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The application process is formally explained on
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/eh/programmes/postgraduate/ma_creative_producing
Always consult this formal explanation before making an application
What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What do you look for in potential students?
We acknowledge the value of professional and life experience as well as formal academic qualifications.
We expect you to have had enough previous experience of theatre or live performance in its widest sense (e.g., events, music, outdoor performance, street arts, festivals, etc, etc, etc.) to allow you to appreciate the realities of life in the industry.
We also expect you to have adequate basic computer / IT skills, in particular a basic working knowledge of Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
Your previous experience may or may not include producing. The Programme does not require a minimum level of producing experience before admission.
The MA in Creative Producing for Theatre and Live Performance is a focussed programme specifically intended for those who want to become professional creative producers. It is not an arts management or arts administration course. If you are looking for such a course at Birkbeck please go to http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/all_courses/artsmanagement.html
How do I apply?
Fill in a Birkbeck postgraduate application form online. There are separate forms for full-time and part-time attendance. These are general application forms for all postgraduate courses at Birkbeck College and should be completed as fully as possible. With regard to the section on Professional Experience, remember that your CV/resumé will supplement the brief summary details you can give here.
What kind of referees do you need?
At least one of your referees MUST be able to supply adequate information about your experience of theatre and/or live performance.
The status or job-title of this Referee is much less important than her/his ability to testify to this experience, or other relevant experience you may have had.
Remember to supply telephone numbers and email addresses for both your referees.
What else do you need?
In addition to the completed application form you must provide us with your up-to-date CV/resumé and a ‘supporting statement’.
Why do you need my CV/resumé?
We need to know details of all your creative experience, including any experience you have had of theatre and/or live performance, not just any producing experience you might have had.
What is the ‘supporting statement’?
In addition to completing the standard Birkbeck application form you must also respond in writing to specific questions about your experience of and commitment to theatre or live performance, and your ambitions.
The ‘supporting statement’ consists of your responses to these three questions.
How do I complete the ‘supporting statement’?
You respond to each of the following three questions.
They are designed to provide additional information about your level of experience of theatre and/or performance and about your aims, interests and concerns as a future professional creative producer.
Your responses are significant and will be fully taken into account by Selection Panels.
Each question should be answered in not more than 500 words, but your answers can be shorter than this if you wish!
1. Describe a theatre or live performance project, large or small, that you want to produce.
2. What do you believe is the role of a creative producer when working with actors, performers, or other artistic collaborators?
3. If you graduate from this Programme in 2011, what do you see yourself doing in five years time?
Please note that, contrary to what is said on the application forms, you are not expected to confine this ‘supporting statement’ to one sheet.
There are no ‘correct’ answers to any of these questions.
We expect applicants to reveal a wide range of experience, opinions, interests and ambitions.
Be candid. We want to read your honest opinions and beliefs.
I would like to know more about the role of the creative producer. Is there any introductory reading I can do?
You might download or read online (from Arts Council England’s website) Kate Tyndall’s book The Producers: Alchemists of the Impossible (2007).
An older but equally interesting book is James Inverne’s The Impresarios (London: Oberon, 2000). It is often available in libraries.
The Programme Handbook includes a detailed booklist. http://www.bbk.ac.uk/eh/programmes/postgraduate/ma_creative_producing
English is not my first language. Is this a problem?
No, provided that you have certified evidence of your proficiency in spoken and written English at a minimum level of 7.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or its equivalent.
Please note that you must achieve this level before you can be admitted to the Programme.
What if I have other questions about the application process that are not covered in these FAQs?
Contact the Programme Administrator - see the 'Welcome!' panel at the start of the blog.
What happens once I have sent in my completed application?
Each application is considered carefully.
Applicants who are considered to be suitably qualified will be invited to participate in the Programme’s selection process.
During that process each candidate’s potential to become a professional creative producer will be scrutinised and assessed.
For more information about the Selection Process please see ‘FAQs – The Selection Process’
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Sunday 20 December 2009
FAQs – The Selection Process
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What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What happens during the selection process?
If you are invited to participate in the selection process then you will be given a date and time to attend an interview and undertake a practical exercise at Birkbeck in Bloomsbury. These interviews are usually on a Saturday but special arrangements can be made for those who are unavailable at weekends.
Do you interview anywhere else apart from London?
Not at present.
Can I do an interview by video or videophone?
No.
How many people will interview me?
Usually two – the Programme Director and a professional producer or practitioner.
A current or recent student may also be present.
How long will the process last?
The whole process should take about 90 minutes. It is in three parts.
Part A - You begin with an interview and discussion (about 30 minutes).
Then you are given a practical exercise to consider.
Part B - You are allowed 30 minutes alone to look at this exercise.
Part C - You return to discuss the exercise and ask / answer questions for a further 30 minutes.
How do I prepare for the interview?
Think about why you want to come onto the programme. Think about what kinds of theatre / live performance you enjoy and why you enjoy them.
We will talk to you about your interest in live performance and producing and your experience as laid out on your CV/resumé.
We may ask you about performances you have attended.
We may discuss some of the things you have said in your ‘supporting statement’.
What is the ‘practical exercise’?
At the end of Part A we give you a short paper outlining a typical scenario that a creative producer might encounter. We ask you to take about 30 minutes to consider this alone (Part B) and then come back and discuss it with us (Part C). As the exercise includes a budget you should bring a calculator.
What happens after the selection process?
We contact you by email with our decision, usually within two or three weeks or so.
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What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What happens during the selection process?
If you are invited to participate in the selection process then you will be given a date and time to attend an interview and undertake a practical exercise at Birkbeck in Bloomsbury. These interviews are usually on a Saturday but special arrangements can be made for those who are unavailable at weekends.
Do you interview anywhere else apart from London?
Not at present.
Can I do an interview by video or videophone?
No.
How many people will interview me?
Usually two – the Programme Director and a professional producer or practitioner.
A current or recent student may also be present.
How long will the process last?
The whole process should take about 90 minutes. It is in three parts.
Part A - You begin with an interview and discussion (about 30 minutes).
Then you are given a practical exercise to consider.
Part B - You are allowed 30 minutes alone to look at this exercise.
Part C - You return to discuss the exercise and ask / answer questions for a further 30 minutes.
How do I prepare for the interview?
Think about why you want to come onto the programme. Think about what kinds of theatre / live performance you enjoy and why you enjoy them.
We will talk to you about your interest in live performance and producing and your experience as laid out on your CV/resumé.
We may ask you about performances you have attended.
We may discuss some of the things you have said in your ‘supporting statement’.
What is the ‘practical exercise’?
At the end of Part A we give you a short paper outlining a typical scenario that a creative producer might encounter. We ask you to take about 30 minutes to consider this alone (Part B) and then come back and discuss it with us (Part C). As the exercise includes a budget you should bring a calculator.
What happens after the selection process?
We contact you by email with our decision, usually within two or three weeks or so.
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FAQs – Full-Time or Part-Time?
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This section draws on the ‘Rough Guide’ to the programme. If you want a copy of this guide please contact the Programme Administrator (see the 'Welcome!' panel at the start of the blog).
What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What does ‘full-time’ attendance involve?
For full-time students the Programme covers one full year of study from September to September. Teaching sessions happen on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays - afternoons and evenings – mostly during the standard Birkbeck terms, but note the description of the longer autumn term below. Afternoon sessions are usually 1300-1700. Evenings are usually 1800-2100. Some classes are shorter than three hours. The number of sessions will vary each teaching week, averaging out over the year at about four per week.
These teaching sessions are supplemented by your private work and study originating from them and/or as preparation for future sessions. You will also be expected to keep up to date with events in the industry and the sector. You may sometimes need to devote evening or weekend hours to this private work and study.
What does ‘part-time’ attendance involve?
It is possible for a student to study ‘half-time’ by splitting the Programme into two halves and taking it over two years. However this still requires full-time attendance for Units when it is appropriate during these two years. (This is explained further below.)
PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE THE MA CREATIVE PRODUCING BY EVENING ATTENDANCE ONLY.
What is the teaching pattern of the Autumn Term?
Attendance begins in late September, shortly before the start of the standard Birkbeck term.
What is the teaching pattern of the Spring Term?
The standard Birkbeck term dates apply. Units One and Four are taught on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons only. Unit Five is taught on one evening only per week.
What is the teaching pattern of the Summer Term?
The standard Birkbeck term dates apply. Units One and Six are taught on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings for the first five or six weeks of the term.
As Unit Seven is almost entirely dealt with on an individual basis between each student and the Programme Leader, students are free from early June to undertake the work chosen for Unit Seven. This allows the possibility of a twelve-week secondment for these students who choose that pathway for Unit Seven.
When do the Unit Assessments take place?
Each Unit’s Assessment Outcomes include a Practical Exercise or Exercises which will be set during the Unit and may also be assessed during the Unit. Each Unit's Formal Assessments are delivered as follows
Unit One - (assessed jointly with Unit Seven - see below)
Unit Two - during Autumn Term
Unit Three - at or near the start of Spring Term
Unit Four - at or near the start of Summer Term
Unit Five - at or near the start of Summer Term
Unit Six - during Summer Term
Unit Seven - during two consecutive days in mid/late September (Unit Seven is assessed with Unit One)
When is the final assessment of the programme?
The final assessment of the Programme, for Units One and Seven combined, will take place at some point in the second half of September. Two days are set aside for this process. The dates will be notified in good time.
When is the graduation ceremony for the programme?
Usually in late March.
For further details see ‘FAQs – Full-Time Attendance’ or ‘FAQs – Part-Time Attendance’ as appropriate to your circumstances.
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This section draws on the ‘Rough Guide’ to the programme. If you want a copy of this guide please contact the Programme Administrator (see the 'Welcome!' panel at the start of the blog).
What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What does ‘full-time’ attendance involve?
For full-time students the Programme covers one full year of study from September to September. Teaching sessions happen on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays - afternoons and evenings – mostly during the standard Birkbeck terms, but note the description of the longer autumn term below. Afternoon sessions are usually 1300-1700. Evenings are usually 1800-2100. Some classes are shorter than three hours. The number of sessions will vary each teaching week, averaging out over the year at about four per week.
These teaching sessions are supplemented by your private work and study originating from them and/or as preparation for future sessions. You will also be expected to keep up to date with events in the industry and the sector. You may sometimes need to devote evening or weekend hours to this private work and study.
What does ‘part-time’ attendance involve?
It is possible for a student to study ‘half-time’ by splitting the Programme into two halves and taking it over two years. However this still requires full-time attendance for Units when it is appropriate during these two years. (This is explained further below.)
PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE THE MA CREATIVE PRODUCING BY EVENING ATTENDANCE ONLY.
What is the teaching pattern of the Autumn Term?
Attendance begins in late September, shortly before the start of the standard Birkbeck term.
What is the teaching pattern of the Spring Term?
The standard Birkbeck term dates apply. Units One and Four are taught on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons only. Unit Five is taught on one evening only per week.
What is the teaching pattern of the Summer Term?
The standard Birkbeck term dates apply. Units One and Six are taught on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings for the first five or six weeks of the term.
As Unit Seven is almost entirely dealt with on an individual basis between each student and the Programme Leader, students are free from early June to undertake the work chosen for Unit Seven. This allows the possibility of a twelve-week secondment for these students who choose that pathway for Unit Seven.
When do the Unit Assessments take place?
Each Unit’s Assessment Outcomes include a Practical Exercise or Exercises which will be set during the Unit and may also be assessed during the Unit. Each Unit's Formal Assessments are delivered as follows
Unit One - (assessed jointly with Unit Seven - see below)
Unit Two - during Autumn Term
Unit Three - at or near the start of Spring Term
Unit Four - at or near the start of Summer Term
Unit Five - at or near the start of Summer Term
Unit Six - during Summer Term
Unit Seven - during two consecutive days in mid/late September (Unit Seven is assessed with Unit One)
When is the final assessment of the programme?
The final assessment of the Programme, for Units One and Seven combined, will take place at some point in the second half of September. Two days are set aside for this process. The dates will be notified in good time.
When is the graduation ceremony for the programme?
Usually in late March.
For further details see ‘FAQs – Full-Time Attendance’ or ‘FAQs – Part-Time Attendance’ as appropriate to your circumstances.
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FAQs – Full-Time Attendance Details
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What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What would my pattern of attendance be as a ‘full-time’ student during ....
..... September till December?
You will be asked to do some preparation before classes formally start towards the end of September - the Unit One Induction (two weeks). Unit Two then runs through until early November and is followed by Unit Three, which runs until the end of term in mid-December.
..... Spring Term?
Whatever Option you select for Unit Five will have one taught session per week, in the evening of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, with an assessment deadline at the start of the Summer Term. As your fellow-students will be likely to be taking a range of different options, taught on different evenings, Units One and Four will be taught only in afternoon sessions this term on a combination of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
..... Summer Term and beyond?
Unit Six will be taught in late April and May. As Unit Seven is almost entirely dealt with on an individual basis between each student and the Programme Leader, you will be free from around early June to undertake the work you have chosen to do for Unit Seven. This allows the possibility of a twelve-week secondment for these students who choose that pathway for Unit Seven.
The Final Assessment (for Units One and Seven combined) will take place at some point in the second half of September.
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What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What would my pattern of attendance be as a ‘full-time’ student during ....
..... September till December?
You will be asked to do some preparation before classes formally start towards the end of September - the Unit One Induction (two weeks). Unit Two then runs through until early November and is followed by Unit Three, which runs until the end of term in mid-December.
..... Spring Term?
Whatever Option you select for Unit Five will have one taught session per week, in the evening of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, with an assessment deadline at the start of the Summer Term. As your fellow-students will be likely to be taking a range of different options, taught on different evenings, Units One and Four will be taught only in afternoon sessions this term on a combination of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
..... Summer Term and beyond?
Unit Six will be taught in late April and May. As Unit Seven is almost entirely dealt with on an individual basis between each student and the Programme Leader, you will be free from around early June to undertake the work you have chosen to do for Unit Seven. This allows the possibility of a twelve-week secondment for these students who choose that pathway for Unit Seven.
The Final Assessment (for Units One and Seven combined) will take place at some point in the second half of September.
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FAQs – Part-Time Attendance Details
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What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What would my pattern of attendance be as a ‘part-time’ student during ....
..... MY FIRST ACADEMIC YEAR; September till December?
You will be asked to do some preparation before classes formally start towards the end of September - the Unit One Induction (two weeks). Unit Two then runs through until early November and is followed by Unit Three, which runs until the end of term in mid-December.
..... MY FIRST ACADEMIC YEAR; Spring Term?
You take Unit Five only this term, which is likely, dependent on the Option you select, to have one taught session per week in the evening of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, with an assessment deadline at the start of the Summer Term.
..... MY FIRST ACADEMIC YEAR; Summer Term?
You do not attend.
..... MY SECOND ACADEMIC YEAR; September till December?
You do not attend.
..... MY SECOND ACADEMIC YEAR; Spring Term?
You attend for Units One and Four, which will be taught only in afternoon sessions this term on a combination of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
..... MY SECOND ACADEMIC YEAR; Summer Term and beyond?
Unit Six will be taught in late April and May. As Unit Seven is almost entirely dealt with on an individual basis between each student and the Programme Leader, you will be free from around early June to undertake the work you have chosen to do for Unit Seven. This allows the possibility of a twelve-week secondment for these students who choose that pathway for Unit Seven.
The Final Assessment (for Units One and Seven combined) will take place at some point in the second half of September.
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What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What would my pattern of attendance be as a ‘part-time’ student during ....
..... MY FIRST ACADEMIC YEAR; September till December?
You will be asked to do some preparation before classes formally start towards the end of September - the Unit One Induction (two weeks). Unit Two then runs through until early November and is followed by Unit Three, which runs until the end of term in mid-December.
..... MY FIRST ACADEMIC YEAR; Spring Term?
You take Unit Five only this term, which is likely, dependent on the Option you select, to have one taught session per week in the evening of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, with an assessment deadline at the start of the Summer Term.
..... MY FIRST ACADEMIC YEAR; Summer Term?
You do not attend.
..... MY SECOND ACADEMIC YEAR; September till December?
You do not attend.
..... MY SECOND ACADEMIC YEAR; Spring Term?
You attend for Units One and Four, which will be taught only in afternoon sessions this term on a combination of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
..... MY SECOND ACADEMIC YEAR; Summer Term and beyond?
Unit Six will be taught in late April and May. As Unit Seven is almost entirely dealt with on an individual basis between each student and the Programme Leader, you will be free from around early June to undertake the work you have chosen to do for Unit Seven. This allows the possibility of a twelve-week secondment for these students who choose that pathway for Unit Seven.
The Final Assessment (for Units One and Seven combined) will take place at some point in the second half of September.
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Tuesday 24 November 2009
Class of 2010
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Details of SABA BURALI, SARAH CLEWS, SOPHIE LARSMON, THERESA PINE, ROWAN RUTTER, CLARE SHUCKSMITH, ROISIN STIMPSON and LEO WOOD are available at
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/english/alumni/BirkbeckCreativeProducingYearbook20101.pdf
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Details of SABA BURALI, SARAH CLEWS, SOPHIE LARSMON, THERESA PINE, ROWAN RUTTER, CLARE SHUCKSMITH, ROISIN STIMPSON and LEO WOOD are available at
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/english/alumni/BirkbeckCreativeProducingYearbook20101.pdf
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Class of 2008/09
The class of 0809 celebrated the end of their training year with a dinner at Joe Allen's. (Left to right - Samantha Nurse, Nick Hennegan, Julius Green (Producer, Bill Kenwright Ltd), Michelle Owoo, Nick Boalch and Abena Adofo. Karen Jemison was working out of London that evening)
Biographies and photos of ABENA ADOFO, NICK BOALCH, NICK HENNEGAN, KAREN JEMISON, SAMANTHA NURSE and MICHELLE OWOO are available at
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/eh/programmes/postgraduate/ma_creative_producing/class_2009
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Monday 23 November 2009
About the 2008/09 session
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During 2008/09 students experienced a varied range of professional training that centered on practice-based exercises, budgets and presentations.
Student work included;
* sessions with senior members of TRSE staff (Barry Burke, Karen Fisher, Murray Melvin, Kerry Michael, Jan Sharkey-Dodds and Vanessa Stone);
* over forty hours of extended and detailed tuition on commercial production from Julius Green (Producer, Bill Kenwright Ltd);
* sessions from commercial producers Neil Laidlaw, Jeremy Meadow, Derek Nicholls, Nick Salmon; investment consultant Philippe Carden; and a range of independent producers including Chloe Dear, Bill Gee, Angela McSherry and Sita Ramamurthy;
* conversations and discussions with Lyn Gardner, Neil Murray (National Theatre of Scotland), Gene David Kirk (Theatre 503), Chenine Bhathena (ACE London), Leyla Jones (Roundhouse ACE Fellow), Jackie Elliman (ITC), Manick Govinda (Artsadmin), Jonathan Kennedy (TARA) and casting director Sophie Marshall.
Students' final Personal Projects include work with Artichoke, Cardboard Citizens, Emergency Exit Arts and Forest Forge as well as the development of projects with Maverick Theatre and Manilla Street Productions.
As a group the students saw and analysed Wicked and Blood Brothers in the West End; Come Dancing, Hansel & Gretel, Mad Blud, Bad Blood Blues and Foreplay at Stratford East; Pied Piper at the Barbican; Warm at Theatre 503; and The Trapeze Artist at TARA. They also formed part of the onstage audience at the first dress rehearsal of Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith.
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During 2008/09 students experienced a varied range of professional training that centered on practice-based exercises, budgets and presentations.
Student work included;
* sessions with senior members of TRSE staff (Barry Burke, Karen Fisher, Murray Melvin, Kerry Michael, Jan Sharkey-Dodds and Vanessa Stone);
* over forty hours of extended and detailed tuition on commercial production from Julius Green (Producer, Bill Kenwright Ltd);
* sessions from commercial producers Neil Laidlaw, Jeremy Meadow, Derek Nicholls, Nick Salmon; investment consultant Philippe Carden; and a range of independent producers including Chloe Dear, Bill Gee, Angela McSherry and Sita Ramamurthy;
* conversations and discussions with Lyn Gardner, Neil Murray (National Theatre of Scotland), Gene David Kirk (Theatre 503), Chenine Bhathena (ACE London), Leyla Jones (Roundhouse ACE Fellow), Jackie Elliman (ITC), Manick Govinda (Artsadmin), Jonathan Kennedy (TARA) and casting director Sophie Marshall.
Students' final Personal Projects include work with Artichoke, Cardboard Citizens, Emergency Exit Arts and Forest Forge as well as the development of projects with Maverick Theatre and Manilla Street Productions.
As a group the students saw and analysed Wicked and Blood Brothers in the West End; Come Dancing, Hansel & Gretel, Mad Blud, Bad Blood Blues and Foreplay at Stratford East; Pied Piper at the Barbican; Warm at Theatre 503; and The Trapeze Artist at TARA. They also formed part of the onstage audience at the first dress rehearsal of Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith.
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About the MA
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The MA prepares students for professional roles as creative producers in a wide variety of theatre and live performance events, including outdoor performance and street arts.
The MA is:
* practice-centred and practice-based;
* rooted in the present-day realities of the role of the professional creative producer, and in the blend of personal taste and judgement, practical skills, creative team working, and problem solving needed for that role;
* designed to appeal to a diverse range of potential students – which is reflected in its diverse content, teaching and assessment methods;
* based on current industrial practice and planned in consultation with a wide range of current practitioners.
The MA programme includes extensive input from many experienced professional practitioners and industry professionals.
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The MA prepares students for professional roles as creative producers in a wide variety of theatre and live performance events, including outdoor performance and street arts.
The MA is:
* practice-centred and practice-based;
* rooted in the present-day realities of the role of the professional creative producer, and in the blend of personal taste and judgement, practical skills, creative team working, and problem solving needed for that role;
* designed to appeal to a diverse range of potential students – which is reflected in its diverse content, teaching and assessment methods;
* based on current industrial practice and planned in consultation with a wide range of current practitioners.
The MA programme includes extensive input from many experienced professional practitioners and industry professionals.
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Andrew McKinnon Biog Updated June 2011
Andrew McKinnon is currently Programme Director of the ground-breaking Birkbeck MA in Creative Producing, which he created in ‘08.
In addition he regularly makes new work with Martin Lewton’s Brighton-based Theatre North: as dramaturg on Lord Arthur’s Bed, dramaturg/director on the Naked Homo series (’08 onwards) and on the recently award-winning site-specific production of Billy Budd, Sailor (’10-’11).
He is also currently working on an extended text on the production of live performance that will place particular emphasis on the work of self-producing artists.
Andrew McKinnon was born and schooled in Glasgow; attended Glasgow and Oxford Universities; became a professional theatre director in his early ‘twenties; and has since directed well over a hundred productions of plays, musicals and operas. He was Artistic Director of York Theatre Royal (’84-‘88), Northern Stage (‘88-‘91) and Perth Theatre (‘93-96) as well as Associate Director of the Nottingham Playhouse (‘82-‘84) and Artistic Director of Actors Centre London (‘91-‘93).
In ‘95 he turned his attention to professional training in theatre and performance when he was commissioned to write The Training of UK Directors, a major Gulbenkian/NCDT Report. Subsequently he became Head of Postgraduate Drama for RSAMD (’96-’00); and then created several degree courses in theatre, including the highly-regarded Birkbeck MFA in Theatre Directing.
McKinnon has been extensively involved in mentoring/developing professional directors, theatremakers and creative producers in the UK and Europe (particularly Holland, Germany and Greece).
Co-founder of the Arches New Directors Awards in ‘00, he mentored its award-winners for seven years. During ‘99–‘02 he edited three advanced training publications for the Directors Guild of Great Britain. In ‘06-‘07 he was facilitator/mentor for the first Scottish Arts Council Creative Producer bursaries.
With his company waywardscot he staged three projects collaboratively devised with Dutch theatremaker Herman van Baar – Look at Me ‘03, Brain Salad ‘04, Featherweight ‘05 – in Glasgow (Arches) and Utrecht (Kikker) – and he created the site-responsive Cabinet of Doctor Jekyll in Scotland (‘07).
Throughout his career he has been a board member and trustee of arts and theatre companies; has acted as a strategic, artistic and planning consultant to a wide range of theatre and arts organisations; and has served on several arts funding assessment panels.
In recognition of his work as an international mentor of emerging artists he received an award at the 2003 Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre. Thereafter he became increasingly interested in learning from Middle Eastern performance traditions and spent lengthy periods of study-time in Egypt.
McKinnon has a wide range of cultural interests and was for a decade part of the Edinburgh International Festival’s Insights programme, conducting public interviews with distinguished artists (including Anne Bogart, Calixto Bieito, Andrea Breth, Federico Leon, Tom Murphy, Peter Stein, Silviu Purcarete and many others).
In addition he regularly makes new work with Martin Lewton’s Brighton-based Theatre North: as dramaturg on Lord Arthur’s Bed, dramaturg/director on the Naked Homo series (’08 onwards) and on the recently award-winning site-specific production of Billy Budd, Sailor (’10-’11).
He is also currently working on an extended text on the production of live performance that will place particular emphasis on the work of self-producing artists.
Andrew McKinnon was born and schooled in Glasgow; attended Glasgow and Oxford Universities; became a professional theatre director in his early ‘twenties; and has since directed well over a hundred productions of plays, musicals and operas. He was Artistic Director of York Theatre Royal (’84-‘88), Northern Stage (‘88-‘91) and Perth Theatre (‘93-96) as well as Associate Director of the Nottingham Playhouse (‘82-‘84) and Artistic Director of Actors Centre London (‘91-‘93).
In ‘95 he turned his attention to professional training in theatre and performance when he was commissioned to write The Training of UK Directors, a major Gulbenkian/NCDT Report. Subsequently he became Head of Postgraduate Drama for RSAMD (’96-’00); and then created several degree courses in theatre, including the highly-regarded Birkbeck MFA in Theatre Directing.
McKinnon has been extensively involved in mentoring/developing professional directors, theatremakers and creative producers in the UK and Europe (particularly Holland, Germany and Greece).
Co-founder of the Arches New Directors Awards in ‘00, he mentored its award-winners for seven years. During ‘99–‘02 he edited three advanced training publications for the Directors Guild of Great Britain. In ‘06-‘07 he was facilitator/mentor for the first Scottish Arts Council Creative Producer bursaries.
With his company waywardscot he staged three projects collaboratively devised with Dutch theatremaker Herman van Baar – Look at Me ‘03, Brain Salad ‘04, Featherweight ‘05 – in Glasgow (Arches) and Utrecht (Kikker) – and he created the site-responsive Cabinet of Doctor Jekyll in Scotland (‘07).
Throughout his career he has been a board member and trustee of arts and theatre companies; has acted as a strategic, artistic and planning consultant to a wide range of theatre and arts organisations; and has served on several arts funding assessment panels.
In recognition of his work as an international mentor of emerging artists he received an award at the 2003 Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre. Thereafter he became increasingly interested in learning from Middle Eastern performance traditions and spent lengthy periods of study-time in Egypt.
McKinnon has a wide range of cultural interests and was for a decade part of the Edinburgh International Festival’s Insights programme, conducting public interviews with distinguished artists (including Anne Bogart, Calixto Bieito, Andrea Breth, Federico Leon, Tom Murphy, Peter Stein, Silviu Purcarete and many others).
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