Acting

This module will introduce students to a range of twentieth and twenty-first century ensemble and solo theatre forms of actor-training, through physical and vocal explorations of action and composition. Sessions will consist of a combination of workshops and occasional viewings of performance work. You will be expected to engage with a range of set readings which offer context and critical analysis of the practices with which you will be engaging across various forms of actor training that you will undertake in the workshops on the module.

Workshops will take the form of different voice and body training practices, such as ensemble and solo forms of movement improvisation, usually aligned with the work of particular practitioners and will explore what is the practical research of the actor. Assessment for this module is primarily practical but will also involve a short reflective written piece.

This module aims to offer students the opportunity to explore and develop their vocal and physical apparatus and practice in order to develop a free, flexible, and healthy voice, capable of responding to the different demands of text and performance. Through an exploration of the relationship between Posture, Body, Breath and Voice, you will develop an understanding of the difference between the ‘developed’ voice and the ‘habitual’ voice.  

You will explore the physiology of the voice, alignment, breath support, resonance, pitch and placement. You will explore the ‘need’ for speech, impulse, and its relationship to our imagination and language. You will begin to explore the relationship between voice and text. Assessment for this module is primarily practical: at the end of the module there will be a short performance, and students will be expected to submit a reflective journal in which they demonstrate and contextualise an understanding of their evolving vocal practice. 

This module introduces you to ways of exploring, classical and/or Early Modern drama texts in processes of rehearsal and performance. You will engage in a series of workshops and practical classes that will cover the following according to the needs of the project in a given semester: ensemble movement/improvisation; vocal work; improvisatory and devising strategies; character work.

You will also have lecture/seminar input on the plays being explored (which may be drawn from Ancient Greek Drama; Shakespearean Drama; Renaissance/Early Modern Tragedy in a given semester). You will be introduced to ways of reading and engaging with the plays in ways that are designed to support the actor in practical research and exploration processes in preparation for contemporary performance. Students will be given regular tasks to offer opportunities for creative problem solving in the rehearsal room and will be assessed through a group performance and process-portfolio of contextual and reflective materials.

This module introduces you to ways of exploring, a range of Modern(ist) Drama texts in a range of related production contexts, and then in processes of rehearsal and performance. You will engage in a series of workshops and practical classes that will cover the following according to the needs of the project in a given semester: movement; vocal work; improvisatory and devising strategies; character work.

You will also have lecture/seminar input on the plays being explored (which may include contemporary adaptations of Modern Drama classics) and will be introduced to ways of reading and engaging with the plays in ways that are designed to support the actor in practical research and exploration processes in preparation for contemporary performance. Students will be given regular tasks to offer opportunities for creative problem solving in the rehearsal room and will be assessed through a group performance and process-portfolio of contextual and reflective materials.

In this module students will extend their range of experience of solo and ensemble theatre practices experienced in their first year, with a further set of practical trainings for the actor to be applied to a scene study and to screen acting. Through extended physical and vocal explorations of action and composition, practices might include object work; spatial dynamics; stillness; mask work; states of tension and character improvisation.

In semester two, you will study acting for camera, specifically processes for self-taping. Sessions will consist primarily of taught workshops. You will be expected to engage with a range of set readings which offer context and critical analysis of the practices you will be exploring across various forms of performer training that you will undertake in workshops. Assessment for this module is primarily practical but will also involve a short reflective written piece.   

Building on the first year Voice module, this module aims to deepen your awareness of vocal and physical practice. You will continue to develop a healthy, free and flexible voice, and deepen your awareness of your own apparatus, exploring vocal physiology, alignment, breath support, centring, pitch and placement. You will further extend your ability to respond to various more complex and demanding texts, exploring the use of rhetoric, sentence structure, and the use of both poetic and epic language.

You will explore the demands of differing roles and characters, texts, exploring the relationship between breath and language, including contemporary and rhetorical speeches and monologues, and continue their work on accents and received pronunciation. Students are assessed through performance work but will also be expected to keep a reflective journal throughout both semesters. At the end of the module, you will be expected to submit a reflective journal that summarises your personal development throughout each semester and demonstrates an evolved understanding of your embodied vocal practice. 

This module will introduce students to performance and production in theatre-in-education and/or applied contexts, developing an area of acting that embraces these topics. It considers the ways in which a range of performance companies in the UK and beyond have extended the parameters of acting in performance through making participatory or educative work which attempts to reflect and engage with the concerns of a specific community of interest.

Drawing upon the practices of contemporary performance makers in these related fields, this module will see students stage a short-length production and take part in a facilitated devising process for audiences with particular concerns. For instance, the module may involve developing a performance piece designed to tour schools, and delivering a performance and workshop that address the concerns of an identified community.   

This module introduces students to Contemporary Devised Performance, developing an area of acting that includes immersive and digital performance. It considers the ways in which a range of performance companies in the UK and beyond have extended the parameters of acting in performance through making site-based work which attempts to immerse the spectator in the performance, and which draws on other artistic practice such as installation art as well as considering the opportunities that working with digital technologies can bring. Students may devise around established texts or create their own work across the two semesters. Assessment is via performance and a portfolio.

This module is intended to provide students with the opportunity to plan and implement an individual piece of practice-research. Students will be required to submit a formative research proposal for consideration before moving to supervised learning.  The outcomes of this individual research project will be a either an 8,000-word dissertation; OR a 4,000-5,000 word written document combined with a practice-research outcome, OR a practice-research output (e.g. performance; series of workshops; playtext; performative presentation) with a negotiated artistic statement.  

By arrangement, the student may also undertake work-based learning. The module is supported by a short series of lectures covering practice-research methodologies, and theoretical methods in drama, theatre and performance and by individual supervision. Performance skills alone are insufficient to pass this module. 

This module prepares students for the demands of a career in a variety of media such as theatre, film, TV and radio/audio and offers the opportunity to develop a ‘scratch’ company show that students can potentially take to festivals beyond their time at university. The module introduces essential elements of working as a freelance professional enabling students to prepare for workshops and auditions across these media. It explores the needs of potential employers, casting-directors and agents, in preparation for work in recorded media.

The module assists students in planning for future employment and individual self-promotion but also in forming a company and pitching their own work (semester one). In semester two, students create the student-led Company Project performance that they have ‘pitched’ in Semester one and explore ways to 'perform' the directorial function as part of their collaborative process. Where possible, companies will have the opportunity to perform in a local venue. Workshop input covers group dynamics/collaboration, improvisation and devising and writing strategies and students are tasked with exploring form, content and structural choices in the dramaturgy of their chosen project. Assessment for this module comprises an individual portfolio that includes recorded media performance elements, and a Company Project collaborative performance.

This performance project is designed to engage students in an in-depth exploration of recent/contemporary British plays, in processes of rehearsal and performance.  Students will have 14 hours per week of scheduled classes on this module, and over the course of the semester will engage in a series of workshops and practical classes that will cover the following according to the needs of the project in a given semester: movement; vocal work; improvisatory and devising strategies; character work.

Students will also have lecture and seminar input on the plays being explored and will engage in contextual research and dramaturgical analysis of the forms, styles and content of works in ways that are designed to support the actor in practical research and exploration processes in preparation for performance. You will be given regular tasks to offer opportunities for creative problem solving in the rehearsal room and will be assessed through a group performance and process-portfolio of contextual and reflective materials.

Students will work, with a Director or Directors and will develop a performance intended for public audiences, for this final year project. This module is designed to enable students to work, as closely as possible, in a manner commensurate with professional employment in the theatre industry. Students will work as collaborators in the rehearsal and production process in ways designed to enable them to synthesise and demonstrate the full range of practice-research, performance and evaluative practices studied/practised throughout their three years of study.