MA Acting

Program Overview

MA Acting

Overview

This degree will train you as an actor for destinations in theatre and performance work. You will learn in ways that are creatively rigorous, diverse, and socially aware.

Why Study MA Acting at Goldsmiths

• You'll be given the opportunity to engage in imaginative, technical, and intellectual training across a range of methods, approaches, and related practitioner and critical discourses.
• You'll apply your learning to classical, contemporary, devised, site-specific, and new theatre writing productions.
• You'll be prepared to work in theatre and performance in a 21st-century global context.
• Goldsmiths is famous for producing theatre practitioners who have agency and critical capacity that makes them not only fit for work in the existing theatre and screen industries but who are also able to create, innovate, and initiate change, in their own right as artists.
• The training model used on MA Acting will place you, your identity, agency, and well-being at the centre of the learning process.
• You'll be encouraged to develop creative, critical, self-reflective, technical, and professional strategies for driving independent career pathways, while also working collaboratively with your peers.
• MA Acting is rooted in the 'actor-plus' model which seeks to produce actors who are highly creative, skilled, and flexible, but are also capable of working in other capacities e.g. as playwrights, producers, directors, or screenwriters.
• You'll be introduced to a range of psychophysical acting methods and genres of theatre from different cultures and periods in history.
• The programme offers weekly training in movement and voice throughout the autumn and summer terms which cover areas such as play, animal work, performance capture, stage combat, working with intimacy directors, vocal expression, accents, singing, and wellbeing strategies.
• Teaching on MA Acting is research-led and staff and industry guests are highly experienced sector-leading practitioners and scholars.

Length

• 1 year, full-time

Entry Requirements

• Undergraduate degree in an arts or humanities area (with a degree classification at 2:1 level or higher)
• Some familiarity with performer training and past presentation opportunities is required.
• Further and holistic criteria for entry to the programme emphasizes: the discipline in collaborating with others, artistic risk-taking in opening up to the pedagogic practices, and a commitment to exploring the research contexts to acting independently, commensurate with the level of postgraduate learning.

Fees

• Home - full-time: £17350
• International - full-time: £22000

Department

• Theatre and Performance

Opportunities for You

• You'll be offered an introduction to working in screen, audio, and digital contexts.
• You'll also learn about performance theories, practices, and methodologies in relation to your own performance practice and research.
• You will have the opportunity to work towards a final Independent Research Project which will include a public performance as part of the graduate festivals and a written reflection on your practice research.
• This programme is designed to work in synergy with the MA Directing programme and you'll work closely with the directing students on a number of modules and projects.
• You will also work alongside students studying MA Performance Making, MA Screen Acting, and MA Dramaturgy & Writing for Performance in a dynamic postgraduate community.
• Goldsmiths is a small and welcoming university which provides the intimacy needed for training in acting, combined with a long history of intellectual and creative dynamism and critical enquiry.
• You will benefit from the dynamic environment of Goldsmiths within reach of the imaginative and theatrical stimulus of London's cultural and creative locations.

Academic Support

• Support for your learning and well-being is provided in a number of ways by the department and university support services who work collaboratively to ensure you get the right help to reach your best potential both academically and personally.
• You will be allocated a personal tutor who has overall responsibility for your individual progress and welfare.
• The Department of Theatre and Performance has a senior tutor who can support you with any issues that are negatively impacting your academic study and are beyond the normal scope of issues handled by your programme director or personal tutor.

Facilities

• The Department of Theatre and Performance delivers teaching in five theatre studios and houses the technically-supported George Wood Theatre.
• Further facilities include a voice recording booth, media editing suite, scenographic workshop areas, and a costume design studio.

What You'll Study

Compulsory Modules

• Classical Acting (30 credits)
• Devised Theatre (15 credits)
• Performance Theories & Practices I (15 credits)
• Performance Theories & Practices II (15 credits)
• Contemporary Acting (30 credits)
• Staging the Text (15 credits)
• Independent Research Project (60 credits)

Optional Modules

• Introduction to Screen Acting (optional elective, which will not count towards your final grade)

Teaching Style

• The teaching on the MA Acting programme is research-led.
• In tandem with studio-based practical learning, you will undertake theoretical modules to support your learning.
• You’ll learn from our dedicated staff team of highly experienced and sector-leading practitioners and scholars.
• You’ll also benefit from guest lectures, masterclasses, and networking opportunities delivered by industry guests.
• You’ll be taught in workshops, masterclasses, seminars, lectures, and tutorials and will be expected to work independently and as part of a group.
• The MA Acting programme has been designed to work synergistically with the MA Directing programme; you will have the opportunity to work closely with directing students on a number of modules and projects over the year.

Additional Costs

• In addition to your tuition fees, you will be responsible for meeting standard costs associated with your study.
• For the Independent Research Project, there may be costs related to personal items, such as make-up, extra clothing (beyond our costumes department's range). These will be managed in accordance with similar postgraduate specialist programme expenses, where the department will reasonably cover a range of expenses to a capped amount per student.

International Qualifications

• We also accept a wide range of international qualifications.
• If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 7.0 with a 7.0 in writing and no element lower than 6.5 to study this programme.

How to Apply

• Apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system.
• Before submitting your application you’ll need to have:
  • Details of your academic qualifications
  • The email address of your referee who we can request a reference from, or alternatively a copy of your academic reference
  • Copies of your educational transcripts or certificates
  • A personal statement – this can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online.
  • Two self-taped audition pieces with an accompanying statement – Please read our guidance for your self-tapes and statement.

Selection Process

• Admissions to this programme is via a two-stage process.
• Stage one requires two successful digital self-tapes of monologues that meet the specific conditions outlined in our audition requirements with an accompanying statement, in addition to your application form and transcripts.
• If you are successful at stage one, you will then be invited to an online interview which is stage two of our application process.
• Interviews will take place between November to May.

Similar Programmes

• MA Dramaturgy & Writing for Performance
• MA Musical Theatre
• MA Performance Making
• MA Directing