About the course

MA Acting Contemporary at Central is a creatively, physically and intellectually demanding, advanced-level conservatoire acting programme. It is designed primarily for students with previous training or performance experience who wish to focus on contemporary writing and the creation of new theatre.

• Perform in two professionally supported public productions and an industry showcase.
• Hone your individual technical craft, and release your collaborative and imaginative creativity within a diverse ensemble company (typically 14-16 students)
• Learn through practical group classes in acting, movement, voice and stage combat; seminars on identity, dramatic theory and research skills; and individual tutorials and feedback panels

This experiential and practical course will encourage your development as an embodied actor, able to work across a wide range of material from script-based rehearsals to personal writing and creation. It develops your collaborative skills by building a strong ensemble company and usually culminates in the development and production of a piece of new writing, specially commissioned for the course.

The Contemporary course has a thematic structure, working through the following areas of investigation:

• Storytelling, embodiment and the ensemble
• Textual analysis and the psychophysical process
• Transformation into character
• The playwright and the actor-creator

The training engages with methodologies drawn from a wide range of theatrical artists and thinkers. Our teachers are inspired by Stanislavsky and his inheritors; physical theatre, improvisation and mask practitioners such as Lecoq, Gaulier, Wright and Johnstone; voice and movement pioneers Berry, Linklater, Laban, Bartenieff, Feldenkrais, and Roth; and modern traditions such as Viewpoints and Suzuki. The approach and content are intended to be embodied, inter-disciplinary and culturally inclusive.

You will work with exceptional plays from Chekhov to Kane and tucker green, and with the most contemporary writing possible, your words and the words of an established playwright writing for the company. You will be equipped to interpret, invent and perform and to have a full political and creative engagement with your work.

Assessment

Assessment is through a mixture of practical assessments, including clown improvisations, scene studies and public production work. To complete the MA Acting, you will also submit a Sustained Independent Project, which may include elements of solo performance and critical writing.