BA (Hons) Acting

ACT4001
Introduction to Acting 20 credits

This module provides an accessible introduction to the process of creating a role and playing a character. Students are asked to select a monologue by a character, from a play, that they can identify with and are given some basic techniques for building the character from their own life experiences and personal traits.

ACT4002
Page to Stage 1: The Physical Action 20 credits

In this module students work together, with leadership from staff to read, rehearse, design and present a number of fully realised scenes from plays. Students will experience all aspects of theatre production in a concentrated rehearsal process, with a performance at the end of each process.

ACT4003
Page to Stage 2: Discovering the Through-Line 20 credits

Page to Stage 2 builds on the work done in Page to Stage 1, teaching students techniques for building a character to help them to play more challenging roles. Techniques of dramaturgical analysis, ‘scoring’ a role and marking up a text provide the basis for building complex characters, with varied and unusual life experience; where Page to Stage 1 helped students to play characters that were much like themselves Page to Stage 2 challenges students to build characters very different from them. Physical skills, for example ‘animal work’, help students to find a physical language for presenting the dramaturgical information about characters that they have uncovered through text analysis.

ACT4005
Production 1 20 credits

This module develops basic expressive vocal and movement skills necessary for the successful interpretation of dramatic and non-dramatic performative material. Through workshop study, the student will embark on a creative exploration of the physical and mental processes embedded in core traditions of actor training.

PER4001
The Body in Performance 20 credits

This module positions all performance practice as the product of its own specific cultural setting. Aiming to resist a Western-centric approach, the module explores performances from different cultures whilst providing a context and awareness of the key issues and debates surrounding intercultural/cross-cultural theory and practice. It problematises the issues of theatre, culture and ideology: the politics and problems of cultural contact and exchange.

ACT4006
Self and Character

This module is about preparing actors for how to preserve and promote a sense of personal wellbeing when working in a professional context. The process of adopting a character and enacting a role can mean that actors have to negotiate some very personal feelings and experiences. This module gives actors the tools to create healthy boundaries and to work in a sustainable way.

ACT5003
Production 3 20 credits

This module introduces students to the skills techniques and process required to produce a theatrical text for an audience. By offering a contextual and historical grounding of chosen playwrights, students will be introduced to key theories of contemporary theatre making. Through dramaturgical research and intensive practice, students will explore the ideological, cultural and social concerns of contemporary theatre. This study will culminate in the production of a public performance.

PER5002
Performance Practices 20 credits

This module encourages students to find their creative voice through the exploration and application of a specific performance practice. Students will develop and practically interrogate the skills and understandings that establish specific forms of contemporary performance practice as both skilled activities and culturally significant artistic statements.

PER5005
Theatre Residency 20 credits

This module addresses collaborative and interdisciplinary practice in partnership with a professional visiting theatre company. It is a practical and studio-based module that emphasises the development and presentation of student-led work and collaboration across year groups.

ACT5004
Acting for Camera and Digital Media

This module facilitates the learning of the methods and approaches to develop the skills, techniques and understanding required to act in front of the camera and for a multi-cam setup. Students will examine acting techniques applied within contemporary digital media and their approaches to character, storytelling and scene. The module will place its technical focus on approaches to ‘reacting’ and how to play their character alongside other characters.

ACT5002MX
Acting for Audio: Radio, Podcast, Voiceover 20 credits

This module trains students to work professionally in mediatised/recorded settings. Students learn techniques appropriate to the preparation and performance of non-theatrical formats (such as audio drama) through text-based analysis, narrative and dramatic theory and genre-specific acting techniques.

PER5003MX
Site Specific Performance

Outdoor, off-campus, real-world performance-making informed by research-led seminar-based explorations of an exciting and diverse range of performative case studies and influential theories. This module gives students the opportunity to study independently and work together to open up for themselves a whole new way of seeing the world as a site for theatre.

SSC601
School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Placement Year

Students have the opportunity to gain work experience that will set them apart in the job market when they graduate by undertaking an optional flexible placement year. The placement must be a minimum of 24-weeks (which can be split between a maximum of two different placement providers) and up to a maximum of 48-weeks over the course of the academic year. The placement is flexible and can be undertaken virtually, part or full time and either paid or voluntary. Students will have the option to undertake their placement year abroad. This year allows them to apply and hone the knowledge and skills acquired from the previous years of their programme in the real world.

ACT6001
Production 4 20 credits

This module will allow students to specialise in a number of expressive vocal and movement techniques necessary for the successful interpretation of a specific theatrical genre/style. The module will also prepare students to develop a number of skills essential to boost their employability.

PER6001
Performance Research 40 credits

Students will plan and conduct a research enquiry relevant to the application, practice and study of performance (including acting, dance, theatre, live art, and cross-form practices). Through lectures, workshops and tutorial guidance, students develop appropriate ways of collecting, analysing, documenting and organising material to present and evidence their research process and findings.

ACT6005
Advanced Acting for Screen

This module will deliver a series of advanced acting skill workshops for screen and students will collaborate in the production and performance of a short media project in film. The module will engage students critically through a textual analysis of selected screen performances and develop students’ understanding of their cultural and historical significance as well as the techniques employed.

ACT6006
Production 5

Students will audition for a role in a professional level production directed by an experienced theatre-maker. Students will develop their skills in character development, textual analysis, and identification of key performance making principles, in order to explore the implications of this research through the collaborative production of a public performance. All students must be involved in the process, and all students will perform in the final production.

ACT6002MX
Auditions and Showreels 20 credits

Focused on employment in the theatre industry after graduation, this module is all about auditioning practices and techniques, self-taping, casting calls, character break-downs, working with your ‘pages’ and pulling together your showreel.