Welcome to Theatre Studies

Theatre has been practiced by many cultures for thousands of years and it remains at the heart of much artistic expression today, searching for new ways of creating meaningful relationships between actor and spectator as well as re-presenting the work and words of the past. In Aotearoa New Zealand there are examples of many forms of theatrical performance, both established and traditional, and also new and experimental.

The live encounter at the centre of a performance makes theatre unique, perhaps more so in a time when film and television media are so enhanced by technological advances, and it is this uniqueness which shapes the nature of Theatre Studies at the University of Waikato. The Programme has established the study of performance as its primary objective in both teaching and research.

The staff of the Theatre Studies Programme are highly qualified and contain a broad spectrum of professional, artistic practice. Their research interests include performance-as-research, contemporary performance theory, mask performance, directing, the art of the actor, and theatre anthropology.

The programme of study uses a theory-through-practice approach to teaching and learning, to enable students to gain an informed understanding of theatre. A major in Theatre Studies is a rich and challenging pathway to an undergraduate Arts degree which can have a wide range of vocational applications. Many papers offer the opportunity for a focused practical study of performance, while others offer analytical approaches to the theories which have informed practice over the centuries, including the work and ideas of contemporary practitioners in New Zealand and in other countries and cultures. Three papers have public performance seasons as their principal outcomes and the study process is closely linked to the process of page-to-stage or idea-to-stage which creates the performance. Other papers include practical demonstrations and weekend-long workshops which explore the many styles and forms of theatre.

Opportunity for graduate and post-graduate study in the field of Theatre Studies is also available and these programmes are currently being expanded by including papers related to contemporary performance theory and practice.

The practical tutorials, seminars and rehearsals which lie at the centre of most of the teaching and learning take place in a theatre laboratory space, The New Place Theatre / Te Tapere Hou, and/or in The Playhouse Theatre at the newly-built Academy of Performing Arts, which is also the principal venue for public performances.