• To master the dramatic, scenographic and technical tools and languages of the stage ;
• To develop one’s own personal artistic discourse ;
• To be able to critically analyse and put in perspective knowledge, theories, and practices ;
• To be able to elaborate and develop an artistic research problematic ;
• To reach creative and administrative autonomy in the setting of a professional stage production.

The course is modular. Subjects covered during the degree are by their nature complementary:

• The creative process, actors and chronicles of the director’s art.
• Space, architecture, performance locales, stage design.
• Theoretical and historical aspects of stage direction, theatrical art.
• Relations with other artistic disciplines, fusion

Students choose their course from three types of modules :

• Tools: lessons and seminars that provide working tools and encourage critical analysis of the art of stage direction.
• Workshops: practical sessions accompanied by recognised professionals, giving rise to creative projects and shows presented in public.
• Master’s project: artistic research comprising a theoretical part (written work akin to a dissertation) and a practical part (public performance).

Additional modules are also studied within the Master Campus Theatre programme (dramaturgy, drama teaching, performance, stage design, etc.). Work at the end of the course involves the organisation of a mini-festival offering real visibility to students for the launch of their professional careers.

Research plays an important part in the programme. It will be expected from the students an investment into the school’s performing arts research projects.

Scenography is a form of writing for the stage: it puts bodies in tension with space and time. This practice arranges, organises and proportions the senses with the other arts and crafts of the theatre. It is both an ephemeral architecture and a distribution of the dramaturgy in the form of materials and ideas.  

The scenography orientation is part of the Master's degree in theatre at the Manufacture; students share most of their teaching with the practice of directing.   

This course mainly develops and accompanies the conceptualisation of projects, allows students to experiment with different forms and languages and approaches the creation of scenic spaces. This pedagogical project is developed in contact with the actors and dancers of the Bachelor programme.  

The scenographic orientation is modular. The axes traversed during the course are of a complementary nature:  

- The acquisition of knowledge and working methods to develop a scenographic process;
- A reflective and critical approach to the aesthetics of the contemporary stage;
- The management of personal projects in autonomy, from conception to production sketches;
- Relationships with other artistic disciplines, hybridization.

The student follows the course of study from three types of modules:

- Tools: courses and seminars providing the tools for work and critical analysis of the art and profession of scenography.

- Workshops: practical work accompanied by recognised professionals and renowned artists, enabling the knowledge acquired in the tools modules to be experimented with and put to the test, and giving rise to creative projects and experiments shared in public.

- Master's work: artistic and research work consisting of a theoretical component (written report of the dissertation type) and a practical component (stage production presented in public). This work is developed with the support of a tutor.

Students are encouraged to experiment with joint creative processes and develop dramaturgies of space. They are introduced to the practices, materials and techniques of the stage. They participate in interdisciplinary experimental workshops: dance, contemporary art, architecture, cinema, performance, literature. It is a laboratory of contemporary transdisciplinary forms. 

Complementary modules are offered within the Master-Campus-Theatre, covering different artistic practices. In this way, La Manufacture fosters artistic collaboration between thinkers and creators, and exchanges between the French and German-speaking cultures.  

As with all courses at La Manufacture, students will be offered the opportunity to engage in research into the performing arts of today. Certain modules are directly linked to the research projects developed within the Haute Ecole in order to create and encourage regular circulation between practice and theory. 

Finally, this course accompanies the singular professional positioning of today's stage designers. It ensures that stage design is consistent with the ecological and political issues of our time.  

Objectives of the training : Orientation Scenography  

- Training in the scenographic, dramaturgical and technical languages and tools of the stage;
- Development of a personal and artistic discourse on the material-text and its transposition into the performance space;
- Ability to analyse and put into critical perspective the theories, knowledge and scenographic practices of the performing arts;
- Ability to elaborate and develop an artistic research problematic;
- Creative and production autonomy in the development of a professional performance project.