Bachelor of Arts inTheatre and Performance
The prestigious professional Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance Degree (BATAP) is awarded after the successful completion of 4 years of intensive professional, practical and academic training.
All students studying theatre and performance are expected to successfully complete an academic programme in conjunction with the practical training components of the degree.
Academic Trajectory
FIRST YEAR OF STUDY
Film, Visual and Performing Arts (FVPA)
In first year, all students in the Wits School of Arts register for Film, Visual and Performing Arts (FVPA) – an interdisciplinary course which focuses on cultural theories and practices in a range of media, including painting, sculpture, music, drama and film. At second and third year levels, the focus becomes more discipline-specific.
Performance Practice
This course is compulsory for all students enrolled in a BATAP degree at the first and second year level, and is not open to general BA students. It introduces students to the basic vocabulary of performer training – Acting, Voice and Movement, and is primarily focused on foundational training in the requisite skills needed to be a performer. The course takes a disciplined approach to crafting performance and advocates technical vocabulary and assimilation of core competencies such as sight reading, posture, active observation and listening among others.
Theatre and Production
This course is compulsory for all those enrolled in a BATAP degree at first and second year level. It introduces students to conceptual frameworks in performance and theatre-making, with a focus on storytelling, visuality and text for live performance. The course provides the conceptual basis necessary for the critical thought and reflexivity that underpins all creative practice. Theatre and Production is a practical course that engages with a range of modalities for making work (aural, visual, kinetic, object-based and more). Students are also introduced to the technical aspects of the theatre: Sound, Lighting and Stage Management.
One BA Module (compulsory African language)
SECOND YEAR OF STUDY
Students complete two academic modules in second year; FVPA (semester one) and Theatre and Performance studies (semester two).
Students continue with the following courses:
? Performance Practice
? Theatre and Production
THIRD YEAR OF STUDY
Film, Visual and Performing Arts (FVPA)
Students continue with this module at the third year level of study, however the focus becomes more discipline-specific.
Theatre and Performance Studies: Performance Theory
This course investigates theories of performance especially those developed in Africa through practice. This course also engages with African, American and European case studies that range from performance into performance art, from stage to streets. During the course you will be exposed to performance and theatre-making in terms of the political contexts in which they exist.
AND
Any TWO of the electives below:
Performance Studies
Performance Studies is offered at the senior levels of study (third and fourth year). The course offers aspects of Voice, Movement and Acting, integrating into one cohesive course designed to both train the performer’s body as well as introduce them to the theoretical conventions of Performance.
Movement Studies
The Physical Theatre courses are geared towards nurturing the student’s ability to become a critical thinker and to generate critical material. Physical theatre locates the body as the primary means of expression and communication and thus aims to cultivate the student’s physical intelligence.
Design
The Design course introduces and develops the ability in “ways of seeing”, making and critiquing work. Students are introduced to costume design, set design as well as the process of designing for site-specific work. Students work closely with the Wits Theatre Workshop and Wardrobe Departments.
Directing
Directing is a series of senior courses offered to 3rd and 4th year students. The practical courses are aimed at exposing students to a variety of directing techniques, styles and a means to conceptualising the process of creating and producing productions and stories.
Writing
The primary focus of the Writing programme is on writing for the stage. This emphasis on producing texts that can be staged means that the students will become familiar with techniques of crafting stage work, dialogue and stage business. Because of the broad nature of writing as a skill set, students will also be expected to work on short prose fiction, reviews and criticism and possess knowledge of the theory of representation in writing.
Musical Theatre
The course includes skills-based training through practical classes in singing, vocal harmony, vocal technique, voice placement, dance, choreography, strength training, and exposure to various dance forms and styles. The course fosters discipline, professionalism and an appreciation for the Musical Theatre form. There is a theory component, that examines the history of the musical form and the emergence of Musicals in South Africa.
Arts, Culture and Heritage Management
This course aims to equip students with the skills to work as livelihood motivators for themselves, or as arts managers in community-based organisations and public or private cultural institutions. The present economy does not allow artists to wait for jobs or be “discovered”. Creative arts business training is key to sustainability.
FOURTH YEAR OF STUDY
Research Project or Long Essay
In the fourth year, students select a Research Project from several options, or if eligible, enrol for the Long Essay.
Students continue with their third year electives in the fourth year of study
APPLICATION PROCESSES and ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Apply for the Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance Degree
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