AUB, BA (Hons), Acting

Level 4

Level 4 provides a foundation enabling you to develop a methodological approach to psychophysical Acting, introducing the tools and techniques helpful in creating performances in realistic drama for the stage and screen. The work is Stanislavskibased, and you will be introduced to the intellectual, imaginative and physical skills that you will need to acquire and to develop.

Work proceeds through a series of practical, studio-based acting exercises and projects that are underpinned by seminar and lecture based classes which provide additional literary, theoretical and historical contexts for your practical work.

Throughout this first year you will also have movement, voice and singing classes. These are highly practical classes that provide you with specific skills and experiences that will further support your work on the acting units and will introduce you to the particularities of these individual disciplines.

By the end of this level you will have a sound knowledge of the basic concepts of acting.

Level 5

After acquiring the understanding, skills and techniques that enable you to approach work using the concept of ‘Psychological Realism’, Level 5 consists of more advanced work concerned with aspects of dramatic structure and the implications of style for the actor. In Level 4 practical work took the form of exercises which, in general, did not require you to take into account the needs of the audience, and enabled you to focus on the internal creative processes of psychologically motivated work. In Level 5, you will learn to regard the audience as an integral factor in the creative process. Practical work will take the form of Workshops leading to performance which will be viewed by an internal audience.

You will continue to develop a personal methodological approach to acting which will be evidenced in your practical work and in your Process and Performance Evaluations and you will further develop your investigative skills in relation to the world of the play, and explore the demands of different kinds of dramatic structures and styles of performance, nationally and internationally, and their implications for the actor.

Simultaneously, you will explore specific theoretical and/or practice based interests that you may have a wish to pursue further as well as identifying career and postgraduate study options that will be available to you upon graduation. You will also further develop your research and communication skills and prepare for the independent study opportunities available to you in your final year.

As in Level 4, you will have movement, voice and singing classes as part of your acting units. These classes will expand on the body of knowledge acquired in these disciplines in the previous year and will ask you to further integrate these skills in your work in the acting classes.

By the end of this stage in the course, you should be confident about your ability to organise your working methods. You will have developed investigative techniques, textual analysis skills, and physical/vocal skills to a higher level, and you will be able to distinguish between realistic and epic styles and identify your work in the context of an international performance community. You will be prepared with key knowledge and skills that will allow you to enter the third year of the course, which is production based, with confidence.

Level 6

Level 6 enables you to extend the scope and depth of your exploration of the acting process by providing you with a range of creative challenges. In preparation for professional life, your work in this year of study will be focused on work related study in theatre production. You will be given the opportunity to test the working methods you have developed in Levels 4 and 5 by applying them to the creation of a series of characters in plays that will vary in the range and complexity of their demands.

The Investigative Study unit presents the opportunity to pursue a course of advanced independent research and allows you to demonstrate that the level of your skills in research, analysis, and criticism enables you to articulate a discursive argument to at a level appropriate to the award of BA with Honours.

This level provides you with the opportunity to evaluate your development as an artist, consider your strengths and weaknesses, develop an understanding of the business aspects of being an actor and to develop audition/interview techniques and awareness that will prepare you with the necessary skills and knowledge to manage your career and approach potential employers and employment opportunities in a professional manner.