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Acting - Contemporary at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London - UCAS

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2024 - 2025
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Open days

22May
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London - Postgraduate Open Evening
Postgraduate

Course summary

MA Acting Contemporary at Central is a creatively, physically and intellectually demanding, advanced-level conservatoire acting programme. It is designed primarily for students with previous training or performance experience who wish to focus on contemporary writing and the creation of new theatre. Perform in two professionally supported public productions and an industry showcase. Hone your individual technical craft, and release your collaborative and imaginative creativity within a diverse ensemble company (typically 14-16 students) Learn through practical group classes in acting, movement, voice and stage combat; seminars on identity, dramatic theory and research skills; and individual tutorials and feedback panels This experiential and practical course will encourage your development as an embodied actor, able to work across a wide range of material from script-based rehearsals to personal writing and creation. It develops your collaborative skills by building a strong ensemble company and usually culminates in the development and production of a piece of new writing, specially commissioned for the course. The Contemporary course has a thematic structure, working through the following areas of investigation:

  • Storytelling, embodiment and the ensemble
  • Textual analysis and the psychophysical process
  • Transformation into character
  • The playwright and the actor-creator
The training engages with methodologies drawn from a wide range of theatrical artists and thinkers. Our teachers are inspired by Stanislavsky and his inheritors; physical theatre, improvisation and mask practitioners such as Lecoq, Gaulier, Wright and Johnstone; voice and movement pioneers Berry, Linklater, Laban, Bartenieff, Feldenkrais, and Roth; and modern traditions such as Viewpoints and Suzuki. The approach and content are intended to be embodied, inter-disciplinary and culturally inclusive. You will work with exceptional plays from Chekhov to Kane and tucker green, and with the most contemporary writing possible, your words and the words of an established playwright writing for the company. You will be equipped to interpret, invent and perform and to have a full political and creative engagement with your work.

Modules

Indicative course content includes: In the first term four weeks of practical work on building ensemble, neutral mask and intensive physical and vocal training is rooted in an exploration of personal story and contemporary, poetic language. Texts may be drawn from spoken-word poetry and imagistic theatre and will invite exploration of personal identity and narrative structure, storytelling, ensemble, audience and space. Accompanying contextual seminars address the social and political contexts that influence the creation of modern plays. For the subsequent ten weeks, we will develop your understanding of script-based rehearsal, laying in the fundamentals of the Stanislavskyan approach to text analysis, improvisation and character exploration. Classic early 20th texts, such as those from Chekhov and Ibsen, in modern translations and adaptations, will form the basis of our material. Practical classes in stage combat, movement, voice and clowning continue the training in embodied storytelling begun in the intensive. Contextual and theoretical seminars continue throughout the term. Practical assessments, showings and feedback panels take place at the end of term, and individual personal guidance from tutors is available throughout the year. In the second term your focus will move to transformation and the psycho-physical creation of character. Animal studies, vocal transformation and dialect, and a range of étude work will allow you to develop your skills in observation and transformation. You will study textual form, including the use of fractured narratives, codified silence and stillness. You will begin the process of collaborating directly with writers and develop your own writing or creation of work. Practical assessments, showings and feedback panels take place at the end of term. The course’s outward-facing work begins after the mid-session break with an industry showcase, either filmed or in a professional theatre venue. Screen acting classes help to prepare you for auditions for TV and film. The public productions season involves participation in two professionally supported productions of modern plays either in Central’s theatres or external theatre spaces. One of these could include a devised piece or a fully realised 20th or 21st Century extant play. The other will usually be a play specially commissioned for the course from an established writer. Throughout the practical training, you will work on a Sustained Independent Project (SIP), which may take the form of either: a solo performance with a 4,000-word critical reflection; or a 12,000-word dissertation.

Assessment method

Formative assessment is through a mixture of practical tasks, including showings of prepared scenes and structured improvisations, filmed performance, and theatre performance; in addition, continuous assessment is reflective of your effort, attitude and improvement in class. You will also undertake a Sustained Independent Project (SIP), which may include elements of solo performance and critical writing.

How to apply

International applicants

https://www.cssd.ac.uk/international-students/information-international-applicants

Entry requirements

Applicants will normally have either undertaken conservatoire training, have professional acting experience, or have a degree in the broad field of performance and drama studies. Students from other disciplines may be considered if you have sufficient experience of theatre. An offer will normally only be made after audition and interview, and you may also be required to take part in a short practical workshop and/or submit a short piece of written work. Applicants for whom English is not their first language are required to prove their English language proficiency by gaining an overall score of 7.0 in an IELTS test. We do accept equivalent English language qualifications. Applicants are advised to gain this certification as early as possible.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £22750 Year 1
Northern Ireland £22750 Year 1
Scotland £22750 Year 1
Wales £22750 Year 1
Channel Islands £22750 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £22750 Year 1
EU £27500 Year 1
International £27500 Year 1

Additional fee information

Please note that the EU fee may not be applicable to students originating from an EU country who have settled/pre-settled status. Other criteria apply. See the gov.uk website for further details. Students who are applying for an equivalent or lower level qualification (ELQ) to one they already possess, will be charged full fees, unless they are exempt. Please see the Office for Students' website for details.

Sponsorship information

https://www.cssd.ac.uk/fees-and-funding/scholarships-bursaries-awards

Acting - Contemporary at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London - UCAS