ABOUT

SHU Performance leads students on an educational pathway of creative discovery, empowering the makers of tomorrow as they develop the skills to become inspirational arts professionals through a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. 

Imaginative, cutting edge, and at the forefront of applied performance practice, SHU Performance is a space for democratic research practices that focus on:

- Challenging boundaries, binaries, and hierarchies.
- Co-creating knowledge within and between communities.
- Repositioning the marginal and invisible.
- Re-figuring methodologies.

The Department is located in the diverse, metropolitan heartland of industrial Sheffield, where students are exposed to a rich variety of performances, cultures and traditions from around the region. 

Students learn through practical workshops and interactive lectures led by SHU Performance staff, local and international visiting performance makers, producers and theatre directors, culminating in performances at the University’s professionally equipped theatre venues, the Performance Lab and the Performance Studio. These vibrant spaces are located close to Sheffield Theatres, the largest theatre complex outside of London, and Theatre Delicatessen, one of the city’s many fringe venues. Students are encouraged to participate fully in the local theatre scene and to take advantage of the many opportunities on offer. 

SHU Performance students have gained real-world experience through the development of new performance works in collaboration with industry partners, leading to performances in Venice and Paris and attendance at the Prague Fringe Festival.

Graduating students are proficient performers capable of working across stage and screen mediums. Students are strongly encouraged to develop entrepreneurial skills and to explore the wide range of opportunities available to them in the performing arts industries. Sheffield Hallam’s dedicated enterprise team supports students wishing to set up their own performance initiatives. 

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RESEARCH AIMS

TEAM

Our team features performance studies academics and professional artists. Teaching staff include: Ashley Barnes, Dr Dani Abulhawa, Neil Sissons, Dr Hayley Bradley, Dr Kate Johnson, Dr Henry Bell and Dr Tom Payne.

FACILITIES