Master of Fine Arts [MFA] in Stage Design (Set, Costume and/or Lighting)

The application for the programme must be submitted through the specific form available through the Trinity College Dublin website. The online form includes sections where applicants can submit:

a) Résumé/CV: a stage design CV, clearly listing education, experience in theatre and theatre design

b) References: two reference/testimonials; one from those familiar with your work and one from third level education. It is a good idea to reach out and ensure that those uploading your references are aware of your application and have received the notification to upload their testimonial from Trinity College Dublin

c) Personal Statement (max. 500 words): In this section, you may include why you wish to attend The Lir Academy, and why you wish to pursue a masters degree. You may expand on this statement within your Statement of Purpose, or you may select to include this information on the former and indicate in the Personal Statement section that you will do so.

In addition to the information required on the online form submitted through Trinity College Dublin, you are also required to upload a copy of each of the following through the Additional Documents section on the application form:

a) Letter of Application: A letter that outlines your theatre education and highlights your stage design experience to date. This may also include experience in other areas of theatre. Please note, however, that applicants will require some stage design experience to be accepted on to the course

b) Statement of Purpose: A statement outlining your ambitions in terms of theatre design in your chosen field. In this you can include what theatre is to you, why you have chosen a career in stage design, the work you want to make, why you want to pursue a MFA in Stage Design and your future plans

c) A portfolio of your work . You can see guidance on this at at this link.

It would be extremely helpful if you could name the files according to the following format: NameLastnameEducation, NameLastnamePersonalStatement, NameLastnameCV etc.

CLICK HERE FOR THE APPLICATION FORM FOR MFA STAGE DESIGN (BOTH FULL TIME AND PART TIME)

Students can opt to take this course either part-time (24 months) or full-time (12 months).

Contemporary Theatre Practice
This compulsory module will introduce students to a range of contemporary theatre practices. It will focus on Irish and international artists and companies, with a particular emphasis on contemporary productions staged in the theatres of Dublin. The principal aim of the course is to enable students to become conversant in the styles, forms, theories and practices that constitute contemporary theatre making in Ireland and across the world. The Contemporary Theatre Practice module is shared by all Master in Fine Art students (directors, designers and playwrights) to allow for an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of performance.

Production Design
This compulsory module offers students the opportunity to apply their skills learned in their elective Design module(s) by designing one of the final MFA Gradfest productions. The aim of this module is to enable students to apply the skills acquired in their elective design modules to the development of their individual creative voice, their collaboration skills and their design practice, as well as developing valuable connections within the industry in Ireland.

This module will be taught in the third term and over the summer months through individual supervision of two placements as assistant to a professional designer, and in the realisation of a design for a production at The Lir Academy during Gradfest in July of the academic year.

Elective Modules:

Set Design Workshop
This module aims to develop the student’s set design skills through weekly workshops, as well as nurturing technical competence and confidence in the realisation of the student’s own designs.

These workshops will introduce students to the creative and technical skills required to realise a set design, including drawing, script analysis, model-making and computer assisted design (CAD) and introduce the processes of historical research exploring a range of dramatic and post-dramatic texts from various periods. There is a strong emphasis on developing a collaborative skillset to enable students to work effectively with all the theatre practitioners involved in the production process.

Students will present their own practice in weekly tutorials for discussion and critique. In addition, students will maintain a weekly journal of reflective practice in which they will analyse their process. Students will also maintain a weekly journal of reflective practice in which they will analyse their process.

The module will be taught over two terms in a series of workshops led by a professional designer. It aims to nurture the student’s design skills through project based learning devised to develop the student’s creative practice.

Costume Design Workshop
This module aims to develop the student’s costume design skills through weekly workshops, as well as nurturing technical competence and confidence in the realisation of the student’s own costume designs. Those workshops will introduce students to the processes of costume creation exploring a range of dramatic and post-dramatic texts from various periods, as well as the technical skills of costume design and making. Class topics include drawing and rendering, script analysis, pattern cutting and costume research. There is an emphasis on developing a collaborative skillset to enable students to work effectively with all the theatre practitioners involved in the production process.

This module will be taught over two terms in a series of workshops led by a professional designer. It aims to nurture the student’s costume design skills through workshops aimed at developing the student’s creative practice.

Students will present their own practice in weekly workshops for discussion and critique. In addition students will maintain a weekly journal of reflective practice in which they will analyse their process.

Lighting Design Workshop
This module aims to develop the student’s lighting design skills through a series of weekly practical workshops and classroom based tutorials. The workshops will offer the students an opportunity to develop their technical skillset as well as to experiment with and explore light to develop their own design practice.

The module will be taught over two terms in a series of workshops by a professional lighting designer. The weekly classes will focus on building the skillset, both technical and creative, required to become a skilled and intuitive lighting designer. Technical topics include choosing of instruments, light quality, new technologies in theatre lighting, console programming, and drafting lighting plans and paperwork. Creative workshops will focus on developing the student’s design process through research, analysis and collaboration as experimentation in the studio to develop the visual acuity required of a lighting designer.

Throughout project work there is a particular emphasis on self reflection and on the engagement with directors and other designers from Set and Costume.. Students will explore the relationship between lighting design and other design elements, e.g. costume design, set design.

Students will maintain a weekly journal of reflective practice in which they will analyse their process. They will be exposed to various modes of design and technologies used in lighting design through a series of ongoing Masterclasses. The learning is experiential in nature, based around a series of projects designed to challenge and excite the lighting design students.

Dramaturgy for Stage Design
This module will be taught over two terms by a professional dramaturg and aims to introduce students to a range of dramatic texts with an emphasis on the dramaturgical composition of those texts. An understanding of the contexts within which those dramaturgical strategies were produced will also be fostered. This seminar and workshop based module requires students to examine key problems related to the creation and structure of play scripts in relation to scenography. Students will consider a variety of theories regarding dramatic structure, style and form, explore different approaches to text analysis from a designer’s perspective and learn to apply a scenographic vocabulary to a number of case studies. Classes will be in the form of workshops and seminars that will be in part practical in order for the practitioner to better understand how the play works in addition to what it means, as well as to engage with the lighting and spatial demands and possibilities of the dramaturgical structure of playtexts.

Set Design Workshop
This module aims to develop the student’s set design skills through weekly workshops exploring a range of dramatic and post-dramatic texts from various historical periods, as well as nurturing technical competence in the realisation of the student’s own design. The module will be taught over two terms in a series of workshops led by a professional designer. It aims to nurture the student’s design skills through project based learning devised to develop the student’s creative practice. These workshops will introduce students to the processes of historical research as well as the technical skills in the realisation of a set design, including drawing, model-making, computer assisted design (CAD), and communication with other theatre professionals in the production process. Students will present their own practice in weekly tutorials for discussion and critique. In addition, students will maintain a weekly journal of reflective practice in which they will analyse their process. Students will also maintain a weekly journal of reflective practice in which they will analyse their process.

Costume Design Workshop
This module aims to develop the student’s costume design skills through weekly workshops exploring a range of dramatic and post-dramatic texts from various historical periods, as well as nurturing technical competence in the realisation of the student’s own costume design. This module will be taught over two terms in a series of workshops led by a professional designer. It aims to nurture the student’s costume design skills through workshops aimed at developing the student’s creative practice. Those workshops will introduce students to the processes of historical research as well as the technical skills in the realisation of costume design, including wardrobe maintenance, and communication with other theatre professionals in the production process. Students will present their own practice in weekly workshops for discussion and critique. In addition students will maintain a weekly journal of reflective practice in which they will analyse their process.

Lighting Design Workshop
This module will be taught over two terms in a series of workshops by a professional lighting designer. It aims to nurture the student’s design skills through workshops aimed at developing the student’s creative practice. Those workshops will examine the nature of light and its qualities, together with the functions of stage lighting, the role of lighting in theatre, with particular emphasis on the engagement of a director with stage lighting design. Students will explore the relationship between lighting design and other design elements, e.g. costume design, set design. The mechanics of stage lighting will be covered in detail to include the principles of electricity, optics, light sources and theatre lanterns. Students will learn how to choose lighting instruments, calculate lighting angles, control light distribution etc., and will learn the basic principles of scale drawing, and how to produce a lighting plan. Other topics covered will include control systems, computer aided design, colour, and special effects. Students will maintain a weekly journal of reflective practice in which they will analyse their process.

Dramaturgy for Stage Design
This module will be taught over two terms a professional dramaturge and aims to introduce students to a range of dramatic texts with an emphasis on the dramaturgical composition of those texts. An understanding of the contexts within which those dramaturgical strategies were produced will also be fostered. This seminar and workshop based module requires students to examine key problems related to the creation and structure of play scripts in relation to scenography. Students will consider a variety of theories regarding dramatic structure, style and form, explore different approaches to text analysis from a designer’s perspective and learn to apply a scenographic vocabulary to a number of case studies. Classes will be in the form of workshops and seminars that will be in part practical in order for the practitioner to better understand how the play works in addition to what it means, as well as to engage with the lighting and spatial demands and possibilities of the dramaturgical structure of playtexts.

Fee Status

A breakdown of postgraduate EU fees can be found on Trinity's website.

To determine your fee status, read below.

You can also consult the flow chart provided by Trinity College to determine your fee status:

Postgraduate Students

EU Fees Eligibility

A student is considered eligible for EU fees if they meet one or more of the following criteria:

• The student is ordinarily resident in the EU, EEA, Swiss Confederation or United Kingdom and has received full-time further or higher education in the EU for three of the five years immediately preceding admission;
• The student is ordinarily resident in the EU, EEA, Swiss Confederation or United Kingdom and has worked full-time in the EU for three of the five years immediately preceding admission or
• The student holds a passport from an EU State, EEA, Swiss Confederation or United Kingdom and has received full-time further or higher education in the EU for three of the five years immediately preceding admission.

Applications from children of the following are treated as EU applications:

• EU government officials living abroad
• Semi-state officials who are on assignment in countries outside the EU
• Volunteer development workers
• Certain EU officials as approved by the Department of Foreign Affairs

Non-EU Fees

If you do not satisfy the criteria for EU Fees, then you must pay non-EU Fee rate, regardless of nationality or citizenship (€ 22,8000 - AY 2024/25).

Students classified for fee purposes as non-EU will not be permitted to change their fee status following admission. This fee includes tuition fees and the SLC fee.

Fees for 2024/25

Full-time fees (EU/UK) - €12,530

Full-time fees (Non-EU) - €22,800

Part-time fees (EU/UK) - €6,260 p.a.

Part-time fees (Non-EU) - €13,460 p.a.

Details on additional student fees can be found at the link here.

Annual Review of Tuition fees and other charges by Trinity College Dublin:

Please note, tuition fees and other charges are subject to annual review by Trinity College Dublin which may result in a fee increase each year.

All students (Undergraduate and Postgraduate, EU & Non EU) on courses/programmes of study of more than one year should be aware that tuition fees and other charges (Commencement/graduation fee, Student Levies & Charges (SLC) fee) may be subject to increase annually. The annual revision is approved by Trinity’s Committee and College Board and typically increase by approximately 3% per annum or more in any given year.

For funding opportunities, please this link.

1. The Lir Academy Bursary

This fund is open to all EU students who have been offered a place on the Undergraduate Bachelor in Acting, Undergraduate Bachelor in Stage Management and Technical Theatre or any of the Postgraduate courses at The Lir, National Academy of Dramatic Art, or are already studying here.

Students can apply for the bursary once a place has been offered on the course.

Non-EU students cannot apply for The Lir Academy Bursary, but they are eligible for other Trinity College bursaries. See more below.

2. SUSI Grant

The SUSI Grant can be accessed by EU and international students who have lived in Ireland for three out of the past five years. The grant is income-assessed and you can use the Eligibility Reckoner online to see if you qualify. See that at this link.

3. The Haddad Fellowship

The Haddad Fellowship includes The Lir Academy's MFA Playwriting, Stage Design and Theatre Directing courses. It is available for Brazilian students and covers the travel, living and education costs of the course for up to €35.000. Applications for the scholarship open in January each year, and we advise students to apply early. Read more about the Haddad Fellowship and the eligibility criteria at this link.

4. Trinity College Dublin Funding

Trinity College Dublin offers a variety of funding opportunities for EU and international students. You can see more at this link.

5. European Excellence Awards

A bursary towards fee costs for EU-fee status students. Applicants can only apply for it once they have been offered a place. Applications usually open in March and close at the end of June each year. If you are an EU-fee status student, you can read more about the European Excellence Awards at this link.

6. Higher Education Authority for non-EU/EEA countries

Each year the Higher Education Authority (HEA) run an International Education Scholarships Programme. Under the initiative, 60 scholarships will be provided for one-year study at Bachelor, Masters or PhD levels to successful candidates who have an offer of a place at an eligible Irish higher education institution. The offer is open to students from non-EU/EEA countries and is applicable to all fields of study. This will be updated annually on their website at this link.

Download the course handbook here