Welcome to Acting at Norwich

This page will help you get ready for your first few weeks, with everything you need to know before you arrive.

We’re thrilled to welcome you to the BA (Hons) Acting course at Norwich University of the Arts. Whether you’ve come straight from school, a foundation course, or another walk of life entirely, we’re excited to see you again and begin this journey together.  

This is a course that asks a lot of you — and gives even more in return. It’s a place for experimentation, discovery, playfulness, and rigour. Here, you’ll develop as both an actor and a creative practitioner, equipped with the skills, confidence, and curiosity to shape your own path in the world of performance.  

Let’s get started. 

Meet the Acting Team

You’ll work with an exceptional team of artist-researchers, each bringing a ton of experience and their own specialism:

Dr. Ilona Krawczyk

Post-Grotowskian training & performance, musicality, voice, movement.

Adina Levay

Chekhovian-based training & performance, directing, creative entrepreneurship.

Tanya Roberts

Acting for stage, text-based performance, directing.

Matti Houghton

Acting for stage & screen, classical texts, directing.

Every member of your teaching team has active experience in theatre, film, and performance — and they are here to support and facilitate you in discovering what kind of actor you are becoming. 

About the course

This isn’t just an acting course, it’s a training ground for bold, imaginative, and skilled creative practitioners.

Across the next 3 years, you’ll be introduced to an innovative, cross-disciplinary approach to actor-training. While the foundations of the craft — voice, movement, imagination, and technique — are at the heart of the curriculum, you’ll also engage with screen acting, devising, directing, cinematography, editing, and performance art, to name a few.

Our guiding ethos is simple: Everything acts.

Here, acting is not just about performance. It’s about connection, responsibility, intellectualism, and creativity. You will grow as an artist and as a human, developing the understanding that every choice you make ‘acts’, or says something about the you in/and the world. You will also develop resilience, professionalism, and artistic vision to enter the industry as a confident and versatile practitioner.

As we often say: “We all work for the work.”

That means we prioritise craft and collaboration, in a safe, supportive, and ambitious environment. You only get out as much as you put in. This course will meet you where you are and encourage you to stretch beyond it.

The rhythm of term

After Welcome Week, we begin the year with an exciting cross-course project: Make it Manifesto.

This week-long collaboration with the students from BA (Hons) Experimental Music & Sound Design, and BA (Hons) Film & Moving Image introduces you to the culture of creative work here, culminating in a short performance.

From then on, you can expect a full, workshop-led timetable. While this may change depending on your group, your typical week might look like this:

• Monday or Tuesday, core workshops (group-dependent)
• Wednesday morning, lectures (online or in-person)
• Wednesday afternoon, non-taught / independent study
• Thursday, core Workshops
• Friday, whole-course workshops

You will also get one day of Independent Study to catch up on any reading, homework, and/or practical work. These will be either Mondays or Tuesdays, depending on your group.

Outside of taught time, we expect you to maintain a personal daily practice. You’ll be introduced to tools and exercises for developing voice, movement, imagination, and focus — key skills to every actor’s growth.

You’ll also read scripts and theoretical texts in preparation for workshops, and you’ll have access to bookable studio spaces for rehearsal and independent exploration.

Once term starts, you’ll receive your personal timetable with studio allocations. We are most based in the Duke Street Riverside and/or Duke Street buildings, but sometimes these can change, so we recommend you check it regularly and keep it handy.

Training kit and dress code

To support your training, we ask all students to work in what’s commonly called “blacks”: simple, black, logo-free clothing that allows for freedom of movement.

This creates a professional, levelled space for all and helps us begin each session from a shared point of focus.

What you’ll need:

• Comfortable black training clothes (t-shirt, leggings, joggers)
• We often work barefoot (black trainers or jazz shoes are also acceptable)
• A yoga mat
• A notebook or journal and pen (digital note-taking is welcome)
• A water bottle
• No false eyelashes, false nails, or excessive makeup. Neutral is required
• Jewellery/piercings may need to be removed for safety
• Hair tied back if needed — your face must be visible

You might also want to explore the University’s recommendations for IT equipment.

How to prepare

Training as an actor is physically and mentally demanding. Now is a great time to begin preparing your body and mind for the journey ahead. That might mean:

• Reducing or stopping smoking and recreational drugs
• Eating well and staying hydrated
• Moving your body regularly
• Practicing rest and care for your mental health

Pre-Arrival Task:

To kickstart your actor’s mind, we invite you to complete a short reflection. In a notebook, write down:

• Two performances (film, TV, or live theatre) by an actor you admire
• What choices or techniques do you notice in their work?
• What is one moment where the actor is particularly effective, and why?

We’ll use this in your introductory workshop to begin discussing what great acting is, and how you observe and respond to performance.

One last thing, the word ‘actor’

We use the term ‘actor’ as a non-gendered, inclusive term for all students, regardless of gender identity. It speaks to the craft, not the gender.

This is part of our commitment to making our studios and stages welcoming, rigorous, and forward-looking.

We’re so excited to meet you, hear your stories, and begin this journey together.

Welcome to the BA (Hons) Acting course!