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This module focuses on launching your professional career, along with creating and potentially presenting work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Working from your reflective analysis of the preview production, you will be given the opportunity to go on to present your work publicly at the Fringe Festival, and you will be working to bridge your experience as a training director into the world of professional work. Meeting with mentors in the early stages, you will outline a development plan and rehearsal schedule, which will include workshop/rehearsal times as well as production/tech schedules. Also included in these early plans will be a detailed marketing/media campaign. Mentors will work specifically with you for a set number of hours, but there will also be staff mentors assigned to the acting students, which will further ensure support and help throughout the critical rehearsal period. In addition to the festival production, all directors will submit a 2-part thesis (approx. 7,000 words), which combines critical reflection on the Festival experience and on the artistic presentation of the play, along with a professional portfolio and career/business plan.

By the end of the module, students will be able to
LO1: Demonstrate original point of view, and an ability to lead a company with confidence and vision.
LO2: Employ a range of advanced strategies for marketing and networking in a professional capacity, and demonstrate an extensive knowledge of how small companies/individual directors work within a professional context
LO3: Articulate a clear artistic vision and an original point of view in collaborative discussions with writers, designers and funding organisations
LO4: Address complex artistic issues and make informed judgements under tight deadline requirements
LO5: Demonstrate a self-critical understanding of a range of principles and concepts in theatre production, and to place work comparatively in a specific context.