Liverpool Hope University is to be the UK’s first university to offer a masters degree in popular theatres. The first of its kind in the UK, the degree course will focus on the study of British and Irish popular theatre from the late 1950s to the present day. Course co-ordinators say that it will offer an important alternative to the majority of postgraduate theatre studies degree programmes. These have often denied popular theatre the rigorous academic analysis enjoyed by more ‘traditional’ theatre works.
Beginning in September 2008, the degree course will be based at Liverpool Hope’s Cornerstone Campus near Liverpool City Centre and will draw on the expertise of resident staff at the University’s Dance, Drama and Performance Studies Department as well as guest lecturers and practitioners. The Popular Theatres MA will focus on contemporary British and Irish popular theatre, analysing popular theatre plays and examining their historic context. The course aims to addresses the discrepancy between the popularity and high public profile of many contemporary plays and their almost total academic invisibility.
'Thousands of people are watching and enjoying these plays every year and yet there is barely any academic study of them,' says Dr John Bennett, Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies at Liverpool Hope University and the co-ordinator of the new MA degree course. 'This new masters programme aims to rectify the situation and give students an opportunity that was currently unavailable to focus their study on contemporary popular theatre.'
The new degree course will make use of Liverpool Hope University’s close links with John Godber and other contemporary playwrights as well as the University’s connections with local theatres such as Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre. Beginning in Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year, the course also promises to examine the resurgence of the Royal Court Liverpool – a key Capital of Culture venue – as the ‘home of popular theatre’. The degree programme will also look at the impact of ‘Capital of Culture’ status on contemporary popular theatre, and will also include the use of a wide range of research strategies, a special topic module for practical work and two residential weekends spent examining contrasting theatre productions.
Dr John Bennett – who himself starred in the very first production of John Godber’s seminal play Bouncers in 1977 – believes the degree course will offer important space to study the cultural inclusiveness of theatre today. 'A lot of time and money is – rightly – dedicated to getting as many different types of people to the theatre, making sure it is accessible to all. However, current popular theatre productions are already attracting many of these people. It is important that this is recognised and studied and that we also take the opportunity to examine how Liverpool’s Capital of Culture will impact on theatre and theatre audiences in Liverpool.'
Liverpool Hope University will be offering the degree from September 2008 and is accepting applications now. Anyone interested in finding out more about this programme and how to apply should contact Postgraduate Admissions on postgraduate@hope.ac.uk or by telephone on +44 (0)151 291 3389.
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