MA Scriptwriting (Theatre and Digital Media)

University of Essex

Develop as a scriptwriter by learning with professional and award-winning dramatists. On our MA Scriptwriting (Theatre and Digital Media) you produce a varied portfolio of dramatic works, culminating in a full-length original play, which will enable you to hone and develop your own unique voice.

At Essex, we believe that the joint engagement of practice and theory produces a deep understanding of how drama works. We combine critical study of dramatic texts with practical workshops, so that you nurture your understanding of the playwright’s craft in order to produce your own new work.

Our course focuses on the range of possibilities that exist for contemporary drama, with an emphasis on British and Irish drama, and you also explore topics including:

• The principles of dramatic structure and scene construction (dialogue, the construction of plot, the development of character, development of themes, and the structure of scenes)
• The origins and possibilities of poetic theatre and verse drama
• Writing and developing screenplays
• Options for poetic practice or novel-writing

Your dissertation gives you the chance to write a full-length script with one-to-one supervision from an award-winning scriptwriting tutor.

Your future

This course will be of interest to those who wish to pursue a career in many areas of the arts, creative writing and media.

A number of our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies graduates have gone on to undertake successful careers as scholars, university lecturers, teachers, publishers, publishers’ editors, journalists, arts administrators, theatre artistic directors, drama advisers, and translators.