Acting MA / PGDip

The MA Acting course provides intense training from staff with rich industry experience. Previous graduates of this course have gone on to succeed as established performers, including roles at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Royal Shakespeare Company. As part of BCU’s commitment to providing excellent student experience, the content and structure of this course is being refreshed to ensure that it continues to meet the highest educational standards.

You will be taught to maintain a high standard of skill and knowledge and how to transform into an independently-minded performer and practitioner. We will enhance your ability to reflect and analyse, through a range of concepts and ideas. You will enhance your technical skills through practice-based study, learning and developing flexibility to confront issues that you may experience within your profession.

Your classes will mainly be practical studio-based sessions, focusing on the practical application of acting, voice, movement and singing. You will also have time assigned for self-directed study, where you will further develop your work from practical classes. For some modules you will have timetabled rehearsal time, where you will work in groups to produce material.

The MA in Acting operates as a one-year, full-time course. As a Master’s student, you will be expected to take a proactive attitude toward study with timetabled classes as well as time for self-directed study. Throughout the course, you will be taught through a series of modules covering a different aspect of the acting field, teaching you a diverse, yet specialised combination of knowledge and skill. You will formulate a strong understanding of the importance of context to your work, maintaining an awareness of developments within the acting field. Towards the end of your Master’s you will be expected to devise and present a research project. This project is designed to demonstrate an accumulation of the skills and knowledge you have developed throughout the programme. You will be expected to engage in independent study, researching a specific area of your theatrical interest.

Employability: This MA Acting course is designed to not only develop your practical performance skills but to help you expand your intellectual knowledge of the creative industries. You will finish this course with the skills expected of the contemporary actor, by studying the theory and practice of key acting processes. You will be able to engage critically and creatively, mapping out the performance possibilities of a production text. Students can progress into the MA after successful completion of the PgDip.