MA/MFA Creative Practice - Dramatic Writing

Subject to validation by University of East Anglia

Duration: MA 1 Year (Full-Time) / MFA 2 Years (Full-Time)
Application Deadline: Jul 4 2025 at 9:00AM

2025/26 Course Fees

Interview fee : £20
UK/ROI students (Year 1) : £13,250
UK/ROI students (MFA Year 2) : £10,750
International students (Year 1) : £19,250
International students (MFA Year 2) : £10,750
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Explore the course:

Course Overview
Course Content
Graduates
Entry
Fees
Auditions and interviews

Course Overview

Study an intensive, practical course on dramatic writing for performance. Develop your own distinctive voice and hone the skills required to write for stage, screen and other forms of recorded media.

This new course is one of three pathways in our Masters in Creative Practice, which is designed to cultivate multi-hyphenate practitioners who can meet the demands of the twenty-first century creative industries. Develop an in-depth knowledge of dramatic structures and the core competencies for writing across different forms and styles. Engage with modes of collaboration, creative enterprise and critical contexts in modules shared with Directing and Producing students, offering opportunities to forge creative partnerships.

We aim to equip graduates for rewarding and sustained artistic careers. This course develops an understanding and critical awareness of current practice through engagement with industry practitioners and academics.

This course will run subject to approval by the University of East Anglia (UEA). This means the course is currently going through UEA’s review process to confirm the course meets required standards and will lead to a UEA award. Course validation will take place in late Spring 2025.

Course Content

2025/26 Term Dates
Autumn term 9 September – 19 December 2025
Spring term 5 January – 3 April 2026
Summer term 10 April – 17 July 2026

DELIVERY

This is a full-time course, requiring a commitment of five days per week, over three terms in the first year. All modules are compulsory. Learning and teaching modes include:

  • Tutorials
  • Seminars
  • Workshops
  • Work-based learning
  • Independent study

This course of study culminates in a public facing postgraduate festival of new work.

YEAR 1
  • Critical Contexts
  • Business Principles, Values and Creative Enterprise
  • Structures of Dramatic Writing
  • Developing Professional Practice
  • Collaboration
  • Reflexive Practitioner

 

YEAR 2

The option to undertake an MFA is available through a second year of study. MFA modules are designed to deepen student knowledge and skills as a practitioner through pedagogy laboratories and independent practice and research. Building on skills and knowledge developed in the first year, year two of the MFA places an emphasis on independence and developing individual practice, teaching and learning. This second year can largely be undertaken as distance learning, with MFA students required to attend the Mountview in-person at specific scheduled moments, for teaching labs and the performing research event.

  • Advanced Praxis
  • Critical Pedagogies

Our Graduates

The MA Dramatic Writing course aims to build on work that has seen many exciting writers emerge from Mountview’s Postgraduate training over recent years. Including:
 
Rachel Causer – Writer, Please Feel Free to Share, (stage)  Theatre 503, published by Bloomsbury 2021
 
Edi de Melo – Writer, Mulatto Boy, (stage)  Theatre Peckham and Omnibus Theatre. Associate Artist Nouveau Riche 2024
 
Sarah Hanly – Writer, Purple Snowflakes and Titty Wanks, (stage) Abbey Theatre Dublin, Royal Court London, published by Faber. Shower, Abbey Theatre Dublin. Sarah was the winner of the Pinter Commission 2019
 
Emma Hemmingford – Writer, Foreverland, (stage) Southwark Playhouse London, shortlisted for The Papatango Prize 2024
 
Tania Nwachukwu – Writer, The Kola Nut Does Not Speak English, (stage) The Bush Theatre London 2022
 
Anne Odeke – Writer, Princess Essex, (stage)  The Globe Theatre London 2024
 
Heather O’Sullivan – Writer, Trsna na line, (TV) final 4 Virgin Media Discovers/Screen Ireland 2024
 
J.P Robson – Writer, The Corpse that Went to War, (TV Pilot) Winner The International Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award 2019
 
India Wilson – Writer, A Night with Hennessy Jade, (stage)  Housemates, Brixton House 2024

Entry Information

Admission onto the course is by interview. Applicants must be aged 21 years or over at the start of the course. Students who do not hold an undergraduate degree will need to undertake an access assignment to establish suitability for undertaking the MA.

If an applicant requires a student visa and their first language is not English, they will need to prove their knowledge of the English language before applying for their student visa. This must be demonstrated by passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider or having a GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English, gained through study at a UK school that they began when they were under 18.

Mountview welcomes applications from people with disabilities and is keen to support all applicants to achieve their best. If applicants have any special requirements or access needs, these should be discussed with the course leader/administrator.

Mountview is committed to a comprehensive policy of equal opportunities for students in which individuals are selected and treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities. No applicant will receive less or more favourable treatment on grounds of sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnic origin, disability, religion and marital/parental status or any comparable grounds.

Upon offer, students must be sure that they are prepared to engage with a wide range of material that may challenge their personal ethical, religious, spiritual or moral beliefs, and present it in a wide range of settings.

Fees

Interview fee£20
UK/ROI students (Year 1)£13,250
UK/ROI students (MFA Year 2)£10,750
International students (Year 1)£19,250
International students (MFA Year 2)£10,750

All fees shown are for 2025/26 entry. Fees are subject to annual review. One term’s notice will be given of any increases.

Limited interview fee waivers and reductions are available for candidates with a household income of less than £21,000.

Funding and Scholarships

Interview Information

You will be asked to submit a portfolio, further details of which you can find on the Auditions and Interviews link below. Following your portfolio submission, you will be notified by the Admissions team if you have been shortlisted for an interview with the course leader, which will be held at Mountview.

For international candidates and those with exceptional circumstances, the option of an online interview is available.

Please be aware that due to the limited amount of places available, this course may become full before June and in this event applications will close early. Please apply early to avoid disappointment.

Auditions and Interviews