Acting & Performance

Acting and performance is a demanding discipline that trains you to create truthful, compelling human experiences on stage and screen, using your body, voice, imagination, and emotional intelligence as your primary instruments. It is rooted in deep study of dramatic texts and theatrical traditions, but extends well beyond the classical canon to encompass contemporary theatre practice, physical performance, devised work, and the specific demands of acting for camera in film and television. Excellent actor training develops not just technique but the capacity for creative risk-taking, collaboration, and sustained professional practice.

At the University of Reading, this three-year full-time programme offers rigorous and practical training in acting and performance alongside academic study of drama and theatre. You will develop your craft through voice and movement training, scene study, character work, and practical project work across different performance styles and contexts. The programme incorporates a sandwich year with a work placement, providing professional experience in the theatre, film, or performance industry, and a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to encounter performance traditions and training methods in a different cultural environment.

These two experiential elements, together with the professional networks they generate, are significant assets as you move into the professional world.

Acting and performance graduates go on to work as professional actors in theatre, film, and television, as well as in applied theatre, education, community arts, theatre-making, directing, and the wider creative industries. The skills developed through performer training, including communication, empathy, collaboration, physical and vocal presence, and the ability to work under pressure, are also valued in careers in teaching, community work, therapy, media, and communications. Many graduates continue their training at drama schools or pursue postgraduate study in theatre practice or performance research.