MA Acting

Guildford School of Acting

Normally a first or 2.1 honours degree. Approved equivalent qualifications or experience will be considered, particularly in the case of overseas students and candidates with less conventional educational backgrounds. Applicants who have worked professionally in the performance industry for at least five years will also be considered. All entries are subject to the GSA audition process.

English language requirements

IELTS minimum overall: 6.5

IELTS minimum by component: 6.0

All fees are subject to increase or review for subsequent academic years. Please note that not all visa routes permit part-time study and overseas students entering the UK on a Tier 4 visa will not be permitted to study on a part-time basis.

Compulsory Modules

• The Actor and the Process
• Screen Acting
• The Integrated Body
• The Integrated Voice
• Contextual Methodologies
• Contextual Practice 1
• Contextual Practice 2
• Industry Practice
• Screen Performance
• Advanced Practice

Module Overview

You will study nine compulsory modules and, for a master’s qualification, the Advanced Practice module, which develops a professional and contemporary practice portfolio dissertation. Examples of modules available are:

The Actor and the Process

This module is a core component of the MA Acting, developing advanced, individual, systematic rehearsal practice for theatre and film media. You will begin by developing awareness of yourself as an expressive instrument, noting your own physicality and vocal patterns and considering the messages they not sure if this is referring to the student or the physicality and vocal patterns may give to an audience or to the camera. Initial work based on personal experience and observation will lead to structured work on preparation, action and motivation of character and circumstance. Developing exercises will investigate improvised scenes, strategies for text, the spatial and emotional dynamism of relationships, the development of character and the specific and differing demands that genre and style make on technique.

Screen Acting

Camera preparation classes will focus on technique, character development and the ability to deliver truthful and believable behaviour on screen. Screen acting exercises will enable the actor to physically express an inner monologue.

The Integrated Body

This module is designed to appreciate and explore the physical demands placed on the performer in any given space. It is founded upon a commitment to the integration of the physical techniques necessary for work in the theatre and for recorded media. The physical classes range from general warm-up classes designed to increase strength and flexibility, to technique classes in social and historical dance. The Movement for Actors class is designed to centre and ground the body, to enhance the understanding of neutrality and expressivity, and to consider the body as an expressive instrument of the mind. Physical acting classes are Lecoq-based and explore neutral mask, character studies and elemental characteristics.

The Integrated Voice

This module is designed to appreciate and explore the vocal demands placed on the performer in any given space. It is founded upon a commitment to the integration of the physical and vocal techniques necessary for work in the theatre and for recorded media. Designated texts (sonnets, poetry, political speeches and accent monologue other than own) will be explored and performed. The classes are practical and are heavily biased towards learning and training through ‘doing, reflecting, understanding and adapting’. Relevant vocal anatomy and physiology, as well as phonetics, communication psychology and the use of the whole body, underscore the work.

Contextual Methodologies

This module provides a forum for the research, preparation and contextual discussion that is essential to the practice of acting at an advanced level. It is conceived as a support to your experience of the practical text project in the Contextual Practice module. It will include a series of practice-based experiences focused on: character creation and textual analysis lectures with background reading; illustrative workshop exercises including text-based rehearsal interrogated through classroom debate; reporting back on historical research; presentation of visual stimulus material; investigation of the signature elements of genres; situational improvisation informed by shared research. Additionally, you will examine a range of theories developed by contemporary performance practitioners and related philosophies and practices. You will consider your own learning experiences and processes, and will identify areas of personal interest which you may pursue and develop in your professional career.

Contextual Practice 1

This module enables you to apply developing techniques to practical rehearsal work on an early twentieth-century text. It will engage with the specific disciplines of genre and style and will be delivered via committed ensemble practice. It will facilitate the development of a structured and effective rehearsal technique, underpinned by both practice-based and academic research. You will develop the ability to analyse and interrogate dramatic text and to identify, evaluate and process character information and objectives within an historical context. You will integrate your acting, vocal and physical skills whilst exploring situation, character, relationship, motivation and previous circumstance. You will develop your sense of stagecraft and connect to the disciplines and opportunities of space in performance, as well as learning to communicate complex information with originality and coherence to each other and to the audience.

Contextual Practice 2

This module enables you to apply techniques to practical rehearsal work on two examples of heightened text. . You will deepen your ability to analyse and interrogate dramatic text and to identify, evaluate and process character information and objectives within non-naturalistic genres. You will consolidate the integration of vocal and physical skills during exposure to the disciplines and opportunities of non-naturalistic space and direct address.

Industry Practice

This module runs throughout Terms 1 and 2 and work done will support the final Advanced Practice dissertation. Guest directors, industry professionals, casting directors and agents are brought in for a number of lectures and seminars, designed to comprehensively prepare you for entry into the profession. Audition technique, group singing, audition songs for actors and masterclasses in subjects such as stage combat and corporate role-play are also included in this module. You will emerge with a credible audition portfolio and a sophisticated awareness of industry practice.

Screen Performance

The Screen Performance project rehearses over a four-week period, culminating in a four-day shoot in the studio and/or on location under professional industry standards. An originally written or adapted script is created according to the needs of the cohort and detailed work is undertaken in terms of continuity, delivery, differing shots, marks, awareness of sound and lighting requirements, placing marks, angles, and so on, as well as demanding the creation of a truthful and believable character, appropriate to the demands of recorded media. You are able to utilise and develop skills learned in screen acting classes and to investigate closely, experientially and in depth, the concentration, energy and focus needed to secure a successful screen performance.

Advanced Practice

This module incorporates a public performance project and an industry showcase. You will audition for and be cast in a theatre project determined by the skills and dynamics available in each student group. There will be five weeks of full-time rehearsals with a director, followed by a week of public performances. You will learn to negotiate a process of engagement with full production values and staff, comprising costume and make-up supervisors, set and lighting designers and a full professional structure of stage management and technicians. You will also research, rehearse and perform in an industry showcase designed to introduce you to the profession at large. Masterclasses and professional development workshops will enable you to develop a clear awareness of casting potential, employability and suitability of chosen material, as well as how to present a charismatic, confident, assured performance appropriate to a chosen situation. The Advanced Practice module builds on all the previous programme learning outcomes, in order to ensure that you achieve a professional-level entry into the industry for which you have trained. The whole module – practice and written – is equivalent to a dissertation.

Programme Structure

Terms 1 and 2

Term 3

The MA Acting and the MA Musical Theatre are fully accredited by Drama UK (formerly known as the NCDT, the National Council for Drama Training). This guarantees that the courses, together with the contact teaching hours, class sizes and opportunities for professional practice and development conform to current exacting industry standards. When polled, 99% of our MA students said that it was an imperative in selecting their course. We currently have more than 40 MA students on these courses.