n the first year, you'll tackle the basics of movement and voice, exploring singing, stage combat, self-tapes and voice recording.

You’ll also develop your theoretical understanding of performance, examining the interconnection between stage and screen. The three perspectives and practice units integrate historical and theoretical enquiries by examining early cinema's relationship to theatrical traditions of the time and conversely contemporary theatre that incorporates film and digital techniques.

Acting Skills 1
The unit comprises: Movement and Voice studies; Acting Skills for Stage and Screen; Approaches to Text and Acting and Recording. Together these areas will introduce you to a basic set of skills which will provide a robust foundation for the course and underpin a life-long process of learning for the professional actor and performer. 

Stage Screen Connections
This unit looks at the development of early cinema. You'll develop your contemporary screen acting skills that you have been introduced to. You'll be introduced to filmmaking techniques including editing, shooting, camera, lights and sound. You'll experiment with creating, performing in and making your own short silent film.

Approaches to Acting
This module introduces you to both the theoretical and practical approaches to creating a role. It will be the start of you building a toolkit of approaches to acting which will enable you to work with a variety of directors, theatrical styles and screens.

Year 2 revolves around the themes of making stories and finding voices. The three perspective and practice units explore these themes across stage and screen.

Acting Skills 2
This unit covers: Movement Studies; Applied Voice Skills and Self Tapes and Creative Writing. Developing further the practical approach to acting and performance skills introduced in year 1, you will advance your creative and technical skills and focus on remote as well as live performer/audience relationships.

Violence and Revenge
In this unit you will look at the influence of two historical theatrical writers and their relationship to contemporary cinema and performance.

Social Realism
This unit explores the historical development of social realism and its relationship to filmed drama and how as an actor you prepare and work for the screen. You'll debate the relationship of Social Realism to politics and how the Social Realist “style” affects your work as an actor on screen. The unit looks at different ways in which practitioners (filmmakers, writers, directors) use real-life stories, events and people to make drama.

Making a Festival
This unit gives you the opportunity to devise and realise a large-scale group project. The skills of managing and hosting an event are new and the unit develops the performer/audience relationship explored in the Improvisation Unit as well as employing a range of acting skills for live and recorded work.

American Theatre
Using examples of scenes from the plays of American writers, you'll explore the underlying themes, subtexts and metaphors that writers employ to create meaning and depth in their work and how as an actor you interpret and translate these intentions into a performance.

This course offers the opportunity to study abroad for part of your second year. To find out more about studying abroad as part of your course please see the Study Abroad section:

• Study abroad information

Taught by lecturers with professional acting or directing experience, you’ll quickly learn what it takes to be an industry professional. Our degree course is designed by professionals to train contemporary actors, and our valuable industry links include:

• Farnham Maltings
• British Actors’ Equity
• Drama UK (the body that oversees drama training across the country)
• West End venues for showcase presentations.

Alongside (or as an alternative to) theatre, TV, radio or film work, a portfolio career for the professional freelance actor may also include:

• Acting in corporate films, and live role-play in business training
• Forming a company to create and stage your own work
• Commercials (film or audio)
• Voicing computer games and animations
• Creating original material for Image Capture projects
• Community projects such as theatre in schools
• Teaching, running workshops, rehearsed readings and workshop productions of new plays.