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A Guide to Prospective Candidates - PhD (Theatre Performance)

Course Overview

Candidates will be required to submit an original performance project and a critical commentary. The performance will normally be in one of the following practice genres: Directing, Theatre making, Dramatic writing, or theatre design. The outcome will be either a directed performance, a created performance work, a written dramatic work for an actual performance, or a series of designs and models for an actual performance. The project will constitute about 60% of the course and the critical commentary will form approximately 40%.

 The critical commentary will be an explication and analysis of the performance research project and will address methodological and theoretical issues that arise during the research investigation. The project will normally be 60-90 minutes in lenght and the commentary 30,000 to 35,000 words. The  combined equivalent word total will be in vicinity of 80,000 words and will not exceed 100,000 words.

Entry Requirements

Admission to the PhD (Theatre Performance) will require one of the following qualifications in Theatre, Performing Arts or a related discipline as well as substantial documented professional experience in the field:

·       a four year Australian or New Zealand bachelors degree with an overall result of H2A or above (normally with a research component in the fourth year) or

·         an Australian or New Zealand masters preliminary qualification with a significant research component and with an overall result of H2A or above or

·         an Australian or New Zealand coursework masters degree with a significant research component graded at Distinction or above, and an overall result of H2A or above or

·         an Australian or New Zealand research masters degree with an overall result of H2A or above or

·         a qualification considered equivalent to one of the above (a minimum of a Bachelors degree with substantial professional experience in the field).

Applying

All applicants must submit evidence of practical work in the field in a portfolio which will include the following:

1.    A representative selection of the candidate’s performance work, in the practice

genre in which the candidate proposes to work (ie playtexts, performance texts, production photographs, visual recordings, designs for performance).

 

2.   A research proposal of 2-3 pages addressing the following headings –

                        i.  Research question

                        ii. Background to the research

                        iii. Aims of the research

                        iv. Methodologies of the research

                    v. Examples of comparative practice as research and associated literature

                        vi. Proposed structure of the performance project

 

3.    A covering letter explaining the candidate’s interest in the degree and a CV

outlining the candidate’s professional interests, previous performance projects, and publications if any.

 

Note that work submitted in the portfolio for admission may not be part of the work submitted for 

  examination.

Applications are accepted at any time of the year.

 

Future Students