Foundation Acting

Foundation Acting Course

Course Overview

A most useful course prior to drama school or university to gain experience, confidence, audition techniques and practice within the drama school environment, or for those seeking a career change or who wish to learn more about drama and its disciplines.

Our Foundation Acting course is designed to improve your performance skills in order to help you make informed decisions about your future careers. It enables you to experience the rigour and variety available in the field of acting and to test your expectations against the realities of vocational training. On completing the course, you are prepared for audition and entry onto full time actor training courses and will normally expect to go on to study on vocational courses at accredited Drama Schools.

During the course, you will enhance your capacity to learn in a disciplined, organised manner and develop skills leading to self-reliant learning. The course is fully based in the practice of performance, delivered within a leading drama school, thus benefiting from the high levels of expertise of the professional staff at ALRA.

Course Structure

The course is structured in three terms and includes units in:

• An introduction to Acting Technique
• An introduction to Voice
• An introduction to Movement
• An understanding of the professional world of acting
• An understanding of work and life at a vocational Drama School
• Preparation for audition and entry onto full-time vocational actor training courses.

Term 1

In Acting you learn to break down barriers through games, exercises and improvisation; you work on simple texts to develop an approach. Selection of appropriate material for audition to a full time course in acting also begins. In Voice you explore voice production and articulation and learn how to link it to text. In Movement you begin to build core strength and learn about alignment in order to release tensions and remove physical habits.

Term 2

The second term sees an emphasis placed on audition techniques. In Acting, under the guidance of a director, you work on suitable audition speeches; you learn audition techniques culminating in a practice audition under professional conditions. Whilst Voice and Movement classes continue on foundation work, this is linked in the second half of the term with your audition speeches.

Term 3

In Acting you work on scenes which are performed in the ALRA Theatre in front of an invited audience. Voice explores text in greater depth, eventually connecting to the Acting projects, whilst Movement focuses on creative application and also connects to the Acting projects.

Teaching

You are taught mainly by practical methods, such as technique classes, workshops, exercises, rehearsal and informal presentations, but there are also group discussions, seminars, lectures, as well as tutor feedback and review. All tutors and directors involved in the delivery of the course are regular tutors at ALRA.

Qualifications

Upon successfully completing the course you receive the ALRA Foundation Acting Certificate.

Progression

Successful entrance to this course qualifies you for a free audition for ALRA's full-time 3 year Acting course or Post Graduate Acting course in the following year.