Professional Acting Extended Diploma
What will the course be like?
It will be an intensive and challenging acting course, with the standards and expectations of a professional actor training over 30 hours a week of contact time 38 weeks a year for 2 years.
It’s a course designed to:
- develop you as a young contemporary actor
- discover your individuality
- equip you to be a creative theatre maker
Skills
The course will help you to discover the actor you are, your unique voice, and how you find the truth to be able to create character.
The core of the programme is the acting class that runs throughout the course. Through it, you will learn about searching for and communicating truth, find inspiration from exploring acting techniques from Augusto Boal to Meisner, and develop ownership of your work.
Skills classes support the acting class in building the essential vocabulary of the actor.
The voice programme focuses on learning how the voice works, voice production techniques, speech and accent work and interpreting text.
The movement programme works to free the body from constraints and personal habits and develop a more conscious control of the body as actor’s instrument. You’ll explore a variety of different approaches to character physicality including Laban, animal studies and Rasa Box.
Specialist classes run each term. In year 1 they cover improvisation, text analysis and clowning. In year 2 they extend to stage combat, dance and singing.
Workshop and production
In year 1 each term focuses on a rehearsal project that puts the skills work into practice. You’ll experience workshop projects in physical theatre, world theatre, and as a group you’ll devise an issue-based piece for production at the end of the year.
In year 2 the focus moves to performance with a TV and film project and major productions; one whole group ensemble site-specific project commissioned from a contemporary playwright. Then the group divides in two work on two productions in professional theatres in Bristol.
Audition technique and support for drama school or university entry run right through year 2.
How is the course assessed?
This is a very practical course and we assess you in a variety of ways;
- Assessment is by coursework based on assignments set in each unit
- Assignments will involve: performance projects, individual research, group work and project work
- Assessments are graded at Distinction, Merit or Pass
- On successful completion of the course, you will be awarded an overall Distinction, Merit or Pass grade
Entry requirements
You’ll need to be on track to get at least five GCSEs grades A* - C or a BTEC Level 2 Diploma (at merit or distinction). In exceptional cases we can take students who don’t have GCSE English or Maths at grade C or above and we can provide tuition in those qualifications alongside the course.
Though experience of dance, drama or expressive arts subjects are advantageous in giving you a sense of what’s involved, we are more interested in raw talent and welcome your application even if you have had little or no experience.
For more information and to apply please visit our website.
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