Acting

BA (Hons) Acting

Mode: full-time

Career opportunities

• Acting
• Directing
• Applied Drama
• Theatre in Education
• Postgraduate study/research, including MA Educational Drama at Trinity

About the Course
BA Acting is an innovative and exciting undergraduate programme. The degree carefully balances vocational actor training with contextual study and the creative exploration of performance theory.

BA Acting students will follow an intensive programme of practical study which blends the acquisition of performance skills with performance methodology and contextual studies. The first year concentrates on the student’s development as a performer, with modules in voice, movement and dance, acting and devising, whilst the second year tests these skills in a variety of theatrical genres and contexts. The final year is entirely production based with a series of public productions culminating in a final performance project and showcase.

Typical modules

• Voice
• Musical Performance
• Acting
• Devising
• Movement
• Theatre Styles
• Performing Shakespeare
• Popular Song and Dance
• Touring Theatre
• Site-specific Theatre
• Main-house Performance
• Performance Industry and Showcase

Features

• Many student productions at the College and on tour
• Placements available in the USA
• Professional Directors and Theatre Designers are regular contributors to the Course
• Touring theatre companies visit the College regularly
• Theatre visits to major UK theatres to enhance your knowledge and experience

Why study at Trinity?

• Rigorous training, small teaching groups, a supportive atmosphere and personal attention
• Excellent facilities including the 375-seat Halliwell Theatre with its accompanying studios and workshops
• Opportunities to work with professional theatre companies and practitioners in order to develop your skills and career prospects
• Extensive team of theatre professionals work within the school as directors, designers and specialist tutors

Programme Specification
The main educational aims of the programme are:

• To develop students’ acting and performance skills.
• To nurture graduates able to apply their skills effectively as professional actors.
• To develop students’ understanding of the history, development and forms of drama and theatre.
• To nurture graduates able to apply such understanding in their professional practice.

Programme Outcomes
Subject Knowledge and Understanding

• An actor’s fundamental resources of vocal and physical expression.
• Creative improvisation and devising.
• Dramatic genres.
• Key practitioners and their approaches to actor, text and audience.
• Dramatic texts, particularly as blueprints for interpretation through projects and productions.
• Contemporary Approaches to Shakespeare.
• Performance for Radio and Television.
• Rehearsal and Production processes.

Practical Skills

• Fulfil a project or production brief.
• Work through consensus in groups to devise `original’ performances.
• Devise 'original’ drama and realise it in production.
• Analyse dramatic texts, genres and theatre history.
• Undertake an appropriate level of independent research to gather, evaluate and use information.
• Utilise vocal and physical skills in dramatic performance.
• Plan strategies for the preparation and realisation of performance.
• Use a range of information technology.

Generic and Graduate Skills

• Respond with imaginative flair to creative opportunities.
• Communicate ideas through oral, aural, physical and visual means.
• Produce coherent and well-presented arguments in spoken and written forms.
• Analyse and record the process of their creative practice.
• Demonstrate skills of negotiation and compromise to achieve group aims.
• Achieve set goals through self-management and that of others.
• Reflect upon and evaluate the results of their work.

Entry requirements
Normally, applicants should be at least 18 years of age at the time of entry and possess good literacy skills, normally demonstrated by the achievement of Grade C or above at GCSE English (or Welsh for Welsh medium courses), or equivalent qualifications.

In addition

• UCAS Tariff Points - Applicants should normally offer at least 120 UCAS Tariff Points or above. At least 80 points should be attained through A Level/BTEC National Award or equivalent qualification, ideally, in relevant subjects for the intended degree programme. The remaining points may be attained from a variety of qualifications within the National Qualifications Framework, eg Welsh Baccalaureate, Scottish Framework Qualifications. The University will accept a maximum of 20 points for Level 3 Key Skills.
• Irish Leaving Certificate - At least 5 subjects at Honours level in subjects some of which must be relevant to your chosen degree programme. Please refer to UCAS tariff above.
• International Qualifications Entry requirements 42 G E