What to do with a BA in drama?

As a Scriptwriting student in his second year the thought of “spreading my wings” at the end of my degree makes me want to crawl back into adolescence, or nursery, or better still the womb. None of us can truly be ready for the real world after three years of Higher Education, but it’s coming regardless. 

Hopefully your acting career won’t meet the same end as Macbeth…

Many graduates will take their thespian tendencies to the next level. RADA, Central, LAMDA and countless other Drama Schools await those with the resilience to face tense audition processes. For some it may take several years to secure a place at their dream Drama School. Even after further training there’s no certainty of acting work, even with the Holy Grail of gaining an agent. Even for the lucky ones, long periods of “rest” await actors in between jobs; you just have to pray your last cheque from “Waiting for Godot: The Musical” (starring some bloke who was in a car crash on Casualty) keeps your fridge full.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Drama graduates, there are alternatives to Drama School. There’s further training in education for teachers, psychology for those who want to look into Drama therapy (yes that exists), and internships for media work. Most of them mean wearing a suit though, you’ll have a job but you will be a sell out.

Drama Therapy… Apparently its a thing.

Wait a second – acting isn’t the only thing you learn from a drama degree?! People with a love for stage management, costume design, directing and producing can find internships at theatres, and experience in community based performance. This experience is crucial for Drama graduates interested in expanding their horizons to working with people who actually need our help.

Creative writing is a big part of the Drama department, and further study in the form of MAs in Scriptwriting and Directing can help petrified graduates network for potential collaborators and build their portfolios. You may meet people who could help your career in the future.

Networking. Important for any potential career.

Whilst it may be tempting for many graduates to busk their way to Hollywood with the broken guitar they won from a homeless man, hoping to be the next Brangelina, the reality of the situation is that we need to make our own work. We can’t expect creative arts jobs to be drawn to us, wielding our magnets of talent to attract the paperclips of success. We have to work from the bottom like everybody else or take chances by creating our own work, a blessing and curse in equal measure. It’s all worth a try in the end.