Stage and Production Management MA - 2024/5

Other information

Digital Capability
Students will engage with a range of digital technologies, both those that are specific to the global creative industries and those in wider use. These include but are not limited to CAD programs, digital networking and cue playback systems and digital approaches to prompt copies. As young professionals in training, students are encouraged to use current media such as email, virtual meeting and communications software, for appropriate use in communication, collaboration, recording and team working. Students will utilise the University VLE, and a range of Digital media platforms for appropriate use in communication, administration, scheduling, and reporting. Students will also engage with creating Digital Content to secure employment and create their own artistic content. Students will be introduced to these technologies and be asked to critically evaluate their use, understanding the benefits and disadvantages of digital and analogue approaches in various contexts.

Employability
Employability is at the core of this programme. Employability is embedded in teaching, learning and assessment.¿Students receive transferrable employable skills through inbuilt professional development delivered during training by expert staff with practitioner backgrounds. Students will gain employability knowledge and expertise through: authentic practical modes of working in rehearsal and performance mirroring professional practice; independent and collaborative working; the development of critical thinking; the ability to reflect on one¿s own practice and engagement with professional expertise. Engagement with industry stakeholders includes working with freelance professionals on assessed productions, guest speakers and invited associates (who are invited to give specialist training or conduct formative mock interviews and CV workshops). Opportunities for assessed professional placements are also provided within the programme. GSA produces career-ready graduates that are sought after by employers.

Global & Cultural Capabilities
Where possible, students are given the freedom to choose texts which reflect, interact, engage, value and respect their own and lived experiences, skills, perspectives and diversity. Where this is not possible, students are encouraged to reflect on why this may not be possible and whose perspectives are not being considered by the programme. Students are constantly encouraged to reflect the changing world we live in and the current debates in the creative industries. Students are actively encouraged to develop their global, social, historical, and cultural awareness, to share experiences and knowledge from their own backgrounds and cultures¿and to appreciate diverse perspectives. Students are expected to commence the programme with an open mind and a willingness to learn, engage in discussion, and to broaden their understanding of the lived experiences of the varying approaches to the global creative industries they have experienced and will be studying. All modules benefit from an inclusivity ethos and students across their course of study benefit from the oversight of the Director of Equality and Diversity at GSA. Every effort is made to make a range of performances accessible, and students are also encouraged to reach out to the Disability and Neuro-Diversity service within the University of Surrey if they are experiencing barriers to individual learning.

Resourcefulness & Resilience
The process of creating theatrical productions, by its very nature, encourages Resourcefulness and Resilience. Students undertake intensive classes, rehearsals and performance schedules which evolve their skillset through practice, to navigate with uncertainty, to deal with risks and challenges, and to encourage personal considerations of future visions. Real-World working schedules and assessments reflect the kind of resilience and resourcefulness that is needed to effectively work in the global creative industries which, in turn, nurture students' self-management skills. Classes, rehearsals and performances adopt independent and collaborative learning, peer support, problem-solving, communication, independence, perseverance, stamina, self-value and critical thinking, all of which promote resilience and resourcefulness. The classes and the structure of the verbal and written feedback enable students to build a rounded holistic view of their individual process. Students are supported throughout, and beyond, their training by expert staff with practitioner backgrounds, and who are sensitive to the challenges to mental and physical health posed by the global creative industries and can give advice and guidance on where to seek further help within both the industrial and university contexts again, enabling students to take control of their learning and any barriers to learning.

Sustainability
Students are encouraged to contextualise their learning and reflect on their current and future social, cultural, ethical, political, economic, and environmental impact from a personal, professional, and global perspective, and to recognise a sense of shared responsibility. Students are encouraged to reflect on the values, perceptions, and actions of themselves and others, and the impact this has on audiences. All GSA productions are planned and designed to meet high sustainability standards. Props, set design, and costume elements are expected to be re-used and recycled amongst productions. GSA has the strongest commitment to working on productions in the most sustainable way possible. Students receive guidance and training on world-leading frameworks for environmental theatre practice, and are expected to apply these principles in their production work, with sustainable practices forming part of their assessed learning outcomes.