Master of Theatre

Gain the practical skills, experience and industry connections to shape your future in theatre.

The Master of Theatre is a comprehensive program that brings together three essential areas of creative practice – Directing, Dramaturgy, and Writing, giving you the opportunity to specialise in your chosen discipline.

Grounded in collaboration, develop your understanding of artistic practice through shared learning, experimentation and creative partnerships across the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), and Melbourne’s broader artistic community.

You’ll collaborate with peers across specialisations at Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre, an iconic venue that inspires creative exchange and collective artistic development.

Take part in industry-led workshops, mentorships and professional internships that sharpen your creative skills and build the connections you’ll need to take your career in theatre to the next level.

Choose your specialisation

Directing

Duration: 2 years, full time.  

Strengthen your visual and artistic leadership skills while enhancing your creative practice as a director, artist, performance-maker, collaborator and researcher.

Lead creative projects and gain valuable insights from expert theatre practitioners. You’ll explore modern directing practices and collaborate with performers and creative teams to create original theatre works.

Dramaturgy

Duration: 2 years, full time.  

Enhance your understanding of dramatic storytelling by exploring how dramaturgy can be applied beyond written texts and scripts, encompassing the mediums of dance, installation, hybrid works, and community-based performance artwork.

Grounded in a commitment to artistic excellence, position your practice within established and emerging dramaturgical practices across local, national and international contexts.

Writing

Duration: 2 years, full time.  

Through intensive creative practice, research and collaboration, you’ll hone your craft in playwriting to produce a play with a performed presentation in the VCA Writers’ Festival. In year 2 you will undertake a professional placement and develop your work for digital mediums, including for TV series, film, gaming narratives, short form and micro-films and podcasts. Build a portfolio of performance writing that supports your ongoing creative practice.

Who is this course for?

The Master of Theatre is designed for graduates and creative practitioners who want to advance their practice in directing, dramaturgy or writing. It is ideal for those seeking to develop their artistic voice, collaborative skills and professional experience in preparation for careers in the theatre industry or further research.

Who you’ll learn from?

Chris Mead
Associate Professor in Theatre

Chris Mead is Head of Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts. Before VCA, he was Literary Director of Melbourne Theatre Company, Artistic Director of Playwriting Australia and Literary Manager of Sydney Theatre Company and Belvoir Street Theatre. Most recently, he was dramaturg for Jacob Boehme's Logan Street (State Theatre Company of SA, 2026), which secured multiple five-star reviews.

Kat Henry
Lecturer in Theatre

Dr. Kat Henry coordinates the Master of Theatre (Directing) program at the VCA. She is an acclaimed theatre director who has worked at mainstage companies around Australia and is an internationally recognised performance artist with a PhD in long durational performance art.

Raimondo Cortese
Senior Lecturer in Theatre

Raimondo Cortese has written over thirty plays for theatre, including Features of Blown Youth, Roulette, St Kilda Tales, Holiday, which won a 2007 Green Room Award for Best Australian Writing, The Child, and Super Natural Inflatable. His plays have been presented in over twenty countries. Raimondo was the recipient of a 2010 Australian Leadership Award, and the inaugural Patrick White Fellowship by the STC in 2011. He also writes fiction and for film.