If you’re looking to break into the performance industry, this degree in acting is an excellent launch pad to help you get there. On this BA (Hons) Acting Stage and Screen course you’ll get to fine-tune and extend your acting skills, working on live briefs, networking with industry creatives, and taking part in diverse projects.
Why study BA (Hons) Acting Stage and Screen at BNU?
Best of both worlds
While numerous acting programs predominantly concentrate on theatre, our curriculum uniquely prioritizes both stage and on-screen acting. Recognizing the substantial demand for roles in film, television, and online media in today's industry, our course ensure you are prepared for the many roles that make up the industry.
Taught by the industry
This BA (Hons) Acting Stage and Screen degree is led by a dedicated and experienced course team. Benefit from their industry knowledge and the industry links they bring to the course. Many of our guest lecturers are industry-experts and alongside your lecturers, they’ll nurture your learning and professional development.
As well as this we seek to bring your work into the wider world and to bring the world into the university. During your time at BNU you’ll have the opportunity to perform at external venues and take part in workshops with leading companies, both on and off campus. Previous theatre companies and practitioners include Paper Birds on devising theatre, Out of Joint on contemporary texts, Mark McGann on acting for camera, and Station House Opera on intermedial theatre.
On occasion you could also find yourself using the professional venue at Wycombe Town Hall, which is less than two minutes from our campus.
Inspiring facilities
At BNU we ensure you have creative spaces to bring your ideas to life. On this course you’ll have access to drama studios. Each space brings with it unique features, from moving lights and fully equipped sound systems and projection to mirrors, a tiered seating bank and sprung floors. You’ll also have access to our props store where you can find everything you’ll need to bring your performances to life, from costumes and wigs, to lamps and even a coffin.
You’ll also have access to high quality camera equipment, a greenscreen room and lighting rigs and sound recording facilities, all suitable for film and TV screening.
We also understand that during your time at university, it is also just important to get involved with extra-curricular activities. Our Students’ Union offers a range of free societies and nights out for you to enjoy, from musical theatre society to our yearly festiball event, there is something for everyone.
A degree for you
During your time on this course, you will create your own performances, including your own shows, films and short scenes – and take things in the direction that interests you, whether that’s directing or devising, or focusing on a particular theory, piece of research or playwright. You’ll develop an understanding of what is required for acting on screen as well as stage, and will become a motivated team player able to think about the world around them.
In your final year, you will manage your own significant screen or stage-based production, from conception, to venue booking, marketing and performance. You will also set up your own artistic company, and learn about all the elements involved in that, from budgeting and funding applications, to promoting yourself as a professional artist.
Location, Location, Location.
Our High Wycombe Campus is only a short train ride away from London, meaning you are only a stones-throw away from the hustle and bustle of the world-renowned West End and many other independent theatres. You are also only round the corner from Oxford and Reading.
What will I study?
On this BA acting course there is an equal focus on both screen and stage, and lots of opportunity to test out different performance styles and techniques. You will get to fine-tune and extend your acting skills, working on live briefs and diverse projects – and build contacts and the entrepreneurial ability essential to securing work as an actor.
This course is also offered as a four-year programme, including an initial Foundation Year. The BA (Hons) Acting Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme.
Through practical workshops, and looking at relevant literature, we will take you through different acting styles and techniques, including method acting, physical theatre, post-dramatic styles and more abstract approaches. Working with our professional experts, you will consider a range of acting methods from the last 100 years, and try out different styles and ideas you can integrate into your own performances.
By the time you graduate, you’ll have become a thinking practitioner with a passion for all that acting can be. You will have the entrepreneurial flair, and strong grasp of both stage and screen work, to position yourself confidently as an inspiring and creative practitioner that people will want to work with.
You will be somebody with a clear vision of the sort of acting you want to do, with the skill set on how to achieve it and the knowledge on how it impacts on the world around you.
