Acting BA (Hons)

This introductory unit launches your journey into the professional world of acting and performance. Through a combination of practical workshops, seminars and independent study, you will delve into the key techniques and guiding principles of the acting process: voice, movement, play, concentration, embodied awareness, imagination and active listening. Practical sessions exploring improvisation, scene study, rehearsals and presentations, combined with investigative approaches to research and critical reflection, will equip you with the essential tools for approaching text, making creative choices, developing your own personal practice and producing a body of creative work.

40 credits

This unit expands and develops core acting skills and understanding of performance theory. A focus on developing and embodying character in specific environments draws on various acting approaches integrating text analysis, animal work, points of centre, point of lead, sensory work, and is informed by continuous critical reflection on your learning. Together, these elements prepare you for observing, exploring, researching and creating a distinct physical and vocal characterisation. The unit also introduces you to the devising process. Exploring themes that move you and experimenting with aspects of collaborative creation, lead to an understanding of how to develop and structure your own creative voice.

80 credits

The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.

An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.

Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.

This unit interrogates different approaches to acting and performance, strengthening your knowledge and understanding of a range of acting techniques across contemporary live and digital contexts. Engaging in practical acting workshops and film work, including camerawork, editing, and sound, will refine your interpretive skills, technical abilities and enhance your creative choices. Collaborative projects, alongside critical analysis, encourage you to develop a breadth and depth of experimentation around how acting and performance can address broader social and global concerns. You will gain a heightened awareness of ethical considerations in performance and explore what acting can do within wider contemporary contexts.

80 credits

This unit focuses on enhancing collaborative working methods and engaging with other creative practices. Collaborative projects explore team-working skills, project management and the ability to communicate effectively. Practical workshops are centred on movement and voice, interpreting text and devising immersive performance. Masterclasses in specialised techniques such as stage combat, mask work, and Laban Efforts encourage you to identify your own emerging interests. Cross-course collaborations with other disciplines such as film, sound, animation, fine art or fashion, enhance understanding of acting and performance from alternative perspectives, enabling you to gain new skills and knowledge within and beyond your subject area.

40 credits

The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.

An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.

Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.

This unit involves the preparation, management and completion of a written project. You will develop a body of independently sourced reference material, applied through creative experimentation and text-based research. Working from your emerging interests you may wish to interrogate a particular area, practice or approach to acting and performance. Furthering your knowledge of relevant theories, histories and concepts encourage you to identify employment potentials and opportunities for further study. By the end of the unit, you should feel well prepared to work independently on your final project and have a clear trajectory towards launching a career in your chosen area.

The final unit of study culminates in a showcase performance or performative event designed to identify, extend and consolidate your strengths as a professional actor and performer. Directed work and rehearsals immerse you in the entire production process. Alternatively, you can opt for an artist-led and/or mediated performance event. You will also develop a self-promotional strategy for optimising your career profile: guidance on headshots, voiceovers and film showreel, as well as technical workshops on professional website development and managing a social media profile. Career and employability sessions enhance your understanding of emerging opportunities in contemporary live and digital performance and/or further study.

The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.

An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.

Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.