Acting for Contemporary & Devised Performance BA Welcome Pack
Welcome to Acting for Contemporary & Devised Performance BA 2023.
Congratulations on making it onto the programme! On behalf of the staff here, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to your studies at the University of Northampton, and onto the Acting for Contemporary & Devised Performance BA (Hons) in the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology (FAST).
The Acting for Contemporary & Devised Performance BA (Hons) delivers a professional actor training programme that will help you develop as individual artists who can act, devise, write, and make exciting and engaging performance work for stage, screen, and everything in-between. Over the next three years you will participate in a rigorous and playful psychophysical actor training programme. This will enable you to be part of the next generation of actor-creators who are at the cutting edge of contemporary performance practices and the professional industry, making work that responds to the world around us and that stands out in an ever-shifting performance industry.
I hope you really enjoy the next three years in Northampton. You have an opportunity to make life-long friends here, develop a network of professional and industry contacts, and start developing your own artistic and professional performance practice. It will be hard work, but it should be fun and rewarding too. We encourage you to just dive in and take advantage of the opportunities to develop as an actor and performance maker you’ll have during your time with us.
If you ever have any problems or concerns, then please make your first port of call your Personal Academic Tutor, who you will meet in your first week and who will always be happy to help.
We can’t wait to start training with you.
Your Programme Leader
Brad High
Programme Leader, BA Acting CDP and Senior Lecturer in Acting & Drama
Brad.high@northampton.ac.uk
Welcome and Induction Session
There will be an online Welcome Tutorial the week before classes start to give you some key pieces of info before you arrive and give you a chance to meet the team and each other.
Equipment
As part of your training, you will be doing a lot of movement and physical activity. For this, you will need to wear loose clothing that you can move and sweat in. The clothing can be any colour you wish but it must not have any prints, logos, or writing on it. It is also recommended that you have a change of clothing with you each day (if you wish), a towel, a bottle of water, and indoor shoes (if you are not able to work barefoot for any medical reason). You will also need a notebook and writing utensil as you will be expected to take regular notes on your practical work as part of your professional practice. You should also arrive each day with your computer and charger for work on texts, writing, and for research purposes.
Enhancing skills, building networks and engaging in the wider University community
There will be some arranged trips to see live performances throughout the year. Please set aside some money to spend on seeing shows (approx £100 across the year). These trips will be compulsory.