The minor stream in Theatre and Performance Studies (TPS) covers the theoretical and historical study of a wide range of human performance in the arts with a focus on contemporary forms of theatre and dance in Europe and Australasia. It is distinguished by an emphasis on engaging with disparate modes of performance – theatrical and cultural, European and Asian, contemporary and historical, text and non-text based, low and high culture – through a combination of both concept-driven and experiential learning.

While the primary objects of study in the minor stream are theatre and dance, they are regarded in terms of their production of meanings, subjects, and social relations. Practical work is therefore undertaken in the BA program not to train students as professional practitioners, but in order that they may develop an informed critical language for the discussion and analysis of theatre and dance as areas of performance and reach a fuller appreciation of the production process and construction of meaning in the respective media.

The subject-specific aims of the BA minor stream in TPS are:

A student who wishes to gain a minor stream in Theatre and Performance Studies must complete 36 units of credit including 12 uoc at Level 1, 12 uoc at Level 2 including the core course ARTS2121 Critical Perspectives on Theatre and Performance, and 12 uoc at Level 3.

Students must complete the core course:

AND one of the following courses: