Which university has better theatre/performing arts societies?

Hello TSR,

I'm planning to study BA French ane Drama. I was wondering if anyone could tell me which universities (out of Royal Holloway and Warwick), in their opinion, has better drama and theatre societies for students? Royal Holloway ranks higher in the QS world rankings for performing arts, but ranks lower than warwick in another UK focused ranking that I looked at.

Something that I am confused by, is that apparantly Royal Holloway has a drama society just for drama students funded by the drama department, but I couldn't find it on their societies website. I just found a drama society that I think is open to everyone. What's the department funded drama society like at Royal Holloway?

Could people tell me, if they can, the pros and cons of the performing arts (specifically the drama/theatre) societies at both unis? Could you also tell me which university gets more visits/workshops from well-known/famous practitioners/theatre groups?

Thank you for your time. Have a lovely week!

PS. I realise that answere might be slightly biased and that people might not
know much about Warwick as I posted this in Royal Holloway forum, but any answers or knowledge will be most welcome. :smile:

Reply 1

Royal Holloway, University of London

Official Rep

13

Original post by Garno45

Hello TSR,

I'm planning to study BA French ane Drama. I was wondering if anyone could tell me which universities (out of Royal Holloway and Warwick), in their opinion, has better drama and theatre societies for students? Royal Holloway ranks higher in the QS world rankings for performing arts, but ranks lower than warwick in another UK focused ranking that I looked at.

Something that I am confused by, is that apparantly Royal Holloway has a drama society just for drama students funded by the drama department, but I couldn't find it on their societies website. I just found a drama society that I think is open to everyone. What's the department funded drama society like at Royal Holloway?

Could people tell me, if they can, the pros and cons of the performing arts (specifically the drama/theatre) societies at both unis? Could you also tell me which university gets more visits/workshops from well-known/famous practitioners/theatre groups?

Thank you for your time. Have a lovely week!

PS. I realise that answere might be slightly biased and that people might not
know much about Warwick as I posted this in Royal Holloway forum, but any answers or knowledge will be most welcome. :smile:

Hi Garno45,

I recently graduated from Royal Holloway, where I studied Drama and absolutely loved it. Not only was the academic side incredibly stimulating but there were so many extra workshops and performance opportunities to get involved in.

The Drama department has its own drama society called The Student Workshop, which allows drama students to devise their own pieces or perform published pieces. The Drama department supports all of the productions and workshops, so get the experience of developing and piece and performing it as well as working side by side with professionals. Loads of students use this support to create their own theatre companies and preview their productions before heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. You can check out the website for The Student Workshop here.

In the summer term, the department also offers loads of workshops with professionals in the industry, opportunities to travel, work placements and performance opportunities - including Project Directing where the Drama and Media Arts departments work together to create a competition web series.

On top of everything going on in the department, there are a variety of performing arts societies that are run by the Student's Union. We have Musical Theatre, Shakespeare and Drama societies, so there's something for everyone. Each society puts on two shows a term, so there's definitely plenty of things to get involved in! I was able to get involved with so many productions, which taught me so much and was just generally a really enjoyable experience.

If you have the time, it can be really helpful to visit the universities you're interested in, to chat to current students and get an idea of the overall atmosphere of the university. Have you been to an Open Day before? We've got a few on in June, so I'd recommend visiting and chatting with our Drama department if you're able.

That's a lot of info, so please let me know if you'd like me to clarify anything!

Susana :smile:

Reply 2

katewhetstone

1

Hi Susanna,
I have just checked the link you gave to the Student Workshop and the website looks like it has not been updated for a long time. Does the group still exist?
Thanks, Kate.

Reply 3

Royal Holloway, University of London

Official Rep

13

Original post by katewhetstone

Hi Susanna,
I have just checked the link you gave to the Student Workshop and the website looks like it has not been updated for a long time. Does the group still exist?
Thanks, Kate.

Hi Kate,
The Student Workshop does still exist. You can see more of their recent activities on their Facebook page: The Student Workshop RHUL, including recent events and their newly elected committee for 2019/20.

There are also a large amount of performance based societies at Royal Holloway including Drama, Musical Theatre, Shakespeare and Film.

Philippa :smile:

Reply 4

katewhetstone

1

Thank-you very much! That is very helpful. I am trying to understand the course better and I wondered if you can help with some other questions I have about the Drama and Theatre Studies course:

Would you know how many hours are timetabled each week (seminars, workshops, lectures etc..), roughly, in the first year for example?

Also: if the department does productions and if so what sort of number per year, very roughly, and do they take them out to festivals at all?

And: On the website it says there is a 50:50 split between theory and practice. Would you know if that is within each course, or are some courses purely practical and some purely theoretical? How many essays should one expect to have to write, in the first year?

It would be really great if you could help with any of these.
Thanks in advance!
Kate.

Original post by Royal Holloway, University of London

Hi Kate,
The Student Workshop does still exist. You can see more of their recent activities on their Facebook page: The Student Workshop RHUL, including recent events and their newly elected committee for 2019/20.

There are also a large amount of performance based societies at Royal Holloway including Drama, Musical Theatre, Shakespeare and Film.

Philippa :smile:

Reply 5

Royal Holloway, University of London

Official Rep

13

Hi Kate,

The department don't generally put on full department productions, rather performances are within your course modules. The Student Workshop which is exclusive to the drama students put on productions themselves with the support of the department and the professional technicians. The department is very active in supporting students who wish to perform their work publicly in festivals such as Edinburgh Fringe, offering workshops to help the students turn their developed project for Edinburgh into an active theatre company. For larger productions the performing arts societies on campus such as Drama, Shakespeare, Musical Theatre and Savoy Opera put on multiple productions each year on campus that you can audition for as a member of their societies.

Some courses can be more theory based such as English and Drama but most have an even mix of both theory and practical work, not purely practical or purely theoretical.
For each course unit you are usually assigned one essay and then another assignment which may be a seminar presentation or performance based. The exact layout of assignments will be different for each course module and may change each year, but you may roughly expect around 8 essays in the first year.

Unfortunately I am unsure as to how many hours are timetabled for the first year and don't want to give you the incorrect information.

I would recommend give getting in touch with our admissions team for more advice on course options at Royal Holloway. You can email them on [email protected] or ring them on 01784414944. I shall message you some further details.

Philippa :smile:

(edited 4 years ago)

Original post by Garno45

.................

Focus on the facilities and the staff. The student body at any university completely changes every 3 years, so there is no on-going, location-specific quality or style to any student activities. You and your year group provide 33% of 'what it's like' at any university at any one time.

Which university has better theatre/performing arts societies?

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