Postgraduate 1 Year/MA Acting Curriculum
SKILLS
TERMS ONE & TWO
ACTING
Inner Technique: To inspire the actor’s creative ability to exist as a fully functioning, unselfconscious, three dimensional being, (behaving not acting) when on stage or in front of a camera, and to develop the actor’s vocabulary of sensation, a series of progressive and disciplined Object Exercises explore the actors psychological and physical technique, placing emphasis on preparation and understanding of action.
Behavioural Characteristics: A series of seminars and workshops during term one explore techniques of character transformation enabling the actor to work independently to create fully developed and truthful characters for both the live and recorded media.
Rehearsal Exercise: Using contemporary theatre scripts in term one and classical texts (usually Shakespeare) in term two, this module aims to equip the actors with an imaginative work process and to provide them with a unified work method, work discipline and an actor’s vocabulary within a creative ensemble.
Screen Acting: During the second term this module provides the actor with an advanced professional working knowledge of screen performance and the vocabulary and culture of the film and Television industries.
THE EXPRESSIVE BODY
Dance for Actors: To enable students to identify dance as a subject of direct relevance to acting and to develop a strong sense of rhythm, style, presence, strength and physical discipline, together with spontaneity and confidence, a variety of group and individual dances and choreographic skills are taught.
The Transformation Class: In order to develop the actor’s imagination, concentration and sense of observation and invention through an understanding of their own bodies, the outer and inner characteristics of animals are studied and used in the process of human character transformation.
Alexander Technique: To enable students to use their bodies in an easier, freer and more coordinated way and to let go of excess tension, the practices and principles of the Alexander Technique are taught as it applies to acting training and daily life.
THE EXPRESSIVE VOICE
Voice for the Actor: An actor’s voice must be sensitive enough to convey the subtlest of thoughts and emotions, sometimes over a considerable distance on a stage and sometimes with exquisite delicacy in front of a microphone. The aim of this class is to begin work on the full realisation and awareness of the potential of each individual voice.
Singing for the Actor: Singing is the voice “in flight” and this class develops appropriate techniques for actors to realise their possibilities and to engage with the demands of narrative music theatre.
TERM THREE
PERFORMANCE TERM
Video Production: Short dramatic location-based video films, which are professionally directed and edited are performed and crewed by the actors, providing them with a practical experience of screen performance and technical crewing responsibilities. The films are screened in front of an audience before the end of the course.
Public Productions: Supported by a full production team and production values, each student is cast in a play, for which they audition in front of professional directors. The plays are rehearsed and then presented in one of our two theatres.
(Please note that this course chooses NOT to have a “students showcase”. Industry professionals are invited to the productions and screening)
ALL TERMS
The Actors Journal and Reflective Appraisals: An opportunity for analysis and structured reflection on their creative processes as the actor moves through the course and discovers the effect of the training on their instrument demonstrated through a “log book” and written reflection during the two breaks in training and at the culmination of the course, together with a Professional Development Plan.
PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION
Professional and Business Preparation: To contemporise the actor’s knowledge and experience of the realities, opportunities and requirements of the industry at large, a number of guest speakers from the industry are invited, at the end of the second term, to give talks and seminars, these may include directors, producers, actors, agents and personal managers, film makers and past students.
Professional Employment Skills: To ensure that the students are fully prepared to present themselves professionally and favourably at auditions, a performance term module includes: interviews and casting sessions, audition technique, audition tutorials, individual singing repertoire and choreographic and dance skills, together with advanced vocal work.
Professional Development Plan: This provides a mechanism by which the actor may audit and profile their competencies and understanding of their own work and create an action plan for the year following graduation.
WHAT OUR GRADUATES GO ON TO DO
Since the beginning of this course in 1993 we have produced an international body of actors now working in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Argentina, South Africa, Scandinavia and Europe, as well as the UK. We have also produced some fine directors, writers and teachers. Recently we have had actors in the National and Royal Shakespeare Companies, in the West End and in major national tours, as well as major films and TV series. Other former students have worked in Educational Theatre, Fringe Theatre or started their own companies and even theatrical agencies.
Most of our graduates are actors who have former careers or trades on which they can rely to provide for the many times that a contemporary actor in our society is either under or un-employed! Our training is for life – not for who gets the first job – and our major concern is training the artist as a cultural architect, a person who grasps the overall picture of their professional and cultural vocation and is prepared to influence attitudes and shape the future.
