semester - Wednesday morning
The Festival Showcase represents the student’s final piece of practical work, the equivalent of a dissertation, and will be a culmination of all the work undertaken on the course or through prior experience. It consists of a programme of short theatre, performance, and multimedia productions, which will be presented to a public audience in a professional context. It is designed to allow students to develop their chosen specialisms, both within creative and production roles.
The module will enable students to apply creative and production skills, and knowledge learned on the course, to complete a professional level work. It will utilise the ability to work both collaboratively and independently within a self-managed ‘festival’ setting and provide the opportunity for students to develop professional skills fostering their potential employability.
The module includes the following areas of work-related learning:
- creating and presenting original performances to an external audience;
- marketing, including the professional use of social media;
- box office and audience management;
- logistics of setting up a company;
- pitching work to producers and programmers;
- writing an agenda and keeping minutes of meetings;
- creating a timetable. - This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Monday afternoon
- all year (September start) - Monday morning
Performance Research & Development is a module designed to complement SM6P10 Festival Showcase. It enables students to undertake intensive research and development (R&D) projects leading to the sharing of two consecutive works-in-progress: draft performances presented for feedback to an invited audience. The notion of R&D is a vital aspect of the professional industry, increasingly required by funding bodies and an integral part of producing venues’ programmes. Students will work collaboratively, to tight deadlines, in accordance with the creative guidelines provided by the tutor. This will develop their ability to create rapidly within given briefs, encompassing such approaches as adapting existing dramatic texts and devising new material from stimuli. Students will engage self- and peer-evaluation skills throughout the module.
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Wednesday afternoon
- autumn semester - Wednesday morning
This is a 30 credit module that runs over a period of 15 weeks. Building on the skills and awarenesses developed through previous education and experience, this core module will join students from both strands and create an opportunity for an intensive collaboration. The work will be centred in the creation of a film project that tackles social issues within a local or global community.
Students will explore collaborative strategies across disciplines, centred in a film-based project and develop areas of interest and specialism within group collaborations; exploring creative ways in which to address local or global issues through the medium of film and collaborative practice.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start)
This module allows students to explore in depth a theory, theory and practice or practice topic of their own choice, arising out of previous experience or their study at levels 4 and 5 (subject to supervisor approval). Their individual study is facilitated by a tutor assigned to the project according to subject specialism.
This module is mainly self-managed by the student with facilitation by a specialist in the chosen subject. Students’ individual work is supported by regular consultation and feedback from their tutor and peer-led workshops.
The project incorporates both formative and summative assessment. Students will present their project plan orally in a subject specific workshop and in written form to their project supervisor. The summative assessment consists of the actual project, either a written project or a film and/or performance project with outline, treatment and theoretical statement.
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Tuesday morning
Directing 2 is a 15 credit module that advances previously acquired skills in Directing. It allows students the opportunity to explore their own directorial vision and apply skills learnt in practice. In this case directing refers to text based work. The practical work is placed within the context of critical theory, as previously explored in Performance, Art and Film Ideas 1 and 2.
This module will develop and apply directorial skills and facilitate the acquisition of new ones specifically related to production and organisation. It will give students the opportunity to apply skills and knowledges to a fully produced extract from a play text and provide them with the opportunity to imagine a vision for a production of a play. It will encourage students to pursue individual research into theatre practitioners and cultural theory in the context of their own directed extract, to examine critically the process of directing and to encourage self-evaluation. The final showing of work will test leadership, facilitation, imaginative and creative skills and inspire self-motivation and responsibility in the students.
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Tuesday morning
This module will explore creative strategies in the application of the concepts of performativity and performance-as-research, beyond a strictly theatrical context. In doing so, it will promote multi-disciplinary crossovers, in particular between performance, visual and multimedia arts. A particular focus will be dedicated to the conceptual investigation of site and the creative adaptation and transformation of this.
The function and aesthetics of performance and site will be explored in their broadest significance, making use of concepts such as rituality, liminality, hybridity and contamination and relevant theoretical references in this respect. Studying the work of contemporary and historical practices in installation, site-specific and site-responsive art, students will develop new work to be presented and contextualised as part of a self-curated event. Such an event may be organised in collaboration with professional structures, both inside the University (e.g. The Facility: Centre for Creative Practice at London Met) and outside (galleries, art centres and collaborating practitioners). In this sense, the module will represent an opportunity to gain professional skills both in the artistic and academic development of new work, as well as in the documentation and dissemination of this.
The module aims to critically engage with the concept of performativity and performance-as-research, in light of a range of pertinent theoretical perspectives and apply such concepts both to live work and to installation art and recorded media. Study on the module will introduce students to key practices in the field of site-responsive art and installation, both contemporary and historical, and refer to these as stimuli for the creation of new work. The module will promote innovative crossovers between artistic disciplines, in particular performance, visual and digital media, and develop an understanding of the principles of arts curatorship and foster professional skills in the documentation, contextualisation and dissemination of new work.
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Thursday afternoon
This module aims to contextualise the content of the Theatre Practice degree towards professional application by introducing the fundamentals of business practice as applied to the leading of performance-based projects. During the module students will be introduced to planning strategies, financial management and fundraising and business models towards the creation of a project plan. The module addresses the social entrepreneurship movement and embraces technology in these business practices and has an emphasis on collaborative learning.
This module provides an introduction to the business aspects of successfully leading a theatre project or company and aims to acquaint students with the skills and understandings relevant to setting up a theatre/performance project or company and to explore and engage with a range of business models within the contemporary cultural industries environment. Students will be encouraged to apply methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding in initiating and carrying out projects. These projects will enable students to gain awareness of, and engagement with, technology and digital media in business practice in the arts.
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Tuesday afternoon
This module is intended to develop skills in writing for theatre and performance and to consider the ways in which texts shift, enlarge, contract and transform once they are performed. It will combine analysis of existing written and performed texts with creative writing exercises to develop informed, critical, creative writers. Students will also view theatre and performance in London and consider the relationship between the text-as-written and the text-as-performance. The work will be firmly embedded in the contemporary theatre industry – drawing on links with new writing/live art venues in London. Students will develop a portfolio of work and a completed short script. This module will make links with Identity and Performance, Society and Performance and where possible Dramaturgy.
• To assist students in the development of tools necessary to undertake their own critically-informed script making for performance
• To explore the role of the writer within the collaborative nature of theatre-making
• To encourage students to connect their creative lives to global and local and personal events.
• To encourage students to reflect critically on the implications of theatrical appropriation, as it is practised by others and by themselves
• To encourage students to reflect critically on the relationship between texts and staging of text
• To continue to explore the relationship between performance, identity and society.
Where this course can take you
This course focuses on producing versatile theatre and film professionals. Our graduates have been successful in the following areas: performing, writing, directing, producing, forming production companies, broadcasting, working on education and outreach programmes, and working in the broader cultural industries. Graduates have also continued with postgraduate study in the arts and culture.
Important information about this course
We're committed to continuously improving our degree courses to ensure our students receive the best possible learning experience. Many of the courses in our School of Art, Architecture and Design are currently under review for 2023-24 entry. We encourage you to apply as outlined in the how to apply section of this page and if there are any changes to your course we will contact you. All universities review their courses regularly and this year we are strengthening our social sciences and professions courses to better reflect the needs of employers and ensure you're well-equipped for your future career.
Additional costs
Please note, in addition to the tuition fee there may be additional costs for things like equipment, materials, printing, textbooks, trips or professional body fees.
Additionally, there may be other activities that are not formally part of your course and not required to complete your course, but which you may find helpful (for example, optional field trips). The costs of these are additional to your tuition fee and the fees set out above and will be notified when the activity is being arranged.
Discover Uni – key statistics about this course
Discover Uni is an official source of information about university and college courses across the UK. The widget below draws data from the corresponding course on the Discover Uni website, which is compiled from national surveys and data collected from universities and colleges. If a course is taught both full-time and part-time, information for each mode of study will be displayed here.
How to apply
If you're a UK applicant wanting to study full-time starting in September, you must apply via UCAS unless otherwise specified. If you're an international applicant wanting to study full-time, you can choose to apply via UCAS or directly to the University.
If you're applying for part-time study, you should apply directly to the University. If you require a Student visa, please be aware that you will not be able to study as a part-time student at undergraduate level.
When to apply
The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) accept applications for full-time courses starting in September one year before the start of the course.
Our UCAS institution code is L68.
Visit UCAS for more details.
To find out when teaching for this degree will begin, as well as welcome week and any induction activities, view our academic term dates.
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