Master of Arts - Scriptwriting (Theatre and Digital Media)

Develop as a scriptwriter by learning with professional and award-winning dramatists. In the University of Essex MA Scriptwriting (Theatre and Digital Media) students produce a varied portfolio of dramatic works, culminating in a full-length original play, which will enable them to hone and develop their own unique voice. At Essex, they believe that the joint engagement of practice and theory produces a deep understanding of how drama works. They combine critical study of dramatic texts with practical workshops, so that students nurture their understanding of the playwright’s craft in order to produce their own new work.

This course focuses on the range of possibilities that exist for contemporary drama, with an emphasis on British and Irish drama, and students also explore topics including: the principles of dramatic structure and scene construction, the origins and possibilities of poetic theatre and verse drama, options for poetic practice or novel-writing, and writing screenplays. The dissertation gives students the chance to write a full-length play with one-to-one supervision from an award-winning playwright tutor.

Essex is ranked first in the UK for drama in the Guardian University Guide 2020 and top 5 for dance, drama and cinematics in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020.

This course will be of interest to those who wish to pursue a career in many areas of the arts, creative writing and media. Essex also invites professional playwrights and other theatre practitioners to provide students with specialist master classes. Recent class leaders have included David Eldridge, Paul Sirett, Lisa Goldman, David Thacker, Mike Attenborough, Annie Castledine, Bobby Baker, Robert Holman, Tony Casement, Steve Waters and Gari Jones.

A number of Essex's Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies graduates have gone on to undertake successful careers as scholars, university lecturers, teachers, publishers, publishers’ editors, journalists, arts administrators, theatre artistic directors, drama advisers, and translators.