MA Playwriting / Application and selection

Year of entry: 2023

How to apply

Apply online

Advice to applicants

You should include:

  • Three original ideas for stage plays (each 1-2 pages long). Applicants should submit a title for the play and a line of publicity, brief details of staging, genre, and a description of what the play is about;
  • A 500-word statement about why you want to do the MA, including references to plays and live performance that have influenced and interested you;
  • A writing sample (no less than 10 pages, playscript format), to demonstrate that you can write dramatic scenes and dialogue. This writing sample should be a draft of one of the play ideas you are applying with, or of another play or form of live performance. It should demonstrate your potential and ability to create character, lively dialogue and tell a story dramatically;
  • A CV/biography.

If your academic background is not directly related to the programme, you should supply an academic-standard writing sample on a subject related to the programme.

If English is not your native language, then you should provide an academic-standard writing sample in English directly related to the subject.

How your application is considered

The final submission date for applications for the 2022/23 academic year is 5 August, 2022, or when all places have been taken.  We will update the main webpage if this occurs and notify any waiting applicants individually . Any successful applicants chosen after the programme is closed may be offered deferred entry in 2023.

Skills, knowledge, abilities, interests

Applicants will be considered on the basis of demonstrable aptitude for and understanding for playwriting and/or creative writing in a relevant industry context.

Deferrals

Applicants may defer entry for 12 months provided they contact  MASALC@manchester.ac.uk  before 1 September.

Please note that applicants are subject to the fees for the entry year they will start the course.

Portfolio requirements

You will need to submit a portfolio of written work, including:

  • three original ideas for stage plays (each 1-2 pages long). Applicants should submit a title for the play and a line of publicity, brief details of staging, genre, and a description of what the play is about;
  • a 500-word statement about why you want to do the MA, including references to plays and live performance that have influenced and interested you;
  • a writing sample (no less than 10 pages, playscript format), to demonstrate that you can write dramatic scenes and dialogue. This writing sample should be a draft of one of the play ideas you are applying with, or of another play or form of live performance. It should demonstrate your potential and ability to create character, lively dialogue and tell a story dramatically;
  • a CV/biography.