Acting BA (Hons)

By participating in a series of workshops, you will explore approaches to using your voice for live performance. With an initial focus on techniques such as breathing, alignment and articulation, you will move onto study various texts including prose and verse, soliloquy and chorus work.

On this module you will take part in practical exercises to develop your understanding of acting techniques and training. You will draw on the methods outlined by practitioners such as Stanislavski and Chekhov, as well as contemporary techniques used by companies including the Wooster Group and Forced Entertainment. You will consider the contested role of the actor and acting training in the 21st century.

On this module you will work with your classmates to create original ideas and bring them to life. You will work from a dramatic text to inspire your ideas as a collaborative group, sharing ideas and working together. This module will give you a whole new perspective on performance.

On this module you will contemplate what performance means to you. You will also consider how various interpretations of performance are rooted in our history and culture, and how they have influenced society. You will study key movements, ideas and practices in 20th and 21st century performance, theatre and dance. Topics will include:

• The Space and place in performance
• The body, including movement, gesture and voice
• Ritual and play

On this module you will work together with your classmates on a devised performance, using a political 'text' as inspiration. This could be a photograph, painting, written document, or even a costume. You will develop a range of creative, compositional and performance strategies to help you understand the complex political times we live in.

On this module you will explore how movement is an essential part of performance, considering movement as an expression of emotion and energy. By participating in regular workshops you will practise dance technique, somatic practices, and movement invention methods. You will learn about the intelligence of the body and develop an understanding of how movement is used to communicate in dance and theatre making.

On this module you will investigate the relationship between writing and performance. You will study theatrical language for both the page and performance space, as you develop the skills you need to become a successful practitioner. You will explore the works of the anti-naturalist movement from the Dada and Surrealist periods, and experience a range of modernist and postmodernist movements. You will learn how language can be a great tool to imagine and embody your own ideas.

On this module you will address the social responsibilities of artists and theatre makers. You will engage in both academic research and practical workshops to explore the theory and practice of using theatre for social change. You will also study influential theatre practitioners who have explicitly focused their work on social change, including Joan Littlewood, Brecht and Augusto Boal. Through a series of Theatre Laboratory workshops, micro lectures and peer to peer performance lectures, you will investigate the societal responsibly of the theatre practitioner, and the powerful social impact these practices can have.

This is the first of 2 modules that will introduce you to different politically engaged performance practices from the 20th and 21st centuries. Lectures will chart key events in modernist and postmodern performance.

Take what you have learnt in Politically Engaged Practice 1 and deepen your understanding of performance as a political act. On this module you will explore the relationship between arts practice and political activism, considering your own art as a form of political activism and exploring the potential effects of art as politics.

On this module we will introduce you to physical theatre; a genre used by many contemporary performance companies. You will start by examining the history of the genre and go on to explore a range of techniques used by physical theatre practitioners. Dance and drama students work together on this module, so you can share knowledge and broaden your skills.

On this module you will explore how, as an actor, you can also direct your own short film production for the screen. You will have the opportunity to act in a film while also engaging with your own artistic vision for the production. Taught workshop practices will guide you through the practical and technical aspects of acting for camera and making short film sequences. You will also work on interpreting screenplays and learn to grasp the language of a writer’s material. On this module you will become both the performer and the visionary.

The re-emergence of the vignette, a short or one act play, has encouraged new formats for performance in independent theatres across the UK. This module provides you with the opportunity to specialise in a training method called The View Points. This is a contemporary method for actor training which encourages you to work spontaneously and intuitively. You will participate in weekly workshops in which you will explore contrasting forms and styles of performing vignettes.

This module gives you the skills and understanding needed to create performances that use theatre to address political and social issues. As part of this you will explore existing play texts and performance practices that have stimulated political or social change. You will investigate key practitioners to develop your understanding of social responsibility and the impact you can have as a theatre maker.

Through a series of workshops you will examine key practitioners in the practice of witnessing. You will develop an understanding of the societal responsibility of the artist when representing lived and non-lived experiences. You will also continue to develop your understanding of collaboration and its relationship with cultural and social practices.

On this module you will learn about key autobiographical performers, and develop a practical understanding of autobiographical performance. You will learn to create autobiographical work that not only tells stories about yourself, but uses the details of your life to explore universal issue.

On this module you will develop and facilitate workshop and performance activities for children and young people. You will then deliver these activities in both formal and informal youth settings, and gain valuable experience for your future. Through this you will explore drama in education techniques and develop the creative skills needed for workshop design and project planning.

On this module you will explore a range of practices and theories relating to social performance. You will work on a community project engaging with people in the criminal justice system, older people, those with dementia, or people who use mental health services. The topics we will cover include:

• Dramatherapy
• Arts and health
• Community dance
• Facilitation skills

There is currently a demand on dance professionals to use a range of styles and techniques to re-imagine and re-create dances in new contexts. On this module you will deconstruct and experiment with the style of a chosen influential choreographer such as Jerome Bell, William Forsythe or Pina Bausch. Through dance classes and workshops you will develop a range of technical and performance skills as well as the ability to critically evaluate dance repertoire.

On this module you will learn about the growing trend of taking dance and theatre out of traditional spaces and into unusual sites and public spaces. You will explore what happens when the moving body engages with site, place and environment through a combination of personal practice and critical investigation.

On this module you will explore how the works of Samuel Beckett have influenced theatre writers and key practitioners of contemporary theatre. Your workshops will be experimental and will encourage you to interpret the material as a method of finding your own strategies of creative writing. After engaging the works of Beckett and other 20th and 21st Century playwrights, you will write your own creative material, as well as considering ways to stage and perform this material.

On this module you will explore how movement is an essential part of performance, considering movement as an expression of emotion and energy. By participating in regular workshops you will practise dance technique, somatic practices, and movement invention methods. You will learn about the intelligence of the body and develop an understanding of how movement is used to communicate in dance and theatre making.

This is your chance to conduct independent critical research on an area that interests you. You can choose an element of your performance practice to focus on and explore it through analysis, theory and reflection. A dissertation tutor will be assigned to you and they will support you through this module, meeting with you regularly to discuss your progress.

On this module you will have the opportunity to work as a theatre or dance company with your peers. You will work together to develop collaborative skills and expand your ability to create original performance work. The project you undertake within your company can be decided by yourselves, and can be negotiated with your module tutors.

Continuing from your previous modules, you will further develop the work you created with your ensemble. You will continue to work with the same group and the content of this module will support your creative collaboration. In addition to your performance, we will also assess you on producing promotional materials appropriate for a professional theatre company.

This module is an opportunity to demonstrate autonomy as an actor, and as an actor and as analytical thinker. The module focuses on your own personal creation and/or interpretation, situating your work within professional contexts of its creative production. Through this you will:

• Showcase your individual style and approach to making new work
• Develop an understanding of how your work can respond to an engage with contemporary society and culture
• Build your self-confidence in reflecting upon work, pitching and presenting work