COURSE IN DEPTH
MFA
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 300 credits):
Acting Exercises
40 credits
You will need a firm understanding of the basic core principles that support a successful performance and to practice those essential core technical skills of acting, voice and movement within a rehearsal and performance experience. Practicing the craft of acting within the rehearsal environment allows for an understanding and practice of the theoretical elements of creating and communicating a character, as used by contemporary practitioners, whilst developing your imaginative powers, narrative and improvisational skills. You will be encouraged to take responsibility for your learning and required to begin to develop a personal working system and code of practice that will foster a professional attitude both in rehearsal and performance, with further time spent in evaluation and appraisal of their own system.
Acting Skills 1 (Acting, Movement, Singing and Voice)
20 credits
This module delivers practical class sessions in Movement, Voice, Singing and Acting in order that the student develops and embodies the highly specialized skills that form the basis of the actor’s ability to manifest interpretive and creative performance choices at an advanced level.
The work undertaken in these classes supports the intellectual, imaginative, creative and physical work taking place simultaneously in the modules Acting: Foundation; Workshop 1 and 2; and Production.
Workshops 1 and 2
20 credits
This module further develops the work undertaken in the module Acting Exercises.
Professional Studies
20 credits
To enter the profession, students need access to the 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. The module gives students initial support in the transition into work.
For PgDip and MA students, this module enables students to prepare audition material and present it to a professional audience, normally both in Birmingham and London.
Workshop 3
20 credits
Workshop 3 is designed to provide an opportunity for the actor to explore the creative processes of acting in greater depth in relation to playing Shakespeare.
Actors work in a laboratory environment and rehearsal conditions to explore the acting demands of the classical genre. This module builds on their experience of the Acting Exercise in Term 2 which also focused on Shakespeare, providing an opportunity to rehearse and perform an edited version of a play for an invited audience.
Research Methods
20 credits
This module spans the First Year of the course and leads to the completion of the Major Project, delivered in Term 4. Along with the Production modules, the Major Project represents the culmination of your journey on the course.
You are encouraged to undertake research-through-practice and create a performance-based Major Project. You may choose to include a written component by way of evaluating your practice or you may choose to perform and be examined through a viva voce examination. There are a range of options for submission, laid out in the Major Project module brief.
Major Project
40 credits
This module spans the programme and the Major Project, delivered in Term 4, represents the culmination of your journey on the course. It is the point in the course when you have the opportunity to reflect on all you have learnt thus far in order to initiate lines of enquiry and personal strategies through which to develop your own ideas as a foundation for future work in the field.
Much of the work of the Major Project is self-directed. You are encouraged to undertake research-through-practice and create a performance-based major project. You may choose to include a written component by way of evaluating their practice or you may choose to perform and be examined through a viva voce examination. There are a range of options for submission, laid out below and in the module brief.
Production 1
20 credits
This module will provide MA students with the opportunity to rehearse and perform to the public in a complex professional- level environment. Students will further develop high standards in synthesizing technical, research, interpretative and specialist communication skills, informed by knowledge and understanding of contemporary acting theory.
Acting Skills 2 (Acting, Movement and Voice)
40 credits
This module delivers practical class sessions in Movement, Voice, Acting and Singing in order that the student develops the highly specialized skills that form the basis of the actor’s ability to manifest interpretive and creative performance choices at an advanced level.
Class content is entirely focused on the needs of the group and the individual within the group. The emphasis in the second year is on demanding contemporary practice and on exploring the relationship between the demands of classical and contemporary texts.
Productions 2 and 3
60 credits
This module brings together all of the elements of the programme in two fully-staged performances. Students work to a fully professional model, as a member of an ensemble, playing as cast, in roles selected to provide them with opportunities to develop all of the requisite professional, imaginative and creative skills.
