School of Art, Design and Architecture
| UCAS tariff |
104 - 112
Contextual offers
A contextual offer is an offer to study at university that takes personal circumstances that may affect grades into account.
|
| UCAS course code | W411 |
| Institution code | P60 |
| Duration | 3 years (+ optional placement) |
| Course type | Full-time |
| Study location | Plymouth |
Train to be an accomplished actor by working with experts from the University, professional acting practitioners and theatre directors. Join a tight-knit community and tread the boards with local, national and international practitioners and renowned theatre companies. Learn by doing and build your acting portfolio, fully supported by a dedicated team of academics. See the impact performance can have on addressing pressing social issues and effecting change.
At Plymouth, your degree really is what you make it. Choose to study optional modules from music and theatre subjects.
Choose to swap in up to two modules from across music and theatre.
Dive deeper into your subject by sticking with our selection of options or swap in another module from across music and theatre.
If you've studied three optional modules from the same second subject area, you can choose to add this to your degree certificate.
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.
100% Practicals
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.
100% Practicals
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.
60% Practicals
40% Coursework
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.
100% Practicals
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.
100% Coursework
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.
100% Practicals
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.
100% Practicals
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.
100% Practicals
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.
100% Coursework
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.
100% Practicals
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.
100% Coursework
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.
100% Coursework
PER5008MX
Play and Games for Performance
20 credits
This module will introduce students to practical methods for designing games and play structures for participatory performances that invite audiences to become actively involved in the work. In addition to learning new tools for designing and facilitating play, students will be prompted to consider playfulness from a theoretical perspective, recognising the connection between the play of mimesis and theatrical performance.
100% Coursework
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.
PER6002MX
Applied Drama
This module offers students access to community-based professionals and work-based experiences with a meaningful employability focus. Through seminars and independent practice students learn the skills to work with and for community groups, using performance-making as a means to address real-world problems and social issues.
MUS5003MX
Psychology of Music
20 credits
This module introduces students to concepts in psychoacoustics, psychology and music therapy within a musical context. Students will critically engage with related topics through a series of lectures and workshops, which place theory within musical and creative practice.
100% Coursework
MUS5006MX
Recording Sound and Music
20 credits
Students will learn how to combine their technical recording abilities with their creative skills in music production. They will be introduced to a variety of recording contexts from a practical and theoretical perspective.
100% Coursework
MUS6003MX
Music in the Community
This module will introduce students to practical applications of music to encourage and expand their understanding of the ‘real-life’ uses of musical skills. A series of lectures will cover the concepts and skills required to carry out music work, before students apply these in practical situations.
AMT5006MX
Physical Computing: Creative and Interactive Systems
20 credits
Physical computing is all about designing and creating objects that use a range of sensors, actuators, and software to interact with the world around them. Students will learn to develop their own systems using programming environments, electronic components, and microcontroller boards. Most of the module will be organised around practical, hands-on design-and-build exercises.
100% Coursework
AMT6004MX
Data Science Ethics
20 credits
This module introduces allows student a hands-on experience in data science and the ethical considerations associated with our digital footprint. Learners will gain experience in writing code to clean, analyse and interrogate large dataset, understanding what meanings can be revealed from these datasets. Students will also investigate the ethical implications, assumptions and biases that are present in these techniques.
100% Coursework
DAN5001MX
Dance Technique
Students will develop their technical dance skills and ability to apply a range of dynamic qualities and spatial properties in performance. The module will develop students’ understanding of dance as a cultural discourse and foster awareness and appreciation of other cultural dance forms. Students will engage with workshop participation and leading skills, as well as learning how to give, receive and use critical feedback.
MTH6004MX
Choreography Repertory
Students learn, rehearse and perform dance repertory to a high standard. To support students’ ability to execute the choreography effectively a continued engagement with dance technique and its relationship to creative and performance skills is incorporated. Students will gain an understanding of their role as a contributing interpreter of this repertory and how to make this work their own.
DAN5001MX
Dance Technique
Students will develop their technical dance skills and ability to apply a range of dynamic qualities and spatial properties in performance. The module will develop students’ understanding of dance as a cultural discourse and foster awareness and appreciation of other cultural dance forms. Students will engage with workshop participation and leading skills, as well as learning how to give, receive and use critical feedback.
DAN6001MX
Applied Dance
This module offers students access to community-based professionals and work-based experiences with a meaningful employability focus. Through co-taught seminars and independent practice students learn the skills to work with and for community groups, applying community dance practice and performance-making as a means to address real-world problems and social issues.
UCAS tariff
104 - 112
Contextual offers: Typically, the contextual offer for this course is 8 points below the advertised tariff. A contextual offer is an offer to study at university that takes into account individual circumstances that are beyond your control, and that can potentially impact your learning and your exam results, or your confidence in applying to university.
| 2024-2025 | 2025-2026 * | |
|---|---|---|
| Home | £9,250 | £9,535 |
| International | £17,100 | £17,600 |
| Part time (Home) | £770 | £795 |
*UK Government announcement on tuition fees
Following an announcement in November, the government has confirmed its intention to increase undergraduate tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year.
Subject to final Parliamentary approval (expected in early March 2025), the tuition fee for UK students is increasing to a maximum of £9,535 from 1 August 2025. This change applies to current and new students at the University of Plymouth. The Student Loans Company (SLC) has confirmed loans for tuition fees will be increased accordingly.
To reward outstanding achievement the University of Plymouth offers scholarship schemes to help towards funding your studies.
The acting industry is tough. You've got to know how to get into the room, make an impression and leave; and leave in a good way! 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.
Auditions are part of the entry criteria for this course. Diversity and accessibility are really important to us and so we audition all of our candidates, UK-based and international in a way that works for you and for free.
Our staff support you to get the best industry experience and to develop your employability while you are training with us.
Associate Professor in Theatre, Dr John Matthews tells us why Plymouth offers a unique and career-building experience for performers.
“Taught by professionals who produce talented, confident and kind actors at the end of the degree.”
– Tim Norman, BA (Hons) Acting, now a stage manager
Take centre stage at The House, our cutting-edge theatre right on campus that allows you to hone your craft in world-class facilities. As a performance venue, The House attracts some of the best national and international theatre companies to the city, providing you with opportunities to build professional networks as you study.
