Contemporary Theatre and Performance (Applied Acting and Devising) BA (Hons)

Theatrical performance has the potential to address social issues, connect communities and support processes of social change. In this module, you will be introduced to examples of experimental theatre practice that are socially-engaged.

You will study the features of these forms of performance and the concepts of ethics, culture and representation that influence how this work is created. You will develop an understanding of some of the ideas from cultural theory that enable performance-makers to address stories about society, past and present. 

In this module, you will learn practical strategies in how to facilitate arts activities in community contexts. During practical workshops, you will encounter examples of practice currently happening in the industry and will learn about the work of successful organisations and artists who create performances with, by and for a range of different kinds of communities and social settings.

You will learn how to create performances with participants from a range of ages, backgrounds and identities. By the end of the module, you will be able to design and lead your own arts workshops.

Performing Identities introduces you to the various approaches to exploring identity in performance-making. You will develop an understanding of key concepts about identity, including discussions around gender, sexuality, disability, race, ethnicity and class.

You will examine a variety of performance forms that engage with identity and will reflect on how you might apply these concepts and practices to your own performance work.

Staging Stories module introduces you to the various shapes, structures and forms stories from around the world, through space and time.

It equips you with the dramaturgical skills necessary to develop effective and inclusive storytelling techniques. You will learn how to structure and frame your own performances.

Writing for Performance is a module that focuses on integrating your creative thoughts and ideas in a text-based format. You are guided through a writing development ‘roundtable’ process akin to script development workshops.

You will have the opportunity to develop drafts in class with ‘cold readings’ and use these to prepare an open staged reading on campus or in a venue and community of your choosing, in collaboration with other students as actors, directors and so on.  

This module will be delivered as an intensive creative project, delivered over approximately 7 weeks. You will be guided by an arts professional to design, rehearse and either perform or facilitate a project for an external audience. Projects may entail working in schools, with elders, in health and wellbeing contexts or in local community venues.

You might be involved in creating a polished performance for a particular community venue or facilitating workshops with participants within a community context. You will be  applying your previous learning,  into practice on the concepts and practical skills involved in socially-engaged performance.    

This module will consist of a professional placement which will take place during the first six weeks of the autumn semester. As far as is possible, you will be matched to a work placement which supports the development of your experience and skills for employment in the arts sector.

During the placement, you will observe a particular type of practice, which may include theatre-making with a theatre organisation, facilitating drama in schools, arts administration, or creative producing. By the end of the module, students will have collated a portfolio of they experience and will be able to reflect on how their developed a specific skill within a real-life context.   

Through this module, you will develop an understanding of how to carry out your own research to examine or experiment with an aspect of performance. You will select a topic, theme, or performance method that you wish to explore closely. 

You will be guided in how to conduct your inquiry, through lecture materials on methods of performance research and one-to-one tutorials.   

You will have a choice of two options: 

• research and analyse the practice of a particular arts organisation or artist and complete a fully written dissertation 
• conduct an experiment in performance practice which could involve documenting a workshop process, writing a play text, or creating a short, experimental performance. The inquiry of the practice experiment will be explained in a short-written dissertation. 

This module will provide you with the practical skills needed in your professional development such as: 

• how to set up a company 
• designing and pitching a project proposal 
• applying for funding and facilitation training 
• teaching certifications.  

You will have sessions with guest speakers from theatre companies and industry professionals in the UK and abroad to gain real-world insight into what theatre-makers face today. You will have the opportunity to complete a London College accredited certificate in teaching performing arts.

This module will guide you to reflect on practice and begin forming an ethos for your work as you look back on your degree, what you have learned and how you can take this forward and apply it.  

It will involve guided prompts and groups discussions where you lead on a particular issue you would like to discuss with the group, such as casting politics or funding.

In this module, you will form your own theatre company with peers in your year group. The emphasis will be on independent practice and collaboration whereby you apply the knowledge and skills learned across the course to create your own performance for an audience, venue, and theme of their choice. 

You will design, devise, rehearse and perform a performance project from scratch. You will be encouraged to show innovation in how you use performance to address a contemporary issue and/or experiment with a particular form of practice. You will also take on responsibility of all aspects of the production, dividing roles and responsibilities appropriately within the group. This module will culminate in a sharing of the performances created by each Company as part of a scratch festival.