MFA Acting (The British Tradition)

Program Overview

Through intensive practice-based learning, students develop their intellectual, imaginative, and physical abilities as performers. The program culminates in fully-staged productions that showcase students' skills and prepare them for professional careers in acting. International students are particularly welcome, as the program has been designed to accommodate their needs and interests.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The MFA Acting course is designed for graduates who wish to undertake advanced studies to further their knowledge and widen their experience of acting in order to take up a professional acting career upon graduation. The course is based on the conservatoire model, requiring an intensive taught delivery of a minimum of thirty to forty hours per week over a minimum of thirty weeks per year. Its focus is practice-based learning through which the student is enabled to develop the requisite intellectual, imaginative and physical skills of the professional actor. During the course, students form an acting company and each exercise, workshop or production is designed to challenge the student actor and to progressively develop the imaginative, intellectual and creative skills required for acting. The course seeks to create independently minded practitioners who are able to apply a variety of methodologies to their creative work. Its aim is to inculcate forward thinking practitioners able to create real employment opportunities for themselves, both in finding work and creating work.

Outline:

The MFA Acting course is a full-time programme delivered intensively over two years. The focus of work is European, with an emphasis on texts from within the British tradition.

Year 1:

• Term 1:
• Acting Exercises (40 credits)
• Acting Skills 1 (Acting, Movement, Singing and Voice) (20 credits)
• Workshops 1 and 2 (20 credits)
• Professional Studies (20 credits)
• Term 2:
• Workshop 3 (20 credits)
• Research Methods (20 credits)
• Production 1 (20 credits)
• Term 3:
• Acting Skills 2 (Acting, Movement and Voice) (40 credits)
• Major Project (40 credits)

Year 2:

• Term 1:
• Productions 2 and 3 (60 credits)
• Pedagogy and Placement 2 and 3 (20 credits)
• Professional Portfolio (20 credits)
• Term 2:
• Singing OR Voice and Text (20 credits)
• Practical Voice (20 credits)
• Voice and Text (20 credits)

Module Descriptions:

• Acting Exercises: This module focuses on the basic core principles that support a successful performance and the essential core technical skills of acting, voice and movement within a rehearsal and performance experience.
• Acting Skills 1: This module delivers practical class sessions in Movement, Voice, Singing and Acting to develop the highly specialized skills that form the basis of the actor’s ability to manifest interpretive and creative performance choices at an advanced level.
• Professional Studies: This module provides students with access to relevant employment ‘gatekeepers’, such as agents, casting directors, artistic directors etc.
It also allows students to develop appropriate interview/audition techniques and to prepare a portfolio of material for future auditions.
• Research Methods: This module spans the First Year of the course and leads to the completion of the Major Project.
• Major Project: This module spans the programme and represents the culmination of the student's journey on the course.
• Production 1: This module provides MA students with the opportunity to rehearse and perform to the public in a complex professional- level environment.
• Acting Skills 2: This module delivers practical class sessions in Movement, Voice, Acting and Singing to develop the highly specialized skills that form the basis of the actor’s ability to manifest interpretive and creative performance choices at an advanced level.
• Productions 2 and 3: This module brings together all of the elements of the programme in two fully-staged performances.
• Professional Portfolio: This module helps students develop a professional portfolio.
• Singing: This module focuses on singing skills.

Teaching:

The course is delivered through practice-based learning, challenging the student's intellectual, imaginative and physical skills. The course is taught through a series of workshops, which explore the demands of a specific dramatic forms. These workshops will delve into particular aspects of the British tradition, allowing students to broaden their in-depth knowledge of key periods and specific eras in performance history. Students will also focus on developing their performance skills, engage with contextual studies and are required to keep a workbook throughout their studies.

Careers:

As a graduate of this course, students will be able to return to careers in the performance industry or in education with additional skills and a clearer understanding of British actor training and style. This will inevitably increase their employment opportunities, giving them a competitive edge in a highly competitive field.

Other:

• The course includes acting for the camera and voice over work.
• Graduating American students are eligible to take part in the Federation of Drama Schools American Showcase.
• Students graduating from the course who have the right to live and work in the UK may take part in the school’s postgraduate London Showcase.
• The School of Acting is based at Ruskin Hall in Bournville, although students can also benefit from a range of performance spaces around the city.
• Students regularly perform at professional theatres across the West Midlands, including The Birmingham Central Library Theatre; Crescent Theatre; Hippodrome Studio (Patrick Centre); The Old Rep Theatre and The Drum.
• The University is the largest producer of creative professionals outside the South East.
• The University also runs courses in Hong Kong and Thailand.
• The course offers significant opportunities to develop acting skills and understanding of the nature of the theatre event.
• The course encourages students to take responsibility for their own development within the course, as well as offering laboratory experience through a series of acting workshops.
• A full-scale production in term three of the course offers the opportunity to draw together all of the knowledge and skills learned so far through performance practice.
• The final research project provides the means to investigate in depth an aspect of non-naturalistic theatre within the British tradition.
• The programme includes a number of field trips which inform and support the delivery of the course, offered in terms one and two.
These can include theatre visits, educational tours, museums and art galleries.
• The School frequently produces performances in venues across Birmingham throughout the year.
• The University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city.
• The University welcomes many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among the student community.
• The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
• The MFA Acting (The British Tradition) course has been specially designed to cater for an international cohort; using research and practice to establish and develop a Master's level of knowledge concerning the British Tradition.
• As a postgraduate student, students will benefit by immersing themselves within an acting school with a variety of courses.
• The School is rich in diversity, with a combination of home and international students.
• There is no other School more suited to host studies.
Located within the West Midlands, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, students will be at the heart of British arts and culture.
• International students who have a serious interest in studying but who perhaps cannot meet the direct entry requirements, academic or English, or who have been out of education for some time, can enter Birmingham City University International College (BCUIC) and begin their degree studies.
• BCUIC is part of the global Navitas Group, an internationally recognised education provider, and the partnership allows students to access the University’s facilities and services and move seamlessly through to achieving a Bachelor’s degree from Birmingham City University.
• The acting course is most popular with international students from the USA.
• The course requires the use of consumables, including actors' headshots that are likely to be in the region of £100 - £500.
• The course requires the purchase of specialist equipment, including a ring light and tripod (£25 - £45) and a yoga mat (£20).
• The course requires a smartphone with the ability to film - prices vary.
• The course includes the option of additional trips that may enhance the student's experience, at extra cost.
• The majority of applicants for this course register for and attend an audition in the USA in conjunction with the University/Resident Theatre Association (U/RTA).
• Online auditions and in-person auditions in the UK are available.
• The course is eligible for a Graduate Scholarship, Master’s loans, and other funding opportunities.
• The course is open to International Students.

UK students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students. Award: MFA Starting: Sep 2024 Mode Duration Fees Full Time 2 years £12,075 in 2024/25 Apply Online

International students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students. Award: MFA Starting: Sep 2024 Mode Duration Fees Full Time 2 years £17,710 in 2024/25 Apply Online