MAs in Drama

Our Playhouse Square performing arts facilities (left) are right next door to Leeds Playhouse and in the heart of the city's cultural quarter.

Develop Your Career in Theatre with an MA from Leeds Conservatoire

Our suite of collaborative, industry-focused courses offer theatre makers and performers the opportunity to develop their professional skills and explore their creativity.

How to Apply

The conservatoire’s MA Programmes also provide many opportunities for students to integrate with the industry; our MA Dramaturgy is delivered in close collaboration with Leeds Playhouse, and all programmes benefit from the conservatoire’s excellent working relationships with many of the region’s theatre companies, including Red Ladder and Slung Low, as well as its neighbours at Opera North and Leeds Playhouse.

MA Directing

This degree will give you contemporary, practical training, to become an integral part of the next generation of theatre directors. Through skills classes and project-based learning, you will be given the time, resources and rehearsal room access you need to develop your craft. Teaching will be delivered by industry practitioners and Masterclass guests, with mentorship and placement opportunities. Each is designed to support you in clearly defining your artistic voice, aligning your passions, skills and ambitions ready for a portfolio career.

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MA Dramaturgy

Delivered in close collaboration with Leeds Playhouse, this programme focuses on the development of new work and individual artistry through collaborative practice. Whether as a practitioner shaping theatre though storytelling, dance or music, or as a dramaturg in a literary department dissecting text, students will be introduced to a multitude of ways of creating new theatre. Students will leave this MA with not only a comprehensive understanding of how things have been done, but with a vision for how they want to do things in the future.

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MA Musical Direction

This MA is designed to fully-prepare highly-skilled musicians to embark upon a career as a Musical Director. The course encourages students to interrogate the role of the Musical Director and redefine it for themselves, through the continued collaborative, student-led development of new work across the year. With collaboration and individual artistry at the heart of these MAs, students will leave this course not only fully-equipped to adapt to the changing face of theatre, but also with the skill set and tenacity required to drive that change.

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MA Musical Theatre Company

The Musical Theatre Company course combines the rigorous training of a conservatoire with the continued, collaborative, student-led development of new work, preparing students to enter the industry not only to gain employment in the musical theatre industry, but as artists creating their own work. With weekly classes in a range of dance styles, voice, acting, and singing, students will form a company and use these skills to engage in continued and collaborative development of new work, guided by leading directors and practitioners working in the industry today.

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MA Musical Theatre Creatives

This is an individually-tailored MA for anyone interested in creating new musical theatre and pursuing a professional career as a creative in the industries, whether as a composer, writer, choreographer, lyricist or something that has yet to be defined. This unique course focuses on students’ particular needs to develop skills in their field (composition, dance and dramaturgy), whilst simultaneously generating work as a collective with other creatives across the MAs. Working with leading institutions from across the North and with practitioners that include composers, lyricists, and book-writers (the creative team of a musical), students will leave the course with a portfolio of work to take into the industry, to peers to build a creative team with, and leave with a unique artistic voice to shape the theatre of tomorrow.

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If you would like to continue hearing from us about our MA Drama programmes, fill in the form below to let us know which specialisms you're most interested in.

Funding Your Postgraduate Studies

There are a range of options to help you fund your postgraduate course, including postgraduate student loans. There are also several scholarships available to apply for, including the following:

Leeds Conservatoire Progression Scholarship - 15 scholarships are available to alumni who have an offer of a place on a MA course at Leeds Conservatoire and belong to one or more of our underrepresented groups, will be automatically awarded a 10% discount on tuition fees.
Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Awards
Yorkshire Ladies Council of Education Award
Ian Fleming Musical Theatre Award (Musical Theatre Company, Musical Direction)

See our Fees and Funding information