Where this programme might take you

Career opportunities for Playwriting graduates.

Unique in the UK for its level of engagement with industry, our MSc in Playwriting is an immersive introduction to the theatre scene in Edinburgh, Scotland and internationally.

Over the course of the programme, you’ll explore your individual creative voice, developing the self-motivation and focus necessary to work as an independent artist within the theatre industry. Not only will you develop in the craft of playwriting, but in the transferrable skills of dramaturgy, script analysis and working through devising. 

On completion, you will have written at least two short works and one full-length piece for live performance and had your work read in public at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The transferable skills you will gain, such as communication, research and project management, will be valuable to your career development whatever path you choose, including advanced study, if it interests you. Our graduates have gone on to be professional playwrights but also to careers in arts management, journalism, performance art, screenwriting, teaching and socially-engaged arts practice. 

The programme is incredibly comprehensive and gives you all the tools you need to actually write. The hands on approach is amazing. I got my dissertation play developed last summer at a theatre in Washington DC and my writing samples have gotten me in front of some pretty important people - executive producers at Netflix, Viacom, and ABC. I’ve now landed a scriptwriting job for a YouTube company - my videos have over five millions views together. 

The MSc is undoubtedly the most intense, exciting, formative thing I’ve ever done. What attracted me to it, and what I found to be particularly valuable, was that in addition to the quality of teaching being incredibly high, every aspect of the course was rooted in, and informed by, industry practice. Each class was focussed on developing our craft, [and] the range and calibre of visiting professionals was really outstanding. The intimate nature meant that classes and workshops were a safe environment where you could take risks and try things out, knowing that everyone else was going through the same processes.

The rigour and verve the MSc in Playwriting asks of its students is what makes it such a worthwhile programme. It builds your stamina and presses you to demand only the best from yourself. Nicola challenges students to be ambitious, have clear intent, and to nurture their plays into something performable and marketable. This has continued in my stage writing since leaving Edinburgh and has also transferred itself into the work I do in programming theatre, coordinating events, and writing for the page.