Why study Theatre Studies?
Theatre Studies is a subject that is easy to become passionate about. It provides an understanding of the nature of performance, allows you access to the tools of a theatremaker, and looks at performance using critical and analytical skills.
You'll study different times and cultures from a theatre perspective, ranging from Shakespeare to Performance Art. Practice and analytical investigation inform and support one another.
Your lecturers have professional as well as academic expertise in the fields of acting, producing, directing, criticism, stage design, lighting and sound design, playwriting and translation. And then there is our unique weekly Lunchtime Theatre programme at Allen Hall Theatre, which is your testing ground as a performer, director or playwright, and in all aspects of stagecraft.
Otago offers a wide selection of papers in Theatre Studies, drawn from the following areas:
- Performance skills: improvisation; principles of actor training, including Shakespeare, voice and movement.
- Analysis and interpretation of drama on stage and screen.
- Theatre and drama of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
- Directing.
- Writing for stage and screen and the creation of new theatre works.
- Theatre history, contemporary drama and performance art.
- Performance analysis and critical theory.
- Theatre technology and design, especially lighting and stage design.
Career opportunities
Theatre Studies graduates work as actors, directors, publicists, script-writers, TV/radio journalists, film-makers, comedians, designers, teachers, musicians and theatre technicians. Others take up careers in arts administration, advertising and marketing, or undertake further training in theatre-related fields.
Some choose to combine Theatre Studies with another subject (e.g. English, Music, Dance, Anthropology, Film and Media, Psychology, Māori Studies and many more) or with another degree, such as Law, Marketing or Education.
Theatre papers teach personal and professional skills which are widely applicable across a range of careers and disciplines. They include critical analysis, research, creativity, confidence, team-building techniques and the ability to communicate in diverse ways. These attributes are highly valued in many professions, as are cultural sensitivity and the ability to think laterally and independently. They are skills for a career, and skills for life-long learning.
