The Student Experience
Drama at The University of Hull isn’t just another course, it’s
a life experience…
Our teaching emphasises
drama as an active form of expression: the ‘play in performance’
thus becomes the ultimate criterion and the centre of academic
interest. All students participate in course-related
productions/projects and have the opportunity of taking part in
public productions, directed either by members of staff or by
students. This involvement may take the form of acting,
direction,
design, Lighting, sound, costume, stage or
production management; and, as far as possible, responsibilities
are diversified so that students gain experience in all aspects of
theatrical presentation. This also include other elements of
marketing, publicity, Front-of-house and general Theatre
Management. As many as 10 public productions are staged each
year, and single honours students may opt to undertake both
technical and administrat
ive production
assignments from their first year onwards both as part of the
course and for further student enrichment and development.
As any of our students or
graduates would tell you, the course modules are only a part of the
student experience at Hull. Many drama students benefit from the
‘student enrichment’ activities with a vast amount of
extra-curricular activity that the department has a long history of
supporting.
Throughout the year the
Events Committee, run by staff and students, arranges a number of
in-house extra-curricular events, including small-scale happenings
known as Studio Nights and Huddles, productions without decor known
as Huddees, and a number of workshops and talks from visiting
industry practitioners. Every year there is a week-long festival of
student-directed productions known as ‘Events Week’.Here students
are free to try out new writing, explore directorial approaches, or
simply 'play' in order to 
create striking theatrical images.
The active social side of
student life in the department is organised by the student-run
Green Room Club, to which all past and present students belong. The
club arranges social nights, sporting activities and theatre visits
in addition to those arranged by staff. The department also
indirectly supports Z Theatre Company, who tour a number of
productions each year to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As staff
have an interest in world drama, a number of departmental
productions in the last few years have toured overseas – even as
far afield as Japan.
More recently our students have also
engaged in activities with local theatre companies, including Hull
Truck and Opera North, as well as two emerging Hull graduate
theatre companies, Middle Child Theatre Company and Park Bench
Poets Theatre Company. We also have good connections with the BBC,
Royal Opera House, West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Stephen Joseph
Theatre in Scarborough and our students have been regularly
involved in a range of projects. Supported by the department, a
number of students also engage each year in various educational
projects at local schools and in local community projects run by
organisations such as Humberside Police, the local NHS trust and
the Samaritans, to name but 
a
few.
Every year our students
are also practically involved in the running of the prestigious
National Student Drama Festival in Scarborough. which uses as its
venues the University’s Scarborough Campus, the Stephen Joseph
Theatre, Scarborough College and the Spa Complex. The NSDF is a
week-long celebration of theatre and live performance, with
discussion and special events. It includes the best student theatre
from all over the UK alongside workshops and masterclasses led by
some of the country’s most acclaimed professionals. Drama students
look after the organisation of the festival, which includes venue
coordination, front-of-house, box office, reception, and press and
publicity. Members of the team are given opportunities to attend
productions and workshops. The event provides our students with
significant festival experience, and the University values its
unique association with the NSDF.