Master of Dramaturgy (MC-DRAMAT)

This is the first course leading to a qualification in dramaturgy in Australia and Asia, and offers a unique curriculum emerging from its positioning within the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and the artistic and cultural life of Melbourne. It is a one-year, 100-point, Masters course that is closely interwoven with both the existing Master of Writing for Performance and the new Master of Directing for Performance. The Dramaturgy course would form a significant part of a distinctive suite of postgraduate taught programmes in Theatre at the VCA, contributing to a vibrant ecology that matches the conditions of contemporary practice in the field. Working closely with postgraduate Dance and Design, the Centre for Cultural Partnerships and the undergraduate Theatre Practice students, the course exploits the interdisciplinary possibilities of the VCA to offer a course that is not only matchless nationally but internationally. This is enhanced by our international partnerships with institutions and cultural organisations. The VCA’s central location in Melbourne opens up the city’s rich and vibrant performance diversity to the student cohort, and VCA Theatre has strong partnerships with industry.

The structure and content of the course is distinctive in that it is underpinned by a commitment to interdisciplinarity and national and international engagement. It draws on the Theatre department’s strengths in teaching and professional experience in writing, directing and dramaturgy.

The teaching-intense first semester focuses on skills and research training, including a discrete subject that engages closely with the dramaturgical expertise of Melbourne’s diverse theatre industry. The teaching methodology is underpinned by the principle of bringing industry professionals onto the campus to interface with the students. The second semester allows more independent practice and research, building reflective performance practitioners with a high level of research and practice skills commensurate with a Masters degree.