Student actors wear beige jackets and holding toilet rolls as binoculars

Theatre & Performance BA(Hons)

Create original, brave and enthralling work for theatre and live spaces.

Key details
Location
Penryn Campus
Course duration
3 years / 4 years
Attendance
Full-time / Placement year
UCAS code
238U / PY10

Course overview

This inspirational course is underpinned by intensive practical and collaborative work. You’ll be trained by celebrated theatre companies, makers and academics as you explore the creative 
process, enabling awareness and confidence within a range of performance contexts and 
opportunities. You’ll graduate as a creatively and physically skilled practitioner who can frame, manage, produce and professionally facilitate your own work.

You will:

  • Benefit from AMATA’s year-round performance programme, which attracts top artists and performers
  • Build industry links through workshops, guest lectures and visits by companies such as Ad Infinitum, Beyond Face, Gecko Theatre, Prodigal Theatre and The Young Vic 
  • Create and take part in collaborative projects, including a major production at 
    the AMATA Festival
  • Have access to resources including green screen, motion capture and our extensive range 
    of technical and recording equipment
  • Work with highly skilled and experienced practitioners, artists, academic staff and creative technicians
  • Learn to use our extensive range of technical sound, lighting and recording equipment
  • Have access to green screen and motion-capture facilities, along with a host of other resources

The placement year pathway for this course is new for entry year 2023 and is subject to validation.

Course details

On this Theatre & Performance degree, you'll have the opportunity to gain a BA(Hons) degree over three years or study Theatre & Performance BA(Hons) with a placement year option.

With consistent and in-depth professional skills training, you’ll learn to create and respond to performances. You’ll explore techniques and methods in different environments, from solo performances to full public productions, from work for traditional spaces to site-specific, immersive and unusual contexts. As well as leaving with a Theatre and Performance degree, you’ll gain a unique mix of conservatoire practice, backed up by the experience and knowledge of the Academy of Music & Theatre Arts – a working venue offering year-round theatre, dance and other events. 

BA(Hons) Theatre & Performance course video

You’ll develop essential skills by focusing on the development of voice, body, movement and imaginative practices. We’ll also look into global issues, historical contexts and modern practice and ideas. You'll explore scene-studies from a range of texts with a common theme, devising skills and developing an ensemble performance of original live work. 

Modules

Performance Skills

Fundamental voice and movement technique training in separate sessions.   

Performance, Culture & Contexts

An exploration of critical theatre history. 

Play Texts

Exploring fundamental practical physical and psychological approaches to text. 

Making Skills

Learning and developing practical physical, vocal and creative tools with which to make theatre.  

Contemporary Performance & Concepts

An exploration into a range of contemporary approaches to making theatre. 

Ensemble Performance

In small companies, collaborate to create and perform a piece of theatre as an ensemble. 

You’ll take on advanced body-based training and learn about technical theatre, directing, writing and creating drama. You will also develop scenography skills and engage with design thinking as a creative skill. Alongside this, you’ll create and present a solo performance of your own making, influenced by a range of styles like scripted monologue and stand-up comedy.  

Working in a company, you’ll create and put on a public production focusing on the relationship between a show and its audience. You’ll also create original material and build a professional portfolio by studying advanced performance techniques. Looking into different theatre companies, production houses and theatre festivals, we’ll explore together what they’re doing, how they work, and how they stay strong and active. 

Modules

Technical Theatre & Scenography

Develop your practical understanding of scenographic skills, design thinking and technical skills. Collaborate to bring together a range of these practical skills to drive a creative process. 

Solo Performance

Develop a short-form solo performance piece, influenced by research into a range of styles of delivery. 

Immersive & Participatory Theatre

Working within a company, you’ll create a public production with a director, exploring immersive and participatory theatre forms. 

The Performer’s Body, Directing & Dramaturgy

You will explore the practical skills of writing, directing and structuring material with performers in small teams. 

Modes of Making

Advanced physical, vocal and imagination training. 

Theatre Futures

Explore the work of significant contemporary theatre companies, production houses and festivals and how their work remains resilient.  

You can choose to take an optional placement year after your second year on a three-year programme, or after your third year if you’re studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year. 

You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the RealWORKS employability team. 

Choosing this option will enhance your industry experience and skills while studying. 

How you’ll study during your placement year 

You’ll spend time working in a professional context, as part of a business or organisation. This can be in one role, or up to three, and must be for a minimum of 24 weeks. 

You’ll develop in-demand workplace skills, deepen your insight into industry and grow your network of contacts, all of which could help you get ahead in your career after graduation. 

Throughout this year, you’ll develop a portfolio of work that includes critical self-reflection on what has been learned from the experience. You’ll be required to evidence your experiences, the skills you’ve learned and your professional growth. 

Using your critical and reflective skills, you’ll research and write a paper on an area of theatre making that passionately interests you. You’ll also develop performance material – individually or in companies –beginning as a small test showing and finishing as a full public production for industry specialists and audiences. You’ll also take on a professional development project, where you’ll prepare for the industry by learning about how its infrastructure functions and how to develop a career as a performer, theatre maker or company. You will create a professional identity for yourself and your work, ready to share on a range of platforms and networks. 

Modules

Creating Companies

Create and develop scratch performance work over a number of dynamic cycles in small companies. 

Master Classes

Advanced theatre making skill sessions delivered as ongoing masterclasses. Voice, physicality, composition and dramaturgical skills. 

The Thinking Practitioner: Student-led Research

Research, critically reflect upon and write about an area of theatre making that passionately interests you. 

Professional Development

You’ll learn about the practical nuts and bolts infrastructure of the theatre business and how to develop a career as a performer, theatre maker or company.  

Professional Production

Work as a small company and collaborate to develop, rehearse, polish and present an original professional production for performance to industry specialists and the public. 

The modules above are those being studied by our students, or proposed new ones. Programme structures and modules can change as part of our curriculum enhancement and review processes. If a certain module is important to you, please discuss it with the Course Leader.

How you'll learn

Blending theory and practice, you’ll learn through practical workshops and masterclasses, supported by lectures and seminars. There’ll also be opportunities to work with national and international companies and practitioners.

At Falmouth, we use a 'digitally enhanced learning & teaching' approach. Your experience will always be predominantly in-person, including seminars, tutorials and studio teaching, with some, more targeted elements, being online either live (synchronous) or pre-recorded (asynchronous). You can read more here.

How you'll be assessed

You'll be assessed with practical exams and coursework.

Assessment methods

You’ll take on practical tasks in groups and individually, including demonstrations or process showings, laboratory or studio-based practice, productions, and a final year performance showcase.

You’ll also be assessed through essays, research, digital portfolios, critical reviews, professional copy and framing statements.

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Staff

You’ll be taught and supported by a team of professional theatre-makers, devisers, directors and actors, and theatre-focused academics. On top of experience working all over the world, many of our staff run their own theatre companies and collectives.

Some members of staff only teach on specific modules, and your course might not feature every staff member who teaches on the course.

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Facilities

  • 11 equipped performance studios.
  • Recording studio with four control rooms.
  • 11 practice rooms.
  • Computer labs for CAD and audio software.
  • Scenery workshop.
  • Technical resource stores that stock a wide range of microphones for recording and live voice and music.
  • Digital Audio Workstations, PA Systems, mixing desks, lighting kits, portable dimmers, cameras, projectors, musical instruments.
  • TV Studio and Cinema in the School of Film & Television.
  • Professional theatre venue hosting visiting companies and artistes.

Take a virtual tour

Performance Facilities Image
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Performance Facilities

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Penryn library group study area

Library Facilities

Offering extensive collections, our two libraries provide a wealth of digital resources, magazines, ...

Library Facilities
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Sports Centre

Sports Centre

Our Sports Centre, on Penryn Campus, includes a spacious gym with up to 90 of the latest, new statio...

Sports Centre

Careers

Our graduates have worked as:

  • Professional theatre-makers and performers
  • Production managers
  • Talent managers
  • Educators and teachers
  • Entrepreneurs in the Arts, setting up their own funded companies

How to apply

Apply via UCAS

Ready to join us? You can apply through UCAS. You'll need to reference the course and University code (F33).

Apply now

Applying as an international student? 

International students can apply for a course through UCAS, via an agent or directly with the university. For more information about how to apply as an international student, visit our international applications page.

International applications

Course route UCAS code
Theatre & Performance BA(Hons) three year degree 238U
Theatre & Performance BA(Hons) with placement year PY10

We consider all applications on their own individual merit and potential. We invite all applicants to an interview day or audition to give them the opportunity to demonstrate this along with what inspires and motivates them in their field. Applicants will also be able to show their portfolio or give a performance depending on the course. We welcome applications from all subject backgrounds, whether you’ve specialised in STEM, the arts or humanities.  

Course route Entry requirements
BA/BSc(Hons) three year degree 104 – 120 UCAS Tariff points
BA/BSc(Hons) four year degree with placement year 104 – 120 UCAS Tariff points

Check the title of your course to see if it's a BA or BSc award. UCAS Tariff points will primarily be from Level 3 qualifications such as but not limited to A-levels, T Levels, a BTEC/UAL Extended Diploma or a Foundation Diploma. 

Check how many points your qualifications are worth

For applicants whose first language is English we require you to have or be working towards GCSE English Language Grade 4 (C), or equivalent. 

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the same standard which is equivalent to the IELTS Academic 6.0 overall score, with at least 5.5 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. We accept a range of in country equivalencies and approved tests.  

If you need a student visa to study in the UK, you may need to take a recognised language test. You can read our English Language Requirements for more information.

For starting your studies in 2023

UK applications: 25 January 2023 (for equal consideration)

Applications after the 25 January will be considered on a first-come, first-served as long as there are places available. Apply for this course now.

International fee payers

International fee payers can apply throughout the year. But we recommend applying as early as possible, to make time for visa and travel arrangements.

What we're looking for

We want someone who:

  • Can vocalise text, vary tone, and respond to material.
  • Physically engage with their environment.
  • Is lively and responsive.
  • Thinks independently.

Fees, costs & funding

Tuition fees

Annual tuition fee Student
£9,250 per year Full-time UK
£17,460 per year Full-time EU/international
Annual tuition fee Student
£9,250 per year Full-time UK
£17,460 per year Full-time EU/international
£1,850 per placement year Full-Time UK and EU/international

Tuition fees are set annually and are subject to review each year. The University may therefore raise tuition fees in the second or subsequent years of a course, in line with inflation and/or the maximum permitted by law or Government policy. Students will be notified of any changes as soon as possible. 

The figures above don't include accommodation and living costs

Typical course costs

  • Public Programme season tickets (student rate) costs found: amata.org.uk/livepass
  • Students must come prepared with suitable loose warm clothing appropriate for all practical classes (devising, voice, movement, rehearsals). Approx £70/year
  • General study materials such as scripts and key textbooks. Approx £125/year

If you need to bring equipment or materials with you, these will be outlined in your Welcome Letter.

Ask a student

What better way to find out about life at Falmouth University than by asking our current students?

From course details and academic support, to the social scene and settling in, our students are ready and available to answer any questions you might have. Simply set up your account, send them a question and they'll get back to you within 24 hours.

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