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  • Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance (MA)
  • 2012/2013 entry
  • Contact us
  • Assessment
    • Core modules are assessed by a combination of research assignments (such as annotated criticial bibliographies) and short essays (2500 words); the Globe module and the option module by longer written assignments (4000 words), supplemented by other exercises as appropriate.
  • Attendance
      • One evening a week part-time; two evenings a week full-time.
  • Duration
      • Two years part-time or one year full-time.
  • Entry requirements
  • Fees and funding
    • Fees (2012/13)
      • Part-time (home/EU students): £2975 pa
      • Part-time (overseas students): £5750 pa
      • Full-time (home/EU students): £5375 pa
      • Full-time (overseas students): £11,500 pa
  • Location
      • Central London.
  • Teaching

    • Most teaching is in small seminars with expert Birkbeck academics; some sessions involve visiting theatre practitioners. The spring module at the Globe involves some practice-led activities.

Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance (MA) - 2012/2013 entry


  • Overview

    • This programme considers how Shakespeare’s 400-year-old scripts are brought to life in today’s London theatre, and what intellectual and historical approaches are best suited to analysing and understanding the results. Along with historical, dramaturgical and contextual analysis, the programme incorporates a term’s study of the rehearsal process at Shakespeare’s Globe on Bankside. 

      You will study with Birkbeck’s experts in Shakespeare, theatre studies and cultural theory, and with faculty and theatre artists from Globe Education’s Courses and Research Department. The programme also features sessions with visiting scholars and theatre practitioners (who may include members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Cheek by Jowl, and the National Theatre). You will be encouraged to play an active role in the Globe Education Research Department during the spring and summer terms, undertaking research projects to support the preparations for the Globe theatre season. You will also participate in relevant public discussions between theatre-makers, critics and scholars staged by Birkbeck’s cutting-edge Centre for Contemporary Theatre.

      The programme is entirely distinctive in its simultaneous focus on Shakespeare’s texts and on the theory and practicalities of present-day performance; it uses the Globe not just as a ‘replica’ of an Elizabethan auditorium but as a case-study in the current production and marketing of live Shakespeare.

      Find out more about studying at Birkbeck and what our students say about our programmes.

  • Why study this course at Birkbeck?
      • Combines the detailed study of the Shakespearean text and its original theatrical contexts with the practicalities of the present-day stage and the intellectual challenge of contemporary performance studies.
      • Run in conjunction with Shakespeare's Globe, offering hands-on participation in the making of their productions.
      • Gives you the fullest possible understanding of how live Shakespeare works in London now.
  • Course structure

    • Core modules:

      • Post-War Shakespeare
      • Theorising the Contemporary
      • Shakespeare in London Today.
      • compulsory option module: Shakespeare’s Globe: Culture and Contemporary Performance.
      • plus one option module from a range on offer in the Department of English and Humanities, and a dissertation.

      Find out more about this programme in our departmental handbook.

  • Study resources
  • Further study opportunities
  • Careers information

    • Graduates go on to careers in writing and journalism, in theatre production and community arts organisations, in research and marketing, in publishing and in public relations, in arts administration, and in event planning, among many others.

  • Apply now