English and Theatre Studies BA

at University of Warwick

In your first year, you will gain an understanding of literature from the classical past to the here and now. On British Theatre Since 1939, you will look at post-war British theatre from the ‘angry young men’ to the women of the ‘awkward brigade’; and on ‘Theatre and Performance in Context’ you will study what theatre and performance tell us about our histories, cultures, societies and identities.

In your second year, you will think about theatre as an intervention in public space on Drama and Democracy. You will study English-language plays that have shaped democratic institutions around the world, and have the opportunity to explore plays from the Greeks to the present that constitute the European tradition of theatre. But you will also start selecting from a fascinating array of modules from Arthurian literature to post-9/11 fiction, Romantic and Victorian Poetry to postcolonial writing and science fiction.

In your final year, Shakespeare: Text and Performance, Now and Then allows you to study Shakespeare as a jobbing playwright. You will think about his writing for the early modern stage, but also about his afterlife in subsequent performances on stage and film. And you will choose modules that extend your horizons, including proposing your own research project as a Dissertation.

Year One
British Theatre since 1939
You will be engaged in an in-depth appreciation of significant and controversial British plays of the post-war period, examining the theatre’s response to social and historical trends and becoming familiar with the landmark institutions of new writing. Topics include theatrical architecture and design, performance styles, and the political and philosophical ideas of leading playwrights. You will develop analytical skills, knowledge of specific productions, and the ability to present coherent arguments.

Medieval and Early Modern Literature
Taking you from the mythical court of King Arthur to the real world of ambition, intrigue, and danger in the courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, this module introduces you to early literature written in a range of genres (romance, epic, fabliau) and poetic forms. You will study texts like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Thomas More’s Utopia, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, and Shakespeare’s sonnets to explore some of the period’s highest ideals—‘trawthe’ or integrity—as well as some of humanity’s darkest impulses: greed, deception, revenge, and desire.

Theatre and Performance in Context
This module considers what theatre and performance can tell us about our histories, cultures, societies and identities. You’ll watch, read and study a range of theatre and performance from across historical, cultural and geographical borders, in order to see how it not only reflects society, but also seeks to change and shape it. The module is split into four blocks, considering theatre and gender, race, sexuality and class. This module will help you to hone your academic writing, research and presentation skills, which will serve you throughout your degree.

Plus one of the following options:

Epic into Novel
Tracking the transition from the epics of the ancient world to the novels of modernity, this module introduces you to some of the most influential and formative works of world literature. You will study central texts of the classical world, such as Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid; the ancient Indian epic The Mahābhārata; Milton’s Paradise Lost; as well as novels like Henry Fielding’s bawdy comedy Tom Jones and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s novel of decolonising Kenya, A Grain of Wheat. Reading across history and cultures, between languages and genres, you will develop the skills to analyse narrative, character, and style.

Modes of Reading
What is a reader? How is our understanding and perception of a text formed? What does it mean to think critically when we read? This module allows you to explore these questions by putting a spotlight on the question of critical thinking in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By studying a series of literary texts in relation to some of the most influential literary and cultural theorists of the last hundred years, you will take your own position on everything from Marxism, queer and feminist theory to ecocriticism and postcolonial critique.

From Text to Performance
Through practical exploration of a number of selected plays and texts, in this module you’ll investigate the process of taking material from page to stage or performance, and the relationship between theory and practice. You’ll have the opportunity to experiment practically with realising multiple texts in performance, considering aspects such as staging, genre, narrative structure, performance strategies, dramaturgical thinking and directorial conceptualization, as well as the changing role and function of the audience.

Year Two
Drama and Democracy
You will study major plays written since the beginning of the twentieth century in Ireland, South Africa and the USA to investigate how writers have dramatised political, racial, class and gender issues. You will study developments in theatrical form and the work of designers, directors and actors to demonstrate your understanding of the shifting relationship between theatre and its impact on political and social change.

Year Three
Shakespeare: Text and Performance, Now and Then
You will consider the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries such as Marlowe and Middleton, both as text and performance. Through your experience of performance, and understanding of historical context, you will consolidate your analytical skills in reading narrative, poetry and drama. You will gain an awareness of the traditions of criticism, and an appreciation of how the plays’ themes continue to challenge readers and audiences today.

Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:

• European Theatre
• Remaking Shakespeare
• Early Modern Drama
• Restoration Drama
• Queering the Literary Landscape
• American Horror Story
• The English Nineteenth-Century Novel
• Literature, Environment, Ecology
• US Writing and Culture, 1780-1920
• Romantic and Victorian Poetry
• Crime Fiction
• Jane Austen in Theory
• Women and Writing
• The Classical Tradition
   

All applicants, regardless of their visa requirements, are required to show that their ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English is sufficiently high for them to derive full benefit from their degree course. The level of competence required depends on what type of degree you wish to study. Many applicants can demonstrate this through a satisfactory level of achievement in, for example, GCSE English Language or the English courses within the International Baccalaureate.

Applicants whose academic qualifications meet the University’s admissions requirements, but whose English language qualifications are not accepted as equivalent, may be offered a place at Warwick conditional on an acceptable English language qualification being achieved before they join the University. A number of English language tests are accepted; some of the most frequently offered ones are detailed below.

Please note that certain English tests (including IELTS and PTE) must be taken within two years and one month prior to the start of your course at Warwick. Applicants whose tests fall outside this timescale will need to retake a suitable English language test.

Applicants who require a visa to study in the UK may, depending on the circumstances, be asked to provide evidence of a secure English language test (e.g. IELTS for UKVI (Academic)), rather than an examination (such as International Baccalaureate English) due to the visa requirements set by the UK government.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (2022 Entry)

If you do not meet the English Language Requirements for your course in full, you may still be eligible for the course on condition of:

• Meeting the English Language Requirements for our Pre-sessional English course, and
• Successfully completing the Pre-sessional English course

Please use the table below to find the relevant band for the course(s) in which you are interested. You can sort the table by clicking on the heading of the column you wish to sort by.

If you are an overseas or EU student enrolling in 2022, your annual tuition fees will be as follows:

• Band 1 – £22,280 per year (classroom-based courses, including Humanities and most Social Science courses)
• Band 2 – £28,410 per year (laboratory-based courses, plus Theatre and Performance Studies, Economics, and courses provided by Warwick Business School, with exceptions)

Fees for 2023 entry have not been set. We will publish updated information here as soon as it becomes available, so please check back for updates about 2023 fee rates before you apply.

Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2022

We believe there should be no barrier to talent. That's why we are committed to offering a scholarship that makes it easier for gifted, ambitious international learners to pursue their academic interests at one of the UK's most prestigious universities. This new scheme will offer international fee-paying students 250 tuition fee discounts ranging from full fees to awards of £13,000 to £2,000 for the full duration of your Undergraduate degree course.

Graduates from these courses have gone on to work for employers including:

• Archant
• Barclays
• Bloomsbury
• British Council
• Civil Service
• Maidstone Borough Council
• Newsquest Media Group
• Pan Macmillan
• Royal Opera House
• The Sunday Times
• Teach First
• Tesco
• Weber Shandwick

They have pursued roles such as:

• Journalists
• Newspaper and periodical editors
• Publishers
• Creative directors
• Arts officers, producers and directors
• Authors, writers and translators
• Musicians and composers
• Teachers
• Advertising accounts managers
• Business sales executives
• Solicitors and legal associate professionals
• Management consultants and business analysts
• Marketing associate professionals
• Academics and researchers