Delivered in exclusive partnership with Leeds Playhouse, this Master’s programme is designed for aspiring dramaturgs, theatre-makers and creative practitioners who want to build a professional career in new work development.
Rooted in real industry practice, the course gives you direct access to the Playhouse’s Artistic Planning team and the Furnace Artistic Development programme, immersing you in how new theatre is commissioned, shaped and produced today.
You’ll explore multiple pathways into dramaturgy, including analysing text to collaborating with artists across storytelling, movement, design and music. Through hands-on projects, workshops and placements with leading northern practitioners, you’ll build the core skills that drive contemporary theatre: narrative craft, character development and structural innovation.
Because dramaturgy is continually evolving, you won’t just learn existing models; you’ll interrogate them. You’ll examine competing definitions of the role, test them in practice, and ultimately shape your own creative identity as a dramaturg.
Graduates leave this MA with:
This is a programme for future-focused theatre-makers ready to define the next chapter of dramaturgy.
Our MA equips you with the core skills, creative insight and professional experience needed to work confidently as a dramaturg in today’s theatre industry.
Leeds Conservatoire proudly partners with key organisations across the region, ensuring access to a vibrant and diverse creative community.
You will master the building blocks of storytelling and develop a deep understanding of text through both practical and reflective approaches. You’ll learn how to analyse, shape and reimagine the fundamentals of story: structure, narrative arc and character, so you can build your own creative methodology. This course encourages experimentation, giving you the tools to break conventions, innovate and establish a distinctive dramaturgical voice.
The course allows you to gain hands-on experience taking a project from initial idea to final production. You’ll work across a range of theatrical forms, including new writing, script development, devising, physical theatre and dance-led performance; collaborating with writers, directors, performers and other creatives. This holistic approach prepares you to respond flexibly to the wide variety of processes used in contemporary theatre-making.
Come and explore dramaturgy through classics, adaptations, translations, contemporary plays, musicals and, most importantly, brand-new writing. You’ll refine your personal craft and creative process by developing your own pieces alongside industry-led projects, building a portfolio that showcases your artistic identity.
This programme offers immediate and meaningful exposure to the professional theatre world. You’ll engage directly with leading practitioners, artistic planning teams and new work development departments, gaining first-hand insight into how theatre is made at a major UK producing house.
Students also collaborate with a broad network of theatre-makers, from literary departments to independent companies, experiencing the many forms the dramaturg’s role can take across plays, musicals and dance.
Collaboration is central to the ethos at Leeds Conservatoire. As an MA Dramaturgy student, you’ll work alongside peers from our other Theatre MA pathways, sharing core modules where you will generate new material within a collaborative, student-led environment. This cross-disciplinary approach empowers you to experiment, innovate, and refine your individual creative voice as both an artist and a practitioner.
Throughout the year, you’ll take part in a range of Theatre Labs and R&D projects, developing emerging ideas with writers, directors, composers, and performers. These labs offer a dynamic, professional-style settings in which you can explore new concepts, test material, and evolve your practice as part of a creative team.
There will be multiple opportunities to present developing work across a variety of contexts and performance environments, giving you valuable insights into how new work grows from first concept to final production.
The year culminates in an exciting professional opportunity: you will write and adapt a new play based on an existing work, and present it as a public rehearsed reading at the Leeds Theatre Festival. This opportunity will see you working with actors, singers, musicians, and creatives to bring new or existing work to life in front of a public audience. This final project provides a real-world platform to showcase your artistry, leadership, and readiness for the industry.
Our campuses include a brand-new building at Playhouse Square, housing state-of-the-art specialist performance facilities. With a panoramic view over the city landscape, this £60m development contains bespoke facilities for our theatre courses, including state-of-the-art dance and drama studio spaces and music ensemble rooms.
Leeds is also rich with creative and artistic spaces which are invaluable in offering training which is embedded in the City. As an artist who is interested in developing new work you may be able use those environments to inspire your work.
This module is designed to introduce students to the principles and techniques behind successful, collaborative arts practice. The module will develop the students’ knowledge and understanding of collaborative performance settings, expanding their knowledge of how work is made.
The module emphasises the ability to critically analyse personal and professional experiences, allowing students to engage in deep reflection. Through this module, students develop as reflective practitioners who understand the value of their artistry in a collaborative setting and proactively seek to develop their skills.
Through this module, students will study the process of successful collaborators, who work across disciplines to make original performance. They will work together in interdisciplinary teams, using their individual experiences and expertise to generate ideas, creative responses to given briefs and present ideas to audience for funding/development support.
Through both practical and theory-based sessions, Dramaturgy students will work with leading practitioners, theatre-makers and literary departments to build their knowledge and develop their skills for careers in script development, practical theatre-making and writing.
Students will deepen their understanding of the building blocks of performance; structure, character development, pace, tone, genre and language etc. In tutor-led sessions, students will learn the various ways to approach, analyse and develop texts, working with classics, adaptations, translations, contemporary plays and musicals, and (most importantly) new writing from both established and first-time writers.
Students will also explore the role of the dramaturg in other theatrical practices; dance, opera and puppetry. Students will then be encouraged to develop their own process and practise through individual development of their own work.
This module aims to develop key skills in creating devised material within an ensemble setting. Actor Musicians, Actors and Dramaturgs will be encouraged to explore performance material created from personal storytelling, narrative and experiences, working in small companies on various projects.
These practical sessions will be tutor-led, where students are taken through a range of methodologies to explore producing work using various storytelling techniques.
As the students develop as an ensemble company producing their own work, they will be given the opportunity to run these small companies themselves.
Students may explore practitioners/companies such as Red Ladder, Interplay, Frantic Assembly, Kneehigh and The Pappy Show, but will adapt and tailor techniques to their personal vision and intentions appropriate to postgraduate study.
Dramaturgy students will help shape these pieces as the performers bring them to life.
This module gives you the chance to work DIRECTLY with industry professionals on both internal Leeds Conservatoire projects, and on UK wide industry leading shows.
You’ll gain hands-on experience, build confidence, and make meaningful connections as you explore where your specialism can take you. You’ll undertake a placement working directly with our undergraduate or postgraduate students, contributing to real learning environments and expanding your professional toolkit.
Additional placement opportunities are offered each year through our growing network of external organisations, evolving in response to your area of study and our active partnership collaborations.
You’ll also be supported to design your own placement with an organisation that aligns with your creative goals and future ambitions to help you to shape an experience that truly supports your individual professional development.
In your final module, you’ll bring together everything you’ve explored throughout the MA by developing, shaping, and presenting your own adaptation in a public rehearsed reading. Whether you choose to reimagine an existing text or collaborate closely with fellow creatives, you’ll take a central role in guiding a piece from its earliest conceptual stages through to a live, audience-facing presentation.
As the dramaturg and adaptor, you’ll define the intellectual and artistic identity of the work by: crafting the script, shaping the narrative arc, supporting the director in rehearsal, and working with actors to ensure clarity, coherence, and dramatic impact. This is a hands-on opportunity to apply your full analytical and creative skillset in a professional context, collaborating with directors, performers, and production teams to bring a new version of a work to life.
Your rehearsed reading will be performed publicly as part of the Leeds Theatre Festival, attended by industry guests, employers, and theatre professionals. It offers an exceptional platform to showcase your voice as a dramaturg, highlight your adaptation skills, and graduate with a significant professional credit already on your CV.
This is your moment to define your dramaturgical identity, gain industry visibility, and make a confident statement as an emerging creative voice in contemporary theatre.
Throughout the course you will be assessed through a series of essays, presentations, performances, workshops, reflective portfolios and academic reflective writing. Your final project will be assessed through submission of your adaptation for the performance in the Leeds Theatre Festival and a live ‘Viva’.
Our Playhouse Square building is right next door to Leeds Playhouse
"I am thrilled to be collaborating with our partners, Leeds Playhouse on the delivery of our new MA in Dramaturgy. Both institutions are development engines, passionate about artistic development, championing new work and new voices. So, there is no more fitting a collaboration than coming together to train dramaturgs. The benefits for dramaturgy students, working closely with such a theatrical powerhouse, at the coalface of new work and development are immeasurable."
Erin Carter, Programme Leader at Leeds Conservatoire
“We are really excited about this collaboration with Leeds Conservatoire which will provide the students with hands on experience in a working theatre alongside our fantastic team of artists and creators. Working with these students will open up a world of possibilities for how we can make work and support artists in this city and to expand the boundaries of what we think about when we think of dramaturgy.”
Amy Leach, Associate Director at Leeds Playhouse
Our Performing Arts students benefit from bespoke new facilities in our brand new Playhouse Square building.
Teaching will take place at our St Peters Square, Mabgate and Playhouse Square buildings as well as external teaching spaces where necessary.
We are confirming teaching spaces for 2026/27, but teaching spaces in 2025/26 also included Slung Low Theatre Company in Holbeck, Dance Studio Leeds and Yorkshire Dance.
Take a look at our custom-designed studios with panoramic views over Leeds city centre.
See Performing Arts Facilities
Students from the Dramaturgy MA will be excellently placed to work in a wide-range of theatre performances and performance projects, with experience they will be able to adapt to different size and scale projects. Upon successful completion of the course students may go onto careers which may include:
Students will be taught by staff who are specialists within their field and include performers, creatives, entrepreneurs and academics who work professionally in the theatre industry. All teaching staff must apply for and be granted Recognised Teacher Status by the University of Hull.
Course Type: MA Postgraduate Degree
Duration: 1 year
Study Mode: Full Time
Start date: September
Validated by: University of Hull
Alternatively you can apply directly to Leeds Conservatoire
OR
All students requiring a visa to study in the UK must meet the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) department's English Language requirement of IELTS 6.0 with no sub-test less than 5.5.
The audition process will be in 2 stages:
Find out more and read our full guidance on our Postgraduate Auditions page
Full details on tuition fees are available on our Fees & Funding for Postgraduate study page.
Leeds Conservatoire offers the following discounts for taught on-site Masters courses:
For more funding options, visit our Postgraduate Scholarships and Bursaries page.
International Students
Details about tuition fees and scholarships for international students are available here.
