ACTING BA (Hons) at Bath Spa University

BA Acting trains you to become a versatile, creative and employable performer, with skills spanning stage, screen, television and radio.

• Develop your expertise in classical and contemporary actor training in live and recorded media.
• Work with industry professionals to develop valuable relationships and key networking skills.
• Gain extensive technical skills (voice, movement, singing, comedy, acting for camera) to give you the edge in your chosen career.

This is a challenging Acting degree, taught by experienced and specialised staff, that reflects the considerable stamina and continued application required to become the actor that you want to be. Our excellent teaching reputation combines rigorous practical training with research and analytical skills.

BA Acting provides regular technical classes to develop your voice, singing, movement and comedy skills to a professional level. In classes and performance projects, you’ll explore the key processes and practitioners that inform contemporary approaches to acting.

In your second year, stage combat and on-camera acting and training classes help you develop work that is practical, skills-based and industry-aware. Underpinning this is an emphasis on the vital interaction between academic research and acting processes.

Our Acting course is designed to equip you to succeed in an increasingly competitive profession. You’ll develop creative and transferable skills to become an independent thinker and motivated artist. We support your professional training with advice on how to optimise your creative and professional engagement with future employers (communication skills, CV, headshot, interview technique, industry correspondence, self-taping and career plan). You’ll compile a live digital presence, and consider all aspects of freelancing, working in performance-related careers, and/or undertaking further study.

Opportunities

Work placements, industry links and internships

We work with practitioners and producers in theatre, film and television, as well as innovative theatre companies and established regional and national theatre venues.

The course has a successful professional partnership with The Theatre Royal Bath.

Recent collaborators include: playwright Phillip Ridley; directors Ian Nicholson, Matt Ball, Max Barton, Kirsty Davies, John Ward, Lazarus Theatre Company, SpecifiQ, Dan Horrigan of Sky of the Bird; Dr Rebecca Loukes from RedCape; Oliver Jones from Creativity Works and Blind Eye Theatre Company; Toby Peach, Associate Artist / Artistic Director of Birds Anonymous Theatre Company; Pigdog Productions; David Glass; and Ed Viney, who was Creative Associate at the Bush Theatre and Director in Residence at the National Theatre Studio.

Careers

Recently our graduating students performed in a national tour by Taking Flight Theatre. Three graduates were chosen by the David Glass Ensemble to perform in the internationally acclaimed Bleak House, now preparing for an international tour. Several have established successful theatre companies: Nitty Gritty Theatre, Black Dog Productions and The James Company.

Other graduates are working on BBC’s Poldark, a Warner Bros film, and voicing a major character in an animated film. Students recently performed at Santa Monica College, USA. We have regular workshops with Redcape Theatre and fantastic partnerships with Lazarus Theatre Company, The David Glass Ensemble and Theatre Royal, Bath.

Our graduates also engage in further study or work actively in allied performance roles, as artistic directors, writers, arts officers and teachers.