MA — 2024 entry Acting

This module builds upon all of the previous modules through two creative projects designed for the student to achieve a professional level of entry into the industry. These are a digital industry Showcase and an Independent Performance Project, in either a live or recorded format, which is created and managed by the student. The Independent Performance Project is presented at the end of the module as either a film or a live performance, and is supported by a framing document outlining the aims and methods of the work of up to 500 words. These projects are supported by professional development workshops with guest practitioners and one-to-one tutorials. The student may opt to submit a 6,000 word Critical Evaluation in place of the Independent Performance Project. This can be a written essay on a topic of the student¿s own choosing of relevance to the programme curriculum, such as an evaluation of one area of the training from a personal perspective (6,000 word equivalent). Additional professional development workshops by guests offer students valuable information and insights into the life of a working actor, for example management of tax affairs, maintenance of a social media profile, communication and behavioural protocols for auditions, understanding the role of agents and casting directors, and other important aspects of sustaining a career in the performing arts.

In this module students are given the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have been developing in other modules - Stage Acting, Voice Technique and Movement Technique - to the practical work of rehearsal and performance of theatre scripts. An initial in-class presentation of a rehearsed play (¿Bridge¿ project) models the actor-director relationship, and leads to a public-facing production of a play led by a visiting professional director. Students are encouraged to reflect upon their process of creating a sophisticated and effective performance in the public production through presentation of a character journal in a viva setting. Thus, the module provides a platform for students to further refine their grasp of fundamental principles of actor training as well as the more advanced, sophisticated technical, creative and collaborative requirements placed upon the professional stage performer.

This module is designed to explore and enhance the student's capacity to meet the expressive physical demands placed upon the professional actor. The classwork is underpinned by an understanding of anatomy and incorporates a somatic focus upon bodily wellbeing as well as conditioning. A secure physical technique is developed and extended to integrate techniques drawn from influential practitioners of creative movement in order to enhance the student's bodily expressiveness and ability to delineate a dramatic character through non-verbal means.

This module is designed to inculcate in the student advanced knowledge and skills in acting techniques for the screen. Through class exercises, students engage with techniques of screen acting in the creation and performance of a dramatic character. A range of scripts offer the students an opportunity to explore screen genres and approaches. Students will develop a coherent personal approach to acting for the screen out of the practical classroom exercises. Students will also learn technical fundamentals of scripting, shooting and editing a film, and these skills will be deployed in the final part of the module on self-generated projects for either professional showreel (MA Acting) or a short fiction film showcasing students¿ technical understanding of film-making as well as acting skills.

This module is designed to inculcate in the student advanced knowledge and skills in acting techniques for the stage. Through class exercises, students engage with principles of stagecraft and the creation of a dramatic character in the theatre. A range of perspectives and approaches is employed over the module to ground students in acting as a cultural practice with an evolving history of styles and genres. Students will develop a coherent personal approach to their acting out of the practical classroom exercises.

This module will provide the student with a firm grounding in principles and techniques of the use of the voice in acting. Practical classroom exercises will combine knowledge of vocal anatomy with development of breath, resonance and articulation, and will make use of texts selected for the purposes of practising students¿ technical facility, expressive range, musicality and creative flexibility relevant to a broad range of professional contexts.