The course

Theatre Directing (MA)

Realise your potential as a creative director who can innovate and shape future theatre with the MA in Theatre Directing at Royal Holloway. Study alongside Katie Mitchell OBE, one of the world’s foremost directors.

Build hands-on directing skills and learn practical techniques for conceiving and rehearsing productions rooted in the Stanislavskian tradition. And combine that practical work with critical thinking and collaboration skills that will make you a better artist, ready to succeed in this competitive industry.

You’ll be based in a department known for its wide range of research specialisms. Explore how theatre can respond to and shape a rapidly changing world.

In the director's chair

Kick off your training with an exciting five-day intensive led by Katie Mitchell
You’ll not only learn practical directing tools through live exercises, you’ll also receive mentoring from working practitioners in the field
Dive into specialisms like immersive theatre, Black British theatre, sustainability, ancient Greek drama, Japanese Noh, and Shakespeare
Collaborate with actors, writers, designers, and creatives in a department that champions experimentation and innovation

From script to stage

Throughout the course, you'll be supported in securing placements and internships that develop your voice as a bold theatre-maker.

You’ll graduate with a portfolio showcasing your artistic vision, ready to direct with confidence and make your mark in the creative industries.

You must be available for the intensive beginning on 14 September 2026.

We sometimes make changes to our courses to improve your experience. If this happens, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Course structure

Core Modules

In this module you will develop an understanding of how to take a prepared text into the rehearsal room, articulate a concept for a text and translate it into legible performance. You will work with actors, begin to develop a personal style and focus on how to work with a creative team and their related disciplines. You will learn how to plan a rehearsal schedule, manage the rehearsal process from the first day to final performance, and critically reflect on this process of training in relation to current directing practise.
Dramaturgy is the process of creative research that facilitates a successful transfer of source material to the stage. In this module, you will develop the multi-dimensional skills of the dramaturge in order to then propose and construct a directorial concept. You will be introduced to a broad range of contemporary directors working in Europe and beyond with a specific focus on their dramaturgical approaches and the shaping of an overriding concept. Case studies will include directors who adapt canonical 19th century plays, such as Yana Ross, or Shakespeare texts, such as Thomas Ostermeier, or adapt films or novels for the stage, such as Ivo van Hove. In addition, you will analyse the complex dramaturgical strategy of adapting multiple texts for a single performance in works by directors such as Krzysztof Warlikowski, or those who use real-life scenarios and documented histories, such as Lola Arias and Oliver Frljić. You will then have the chance to adapt a text for performance through a dramaturgical portfolio and propose an original concept.
This module explores the work of a wide range of contemporary British dramatists and directors including, indicatively, debbie tucker green, Lucy Prebble, Bola Agbaje, Lucy Kirkwood, Caryl Churchill, Moira Buffini, Tanika Gupta, Roy Williams, Nick Payne, Simon Stephens, Mike Bartlett, Rob Drummond, and Anders Lustgarten. Specifically, it enables you to situate playwriting and performance as powerful modes of intervention in the public sphere. The aim of the module is to widen and deepen your understanding of theatre as a material and meaningful intervention in the contemporary world, to enable you to identify key developments in recent British theatre, and to utilise interdisciplinary modes of research.
In this module you will develop an understanding of current trends in, and new approaches to, contemporary performance practice, including playwriting, theatre directing, devised, physical and applied work. You will collaborate with students from the other MA programmes offered in the Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance, encountering a broad range of performance making processes and contexts. You will also apply established techniques of research and enquiry to the conception of a new group or solo performance project, allowing you the opportunity to provide thought-provoking response to the practices encountered.
The dissertation offers you the opportunity to develop some of the concepts you have explored practically in written form. With a flexible format, you may employ a number of critical methodologies. The dissertation can take the form of a Director’s Log which will include documentation of your directing practice.
This module will describe the key principles of academic integrity, focusing on university assignments. Plagiarism, collusion and commissioning will be described as activities that undermine academic integrity, and the possible consequences of engaging in such activities will be described. Activities, with feedback, will provide you with opportunities to reflect and develop your understanding of academic integrity principles.

All modules are core

Teaching & assessment

The programme begins with a week-long intensive in the week prior to the start of the Royal Holloway academic year. During regular term time the programme modules are taught in seminar and practical workshop modes as appropriate to the module. Outside of timetabled classes, directors are expected to rehearse several times a week through most of the first two terms, putting into practice the skills taught in modules. Rehearsed projects include collaborations with BA acting students.

Opportunities to visit theatrical performances and rehearsal rooms are also an important part of the programme, and you will be encouraged to use these as a basis for discussion and to deconstruct the performances they have seen from a variety of critical positions.

Assessment is by a variety of means including essays (both theoretical and critical) and etudes (practical directing exercises), practical projects as well as a final dissertation of 10-14,000 words. Practical projects are sometimes carried out in a group.

• You'll take a core practical module in directing led by Mitchell, introducing you to the key professional skills whilst developing your directing technique in a rehearsal room setting with professional actors.
• You'll take four further modules that provide a rigorous grounding in subjects such as contemporary British theatre, concept, dramaturgy, industry practices, and research methods.
• You'll have multiple opportunities to direct throughout the year, including an extended independent project in the summer term.
• Get to work in our suite of high-quality rehearsal and performance spaces, including the Boilerhouse Theatre, a converted nineteenth century ‘found space’ with a sprung, heated floor ideal for movement work, and the Caryl Churchill Theatre, a 150-seat flexible space on three levels designed by award-winning theatre architects Foster-Wilson.
• Opportunities to work alongside writers and thinkers on our partner MA programmes in an environment that will foster your creative and critical development.

Entry requirements

2:2

Normally, we require a UK 2:2 (Honours) or equivalent is required. Candidates with professional qualifications or relevant professional experience in an associated area will also be considered.

Applicants will be required to submit one academic essay of 2000 words that they have submitted for assessment on a previous course or an analysis of any theatre production that they have recently seen.

Extensive and recent practical theatre experience might compensate for a lack of the normal academic qualifications, however applicants should be aware that completing a dissertation is an important part of this degree.

Suitable applicants will be interviewed.

International & EU requirements

English language requirements

IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 6.0.
Pearson Test of English: 67 overall. No other subscore lower than 64.
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III.
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C.
TOEFL iBT: 88 overall with Reading 22 Listening 20 Speaking 22 Writing 24.
Duolingo: 120 overall and no sub-score below 115.

Your future career

By the end of this course, you will have an enhanced understanding of the tasks and responsibilities of a director, and developed your abilily to work with actors and space. You will also have gained experience in working through the research and preparation necessary to direct a piece of theatre, and have the ability to research and articulate an extended analytic discussion of theatre directing.

Our graduates have started careers in professional theatre, film and television as well as training and education. If you come to the end of the course and find yourself curious about an area of study – or want to take your dissertation topic further – the MA is a perfect grounding for a PhD, which may be fully written or include a practice-based component.

The department gives you access to other creative areas of study like dance, media and art. Part of our reputation as a creative campus comes from this cross-pollination of studies and disciplines, so you'll have a good chance to push into those fields and gain knowledge of theatres and the performance scene in London and beyond. You'll leave the MA able to navigate an intense and growing field with credibility and creativity.

Fees, funding & scholarships

Home (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £12,000

EU and international students tuition fee per year**: £27,000

Other essential costs***: TBC

How do I pay for it? Find out more about funding options, including loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries.

* and ** These tuition fees apply to students starting their course on a full-time basis in the academic year 2026/27. Students studying on the standard part-time course structure over two years are charged 50% of the full-time applicable fee for each study year.

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase all postgraduate tuition fees annually. For further information, see fees and funding.

** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree at Royal Holloway during the 2026/27 academic year, and are included as a guide. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included.