About us
The CAPITAL Centre (Creativity and Performance in Teaching and Learning) was a collaboration from 2005 to 2010 between the University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), established to use theatre performance skills and experience to enhance student learning and to draw on University research and resources to shape the development of the RSC acting companies.
The particular focus for the CAPITAL Centre was performance in the theatrical sense – the development of acting and other stage skills, the engineering of production, theatre history, writing for performance, theatre as a research medium, and the rehearsal process. But these were facets of a broader commitment by the Centre to develop a much wider understanding of the nature and practice of performance.
The CAPITAL Centre was engaged in several strands of activity including teaching and teaching support, research and events. Some specific examples of the work can be found by following the links below:
Modules – The CAPITAL Centre pioneered both new modules and enhancements to existing modules within departments across the University. These incorporated active learning into the academic curriculum by using performance methods and skills in the classroom.
Research and pedagogy - CAPITAL's activities were evaluated to further pedagogic understanding of how performance techniques can be utilised in teaching and learning. CAPITAL was also additionally engaged in a number of ongoing research projects exploring the relationship between theatre and the academy.
Masterclasses - The CAPITAL Centre regularly welcomed theatre practitioners to Warwick to work with students and staff. The Masterclass Series was the flagship programme open to all members of the university, allowing anyone with an interest to come and learn from the best.
Special Projects - In addition to curriculum enhancements, the CAPITAL Centre ran a wide range of extracurricular projects, ranging from one-off sessions to year-long courses. These projects brought together students, academics and practitioners in the exploration of creative learning.
RSC/Warwick International Playwright in Residence – The playwright worked alongside the University’s highly regarded Warwick Writing Programme and contributes to the RSC’s new writing projects. The first Playwright in Residence was Adriano Shaplin, followed in October 2008 by Tarell Alvin McCraney.
Warwick/RSC Fellowships in Creativity and Performance – These Fellowships offered a unique opportunity for theatre practitioners and academics to devote themselves to projects exploring the use of performance in teaching and learning.
Learning resources - Additional resources for learning were made available through the CAPITAL Centre. Examples on this website can be found at these links: blogs, podcasts,theatre tickets, DVD library .
Student Drama - Students' own creativity was supported at CAPITAL. As well as providing free rehearsal space, there were also opportunities to apply for funding and additional support for student productions.
Training for RSC Actors – The RSC’s Artists’ Development Programme was a core element of Artistic Director Michael Boyd’s vision for the Company as a place where research and skills development were central to the process of staging plays. The CAPITAL Centre offered support for members of the RSC taking the Postgraduate Award in Teaching Shakespeare for Actors in the Institute of Education.
The Centre fostered a range of collaborations and disseminated as widely as possible the range of innovation, excellence and excitement that was already provided by the core teaching and learning activities. The CAPITAL Centre was proud to have worked with departments across the Warwick community including:
- The Learning and Development Centre
- The Graduate Skills Programme
- The Institute of Education
- The School of Law
- Warwick Business School
- Department of English & Comparative Literary Studies
- School of Chemistry
- Department of Philosophy
- Centre of Cultural Policy Studies
- Warwick Medical School
- Department of Psychology
- Institute of Health
- Warwick Arts Centre
To contact us:
The CAPITAL project was wound up in 2010 but many of its activities and ideas have been taken forward by the University's Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL). For further information contact Dr Nicholas Monk, Director of IATL, nicholas dot monk at warwick dot ac dot uk
A full list of contacts may be found on our visitor information page .
