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English and Comparative Literary Studies

English and Theatre Studies

English and Theatre students | University of Warwick

Why study English and Theatre Studies at Warwick?

Be part of the next generation of Warwick writers, directors, actors, designers, reviewers, teachers, academics, and producers who are shaping the creative industries in the UK today.

By studying our English and Theatre Studies degree you’ll learn how theatre provides a powerful perspective on all aspects of life. As the degree progresses across a variety of challenging themes, so will your understanding. And, throughout your studies, you’ll be inspired by colourful characters both on and off stage.

We did this brilliant course, which was basically all about the Royal Court – about the shift from TS Eliot's The Cocktail Party to Look Back in Anger, right through Wesker, Bond, all those writers. Plays that really engaged, which were asking questions."
Dominic Cooke, artistic director of the Royal Court 2006-13
English & Theatre Studies 1985-8

How will my degree by structured?

In your first year, you’ll gain an understanding of literature from the classical past to the here and now. You’ll look at post-war British theatre from the ‘angry young men’ to the women of the ‘awkward brigade’.

In your second year you’ll think about theatre as an intervention in public space. You’ll study English language plays that have shaped democratic institutions around the world as well as plays from the Greeks to the present that constitute the European tradition
of theatre. But you’ll also start selecting from a fascinating array of modules from Arthurian literature to post-9/11 fiction, Romantic and Victorian poetry to postcolonial writing and literary
theory.

In your final year you’ll study Shakespeare as a jobbing playwright. You’ll think about his writing for the early modern stage, but also about his afterlife in subsequent performance on stage and film. And you’ll choose modules that extend your horizons, including proposing your own research project as a dissertation.


Modules you might take at Warwick

How will I be taught?

Most core modules in your first year are taught by means of one lecture and one seminar per week in terms one and two. In your second and third years, optional modules are normally taught by means of one seminar per week (1.5 hours duration).

How will I be assessed?

Assessment is a combination of traditional essays and written examinations together with creative projects, portfolios and performance. For example, in our Shakespeare and Selected Dramatists of his Time module, student creative work recently included film and radio adaptations, musical compositions, painting, sculpture and photography inspired by Shakespeare's texts.

Entry requirements

We require Advanced or Higher level qualifications in English Literature, normally grade A (predicted or achieved). A level English Language is acceptable in addition to English Literature, but is not normally acceptable as a substitute. Combined A level English Language and Literature is acceptable, providing you can show evidence of wider reading in literature in your Personal Statement.

Study abroad

You'll have the opportunity to spend a year abroad at one of the University’s partner institutions in Europe, America or Asia.

Student blogs

Find out what our students say about studying at Warwick. Our student blogs are written by current students, studying and often living on campus.

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