MA Performance and Digital Media
- Study Mode: Full Time
- Location: High Wycombe
- Duration: One Year
- Start Date: September 2025
You can also study this course:
Are you an artist eager to explore new boundaries, experiment, and deepen your understanding of how contemporary artists and writers interpret performance? Our MA in Performance and Digital Media offers a unique opportunity to explore performance as both an act and an evolving art form, integrating various media such as film, screen, and digital platforms. You'll collaborate with industry professionals at the cutting edge of UK performance and gain hands-on experience in the field. This course will also provide you with the skills and expertise to launch your own theatre company or thrive in the world of small-scale theatre. It bridges the gap between undergraduate performance studies and the advanced skills needed to succeed in the creative industries.
Performance and digital media is a global industry with a rich history in entertainment and innovation. To stand out in this sector you must stay current and extend you knowledge with an ever-changing society. On this course you’ll explore these topics, experiment with lots of ideas and learn about how contemporary practitioners and writers create and understand performance.
As part of the Art, Design and Performance School at BNU, you’ll benefit from a practiced-based course, supported by contextual studies. You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively across the university with other courses, ensuring during your studies you are building a varied network, like you would in the real world. Previous joint projects have seen students working with film and TV production and audio and music students.
At BNU we ensure you have creative spaces to bring your ideas to life. On this course you’ll have access to drama studios. Each space brings with it unique features, from moving lights and fully equipped sound systems and projection to mirrors, a tiered seating bank and sprung floors. You’ll also have access to our props store where you can find everything you’ll need to bring your performances to life, from costumes and wigs, to lamps and even a coffin.
You’ll also have access to high quality camera equipment, a greenscreen room and lighting rigs and sound recording facilities, all suitable for film and TV screening.
This MA in Performance and Digital Media is led by a dedicated and experienced course team, you’ll benefit from their industry knowledge and the industry links they bring to the course. Many of our guest lecturers are specialists within the industry and with lecturers will nurture your learning and professional development throughout your time with BNU.
As well as this we seek to bring your work into the wider world and to bring the world into the university. During your time at BNU you’ll have the opportunity to perform at external venues and take part in workshops with leading companies, both on and off campus.
Our High Wycombe Campus is only a short train ride away from London, meaning you are only a stones-throw away from the hustle and bustle of the world-renowned West End and many other independent theatres. You are also only around the corner from Oxford and Reading.
This postgraduate performance and digital media degree is delivered as a full-time one-year option or a two-year part-time option, allowing you to balance your studies around other life and work commitments.
What will I study?
Create work that pushes the boundaries between performances and contemporary life, and the boundaries between performance and other disciplines. This course focuses on contemporary cutting-edge practice.
At the centre of the programme is practical work with industry professionals at the forefront of contemporary UK performance. You will work with them practically and learn about their professional practices. You will then go on to study thinkers who have written about the possibilities of performance and explore concepts discussing what performance is and could be.
You’ll explore the application of live and digital performance to a contemporary society that has become increasingly technologised. You will learn to view performance as both performing – a skill which can be applied in a variety of contexts – and as an art form that can accommodate a range of media, including film, screen, and digital platforms. You will gain hands-on experience with the latest technology, allowing you to explore the full range of stage, screen, audio and intermedial possibilities.
During the course you’ll increasingly move towards independent study as you adopt the role of performer / director / creator as well as academic. You'll run workshops and lead group productions and the course will conclude with a project led by you, in which you'll creatively develop ideas explored during the course.
This MA in Performance and Digital Media puts a particular focus on the range of skills involved in small scale theatre and setting up your own theatre companies, which aims to simulate industry practice. The range of leadership roles you’ll take on will help you develop as a creative and innovative thinker. The high level of academic knowledge and ability to do independent research paves the way for you to embark on a step-up in your career or PhD study after this programme.
How will I be taught and assessed?
Assessment is varied, catering for different learning styles and enabling students to develop a wide range of academic and performance skills. These include solo performance, group performance, group presentation, written project proposal, written reflection on creative work, and workshops.
We're passionate about giving our students as many opportunities as possible so you’ll be able to work on a number of exciting projects. We know the importance of catering for different learning styles and enabling our students to develop a wide range of academic and performance skills. We encourage you to develop your own response to open briefs, giving you independence and creative control over your work.
Throughout the MA Performance and Digital Media course, an attempt is made to connect practical and critical work, with an understanding of the links between theory and practice evidenced in written work.
- Teaching methods may vary but will include;
- workshops to develop practical and production skills
- seminars and lectures
- performances (some of which are formally assessed) where you will perform to an audience or be mediated (i.e. for camera)
- and study trips, giving you the opportunity to watch professional theatre.
In the final term you'll research a topic of your choice for your practical project or written dissertation.
What are the course entry requirements?
Typically 2:1 or above in a Media or Performing Arts related field, and/or experience in the performing arts sector (in its widest sense, from performance to design, video production, teaching and leadership).
All students will be required to attend an interview and give a presentation on their relevant experience. Students will be required to work to a high level in both practical and academic work.
We welcome applicants from a range of backgrounds and experiences and are prepared to consider students with relevant experience in addition to the above typical profile.
Modules
This provides a guide of the modules that make up your course. You can find more information about how your course is structured on our Academic Advice section.
What are the tuition fees
Home
-
Home, Academic Year 2025 - 2026: £10,990 per year *
International
-
Overseas/International, Academic Year 2025 - 2026: £15,500 per year *
Following the Government’s announcement of 4 November 2024, we will be increasing our full-time undergraduate tuition fees for UK students to £9,535 per year from the start of the 2025/26 academic year. Our part-time fees for UK undergraduate students will increase to £7,145 per annum. Please visit , on the Government’s website, for more information about the changes.
Tuition fees for Home undergraduate students (including with foundation year) may increase in subsequent years for both new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by the Government.  
Tuition fees for both new and continuing international students may be subject to an inflationary increase based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12-month period to 31 January each year.  
Tuition fees for postgraduate courses and CPD may be subject to an inflationary increase based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12-month period to 31 January each year. This increase will apply to both new and continuing students.  
We understand, and really appreciate, the significant financial commitment our students make when they choose to study at BNU. We take our responsibilities to our students very seriously, and are ambitious for each to reach their full potential and succeed in their chosen career. Our fees help us to continue providing our students with a high-quality education, and to invest in the services and facilities which create an excellent student experience at BNU.
The following factors will be considered by the University when we set the annual fees: measures of inflation such as the retail price indices; projected increases in University costs; and any changes in the level of funding for teaching received from the Government.
What are my career prospects?
Throughout your time with us we’ll support you on the route to your chosen career. We’ll help you to develop crucial skills, encouraging you to become enterprising, employable and good leaders. Our Careers and Employability Team also help you find employment after graduation.
The MA Performance and Digital Media will prepare you to take the next step in your career and for a wide range of roles in the performing arts industry, such as;
- creative performer in theatre, performance, film and digital media
- arts management
- performance practitioner in a wider industry role (for example radio performance, creative producing, video / film making)
- Playwright
- Screenwriter
- Performance Company owner
creative educator.
