Acting (Collaborative and Devised Theatre), BA

Course information

Duration
3 years full-time
Course start
October
Award
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Acting

UCAS code

Institution
C35
Course
W410
Option
CDT

About this course

This unique and innovative actor training offers you the professional competencies/skills to work across theatre, TV, film and radio as well as a devising pathway that will see you become an accomplished maker of your own performance work. 

This course:

  • Puts the actor as artist at the heart of the training
  • Celebrates the creative potential of collaborative processes alongside the development of the individual actor
  • Pioneers cutting edge practice; committed to change-making, experimentation, and blurring the lines of what performance can and should be
  • 3 years full-time, and students are entitled to full Equity status upon graduation.

The course is known for not only the high standard of our actor training  but also as a space where actors can create and tell their own stories in sophisticated and exciting new ways. This is a highly physical and rigorous training that embraces the identity of each student and nurtures their potential as a creative, imaginative actor/artist.  Devising is at the core of the practice with space to structure, develop, and experiment with ideas, theatrical form and exploration of the most up-to-date modes of theatre and filmmaking . 

Alongside progressive work on rehearsal techniques, script analysis, acting and movement methodologies and tackling both classical and modern texts, you will explore modes of performance that may include creating film and digital work, stand-up comedy, spoken word, dance-theatre, site specific performance, adaptation,  queer and post-dramatic work and design-led processes. We have a commitment and investment in work that is made by and centres artists from the Global Majority. In your final year of study, you will meet public audiences and industry in public productions and professional showcase and showreel.  

Every lecturer that you encounter on the course has their own professional practice and you will work with visiting directors and practitioners who are leading in the performing arts industries. 

Audition Fees and Free Auditions

BA (Hons) Acting courses - Acting, Acting (Collaborative and Devised Theatre) and Acting (Musical Theatre)
An audition at Central costs £40, however many UK-based applicants may be eligible for a free audition. In addition to students engaged through Central’s Outreach work as part of its Access and Participation Plan, the school also provides free auditions to applicants based in England who may face barriers in accessing conservatoire training. In previous years, we have awarded over 1,200 free audition vouchers which enabled more applicants to attend auditions and access specialist drama training.
Find out if you qualify for a free audition.
Learn more about what is included in the BA (Hons) Acting audition process

Accordion

  • About Central's Acting, BA Courses

    Drawing upon multiple performance theories, rather than subscribing to a particular doctrine or method, Central actors have always adopted a pragmatic approach to their training.

    The three specialist undergraduate acting courses: ActingActing Collaborative and Devised Theatre (CDT) and Acting Musical Theatre (MT), reflect this eclecticism and celebrate the many and varied techniques available to the actor wanting to work in theatre, television, film and radio.

    These courses exist within a thriving conservatoire environment – home to a dynamic range of related performance disciplines at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Training is contextualised alongside relevant professional advice and is structured in such a way as to gradually equip you with a thorough understanding of the industry.

    Performances by Acting alumni have long been recognised by major awards such as the BAFTAs, Oscars, Golden Globes, Olivier Awards, Tony Awards, London Evening Standard Theatre Awards and The Sunday Times/ National Theatre Ian Charleson Awards. Most recently alumni have been awarded a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, MTV Movie Award for Best Hero, British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor, Empire Award for Best Actor, Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Performance, San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Performance, Ariel Award for Best Actor and London Evening Standard Theatre Awards Emerging Talent.

    If you would like to audition for the programme, check the audition requirement section for further details on how to apply. Good luck!

    • Course Detail

      Year 1: Acting and devising practice

      • Progressive work on acting, script analysis, voice, movement, devising, ensemble, singing, dance and improvisation
      • Develop openness and sensitivity to space, image and impulse and cultivate psychophysical connectivity
      • Apply these approaches to work on poetry, verbatim, autobiographical devising, observation and storytelling, as well as studio work on three plays.

      Year 2: Transforming through acting and devising

      • Through continued and extended work you will move towards greater expressivity and transformation across a broad range of characters and genres
      • Full-length devised performance, American scenes, radio drama, comedy and classical tragedy
      • Class-based training concludes with skills intensive and a series of professional preparation workshops.

      Year 3: Testing creativity and actor processes

      • Through producing public performances for paying audiences, agents, casting directors and industry professionals, you will develop your artistry and independence
      • Work on at least two plays and one devised theatre piece
      • Undertake radio and screen training (including recording voice clips and showreels, and writing, shooting and editing a short film)
      • One of the third year performances is usually performed off-site at a professional London theatre venue, as is the annual showcase.
    • Industry Links & Visiting Professionals

      Permanent members of the Acting CDT staff regularly work on professional theatre projects and, from the outset, you will work closely with professional theatre companies and emergent or professionally active directors.

      In recent years students have had workshops and created performances with Complicite, Engineer Theatre Collective, Filter Theatre, Catherine Tate, Lucy Porter, Ridiculusmus, John Hegley, Inspector Sands, Declan Donnellan, Robin Soans, Tanika Gupta MBE, Transport Theatre, Blind Summit, the TEAM (New York), out of Inc and Quiconque. Film and theatre professionals are often invited to hold research and development workshops with students, who may go on to work on those productions.

      Recent Visiting Staff

      Directors

      Pooja Ghai (Stratford East), Nancy Meckler (Shared Experience, Royal Shakespeare Company), Mel Churcher (Control, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory), Wilson Milam (Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Tony Award Nominee), Marcello Magni (Globe, Complicite, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord), Yael Shavit (Young Vic: Jerwood Directors Award), John Walton (Fol Espoir), John Wright (Told by an Idiot), Dominic Rouse (Concerned Architect, Headlong), Simon McBurney (Complicite), Joyce Henderson (Complicite, National Theatre), Jemima James (Complicite, Theatre O).

      Visiting Professionals

      Tanika Gupta MBE (Royal Court, Royal Shakespeare Company, BBC), Ally Cologna, George Evans and Jesse Fox (Engineer Theatre Collective), Max Mackintosh, Imogen Knight (Old Vic, Royal Opera House, Sadler’s Wells), Maeve Diamond, Stephen Kemble (RSC, Birmingham Rep), Miranda Henderson (Prodigal Theatre), Vicki Manderson (National Theatre of Scotland), Lucy Cullingford (Royal Shakespeare Company), David Ashley, Ng Choon Ping (Royal Exchange, Hodgkiss Award Winner), Julie Spencer (Shakespeare’s Globe), Robert Bowman (Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Living Pictures).

      • Graduate Employment

        Graduates of this course have recently appeared in:

        Theatre

        • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Palace Theatre (West End)
        • Hamilton, Victoria Palace Theatre (West End)
        • The Mouse Trap, St Martin’s Theatre (West End)
        • The Jungle Book, UK Tour
        • A Christmas Carol, Old Vic
        • Kes, Leeds Playhouse
        • Henry VI: Rebellion/Wars of the Roses, Royal Shakespeare Company
        • The Normal Heart, National Theatre
        • Wuthering Heights, Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre
        • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Bridge Theatre
        • Old Bridge, Bush Theatre
        • Human Nature, Sheffield Crubible Theatre
        • The Glow, Royal Court

        Television

        • The Crown, Netflix
        • Small Axe, BBC
        • Downton Abbey, Carnival Film & Television/PBS
        • Game of Thrones, HBO
        • Master of None, Netflix
        • Sex Education, Netflix
        • Years and Years, HBO
        • Industry, HBO
        • Bridgerton, Netflix
        • The Five, Sky One
        • Heartstopper, Netflix
        • Hanna, Amazon Studios
        • A Very British Scandal, Blueprint Pictures/Amazon
        • Emily in Paris, Netflix
        • The Split, AMC
        • Gentleman Jack, HBO
        • Foundation, Apple TV+

        Film

        • Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
        • Downton Abbey: A New Era, Focus Features
        • The Death of Stalin, IFC Films
        • Dunkirk, Warner Bros.
        • Yardie, Railto Productions
        • Lady Macbeth, BBC Films/BFI
        • Girl With All The Gifts, Altitude Films
        • World War Z, Paramount Pictures;
        • Notable Alumni

          Naomi Ackie (2012) had her breakthrough role starring in William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth, which earned her a British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer and an Evening Standard British Film Award nomination in 2017. Her film and television credits include Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; The End of the F***ing World; Master of None, and Small Axe. She is next set to play Whitney Houston in the upcoming biopic, I Wanna Dance with Somebody

          Fisayo Akinade (2011) plays Mr Ajayi in Netflix’s Heartstopper, and his film and television credits also include Russell T. Davies’ Cucumber and Banana, The Girl with All the Gifts, and A Very British Scandal. Fisayo has had a prolific career on stage performing in productions such as Barber Shop Chronicles (National Theatre); The Glow (Royal Court); Shipwreck (Almeida Theatre); The Crucible (National Theatre), and Saint Joan (Donmar Warehouse), for which he won an Ian Charleson Award in 2017. 

          Dino Fetscher (2013) has television credits including Foundation; The Split; Gentleman Jack; Humans; Paranoid, and Russell T. Davies’ Cucumber and Banana. He also performed in National Theatre’s production of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, for which he was nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award and an Olivier Award in 2022.

          Michael Fox (2013) played the recurring role of Andy Parker in ITV’s critically acclaimed Downton Abbey, including in the subsequent two films released under the same name. He also appeared in Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk, and his other television credits include Endeavour and Midsomer Murders. Michael has also continued to work on stage, and his theatre credits include An Enemy of The People (Chichester Festival Theatre); Clybourne Park (Park Theatre), and Kerry Jackson (National Theatre). 

          Alice Hewkin (2014) has appeared in television productions such as in Netflix’s The Crown, Emily in Paris and Sex Education, and BBC’s Doctor Who. In addition to this she has also performed in several stage productions, including The Vote (Donmar Warehouse), performing alongside fellow Central alumni Catherine Tate and Dame Judi Dench

          Martins Imhangbe (2013) plays Will Mondrich in Netflix’s hit show Bridgerton. His theatre credits include Richard II (Almeida Theatre), for which he was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award; Barber Shop Chronicles (touring Australia and New Zealand); Absolute Hell (National Theatre); Death of a Salesman (Young Vic), and Othello (Shanghai Grand Theatre). Martins is also an associate artist for international touring theatre company Complicité.

          Keziah Joseph (2016) was nominated for The Spotlight Graduate prize and was the recipient of The Carlton Hobbs Award, both in her final year at Central. Keziah made her professional theatre debut in 2017, starring in Sandi Toksvig’s play Silver Lining, and landed the role of Dorothy in the long running BBC Radio 4 soap opera, The Archers. Keziah has continued to work in theatre and radio, with credits including The Jungle Book (Royal & Derngate); As You Like It (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Sweeney Todd (Liverpool Everyman); Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear: The Musical (National Theatre); The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Bridge Theatre) and The Confidential Agent (BBC Radio 4). 

          Kiren Kebaili-Dwyer (2021) performed in Much Ado About Nothing, and played the titular role in Hamlet, both at National Theatre. He has also appeared on television in BBC’s Doctors. 

          Karl Queensborough (2015) played the lead role of Alexander Hamilton in the award-winning West End musical Hamilton, between 2019-2022. Prior to this, from 2018, he played Alternate Alexander Hamilton for certain performances and as understudy. His other stage credits include The Little Matchgirl (Shakespeare’s Globe/Bristol Old Vic); Sylvia, Girl from the North Country (The Old Vic); Aladdin, Cinderella, Dick Whittington and Jack and the Beanstalk (Lyric Hammersmith); Morning (Lyric Hammersmith/Traverse Theatre) and The Machine Stops (Theatre Royal York/Pilot Theatre). 

          Cherrelle Skeete (2011) plays CIA agent Terri Miller in Amazon Prime’s Hanna. Her television credits also include Silent Witness; Doctors; The Five and Ordinary Lives. On stage, Cherrelle played Rose Granger-Weasley in the opening cast of the West End’s production of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, and also performed in Chekov’s The Seagull at Lyric Hammersmith. She is also a writer, cultural producer and co-founder of Blacktress UK. 

          • Entry Requirements and Admissions

            Minimum Entry Requirements

            Our minimum academic entry requirement is 64 UCAS tariff points or above.As part of meeting these tariff points, we consider a range of qualifications including A Levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more.

            You can see how many tariff points your qualifications would gain on the UCAS Tariff Calculator. International qualifications and others not covered within the UCAS tariff can also be accepted.

            Normal offers may be higher and depend upon expected grades and audition performance. Exceptional applicants who do not meet this requirement, but demonstrate appropriate potential, may be accepted.

            Admissions

            This is an intensive professional training course and must be followed in its entirety.

            Applications for deferred places are not accepted for this course.

            Candidates must be eligible to satisfy the general admissions requirements. Admission will be based on the reasonable expectation that you have the potential to complete and contribute positively to the programme and that you would benefit from honours study. There is no alternative to selection by audition.

            Selection for audition will normally depend on you meeting, or being predicted to meet, minimum entry requirements, and on written references and demonstration of the following in the UCAS written statement:

            • engagement with theatre and acting at national/local level
            • evidence of a real commitment to acting and a long-standing interest in acting and theatre
            • knowledge of a range of theatrical forms and genres
            • experience gained in post-education contexts, such as the workplace, travel and voluntary settings.

            In the absence of formal qualifications, an indication of academic potential will be sought in your UCAS statement.

            We particularly encourage applications from groups currently under-represented in higher education, such as students with disabilities and members of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups. Find out more information on Central’s commitment to equality and diversity.

            Auditions

            Find out more about the audition process for our Acting, BA courses.

            International Students

            Visit the International Students section to view details of English language requirements for Central’s courses.

            • Tuition Fees, Bursaries and Scholarships

              Tuition Fees for 2024 Entry

              UK (Home) students: £9,250 per year*
              Overseas students: £25,200 per year

              Please note that there may be additional costs that you need to incur as part of the training for the course.

              Full information is available on the Tuition Fees and Additional Costs page.


              Bursaries and Scholarships

              Central offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. If you are holding an offer for a place on a course then you will be invited to apply for a bursary or scholarship.

              UK-based undergraduate students who are applying for a student maintenance loan and have a household income under £35,000 will automatically be awarded our Access to Central Bursary.

              *If you are a UK student but already hold a qualification at the equivalent or higher level to the one that you are applying for, then you may be classed as an ELQ student and be required to pay the same fee as an overseas student.

            Student Feedback

            “The course has been invaluable to me - its greatest strength is that through detailed and varied training it nurtures real versatility in an actor: an ability to adapt to almost any situation. The techniques you learn on the course are universal. Acting CDT gives you a rounded training and it challenges the limits of your imagination.”

            Fisayo Akinade

            Graduated 2011, credits include CucumberBanana and the Ordinary Lies series for the BBC. Shows at the Donmar Warehouse and Royal Court.

            Staff On The Course

            Lucinka is a theatre maker, actor and director, with a background in collaborative, devised and text-based work.

            Lucinka Eisler

            Ben Buratta is a theatre-maker and director, actor trainer, practice researcher, and Artistic Director of Outbox.

            Ben Buratta

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