Stage Managers of the future
to be educated in festival city
S
COTLAND’S FESTIVAL CITY, with
all its arts and cultural events,
will be the location for a new
postgraduate course which is set to
attract the stage managers of the
future.
QMU and The Edinburgh Stage
Management School have joined forces
to offer a Masters of Arts (MA) in Stage
Management*, which is the only postgraduate
course of its kind in Scotland.
Sarah Paulley, Lecturer in Scenography from
QMU, explained: “The entertainment and live
events industries are growing rapidly and the
need for skilled Stage Managers has never
been greater. Our rapidly changing domestic
and international environment has resulted in
a demand for high quality ambitious projects
which have the capacity to engage and
influence both local communities and global
audiences. The work of stage managers has
therefore become increasingly complex and
technically challenging.
“Live entertainment in the form of all kinds
of large scale events can be beamed into
everyone’s living rooms worldwide. In the
same way, high quality plays or operas
that once offered intimate entertainment to
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QMYOU / New Courses
small theatre audiences, can be streamed
onto huge screens across capital cities: in
our modern technological age, the capturing
of live events online means demand for
perfection in live presentation is constantly
increasing. The role of the stage manager is
central to achieving these demanding goals.”
QMU’s partnership with The Edinburgh
Stage Management School ensures this
course offers students a high level of
engagement with the working industry.
Key professional practitioners will deliver
master classes and practical workshops
and will mentor students as they undertake
professional practice projects. At the same
time, studying this expanding discipline
at Master’s level will ensure a high level of
academic rigour.
The course will balance blocks of intensive
workshops in key technical production skills
with classes and seminars in the theory and
practice of the equally vital art and science
of communication and people management.
Students will also have the opportunity to put
knowledge into practice by stage managing
real productions both within QMU and the
wider industry.
George Tarbuck, Director of The
Edinburgh Stage Management School, said:
“In our sophisticated global marketplace,
good stage managers are now highly sought
after and career opportunities are excellent.
Stage managers have to have outstanding
organisational and people management
skills. They sit at the centre of the planning
and preproduction process and they are
essentially the captain of the ship once the
show starts.
“Graduates from the Edinburgh Stage
Management School have gone on to work
in theatres, performing arts organisations and
festivals, corporate events and ceremonies.
We have an 98% employment rate and our
graduates are working worldwide.”
Further information on the MA Stage
Management at QMU can be found at: http://
goo.gl/J0U0wy ❒
*Course subject to validation