Acting and Performance

Acting and performance is a discipline that demands the full range of a human being's expressive and intellectual resources. To act is to inhabit a character with truthfulness, to communicate their inner life through the body and voice, and to remain genuinely present in the moment while executing a craft that has been carefully prepared. Performance as a broader category encompasses site-specific work, devised theatre, physical performance, and other forms that extend the actor's vocabulary beyond the conventional stage or screen.

At the University of the Arts, London, this three-year full-time BA enables you to become a creative, confident, and articulate storyteller. You will develop your physical, vocal, and intellectual skills both individually and as part of an ensemble, building a technique that can support you across a variety of acting and performance forms and contexts. The programme approaches performance holistically, understanding that the modern actor must be adaptable, imaginative, and capable of generating material as well as interpreting the work of writers and directors.

You will work with voice, movement, text, improvisation, and devising, and you will develop the collaborative skills that professional performance always requires. The course includes a sandwich year and work placement, giving you direct professional exposure before you graduate.

Graduates from acting and performance programmes pursue careers as actors in theatre, film, and television, as well as in applied theatre, physical theatre, performance art, teaching, directing, writing, and arts administration. London's position as a global capital of the creative industries gives you access to one of the most vibrant professional performance communities in the world. Further study options include postgraduate performance programmes and specialist actor training at established drama schools.