Patricia Duarte

MA Acting

With two Acting degrees already under her belt and on the road to gaining another in Psychology, Patricia left everything behind, took the plunge and moved from Portugal to England to continue pursuing her childhood dream by studying at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

“ When I was a little girl, I wanted to be everything you could imagine, so I became an actor. This dream inspired me to relocate from my home in Portugal and led me right into the heart of Birmingham, where my story takes off.

In London, I began my studies with an undergraduate degree in Psychology. Although this degree and career path sounded interesting, it had always been my childhood dream to be an actor, and during my time in Portugal I even attended various acting schools in pursuit of this. I have always known acting was my passion. I moved to the United Kingdom believing that I would have more opportunities to pursue my ambition in the way that I wanted. 

As someone with two acting degrees under my belt, I was hoping to be accepted to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire because they provided something different from the other universities I visited, most notably being a Conservatoire rather than a university. I knew RBC was the right for me after going to the campus for my call-back. There was a strong sense of community, and everyone was so lovely. I was welcomed there by both the tutors and past students, which I did not experience in the other places I visited. I made the decision  because I knew I wanted to be a part of the community here. 

I've grown a lot since starting at BCU. Every day of the course was a new challenge for me. Even though I had previously studied acting, I loved the fact that everything I learned felt completely new to me; we experimented with a range of acting techniques, and there  were many speeches to learn and characters to develop.  I learnt the ability to switch rhythms from my own life to the characters life, which strengthened my acting abilities greatly.

As Portuguese is my first language, I had quite the challenge developing my English, however,  I knew it would ultimately be rewarding and help my career, so I persevered. My tutors were very hands-on, they helped and supported me as I worked to develop. They saw how much I wanted to improve, and it became as important to them as it was to me. The amount of feedback I received motivated me to grow every day and gave me the opportunity to explore different things about myself as an actor and as an individual. The supportive nature of all my tutors is the reason I overcame my challenges.

Birmingham has very quickly become my new home  after living in London for nearly three years. When the option to relocate to Birmingham arose, I saw it as a new beginning and an opportunity for change. I like living in a calmer city and I've enjoyed my time here so far. Going to BCU has also helped me form strong relationships; I have met many people who are now close friends of mine. I feel at home here.

My dream is to get acting work globally, but importantly within Portugal. As it is my native country, I want to make my mark there.  I currently already have two offers and some jobs lined up in Portugal. I am very excited to build this idea of being able to work in both places.

Now that I have improved my English skills, I am more confident in my abilities and potential to succeed in different countries.

I AM BCU means fulfilling my childhood dream, conquering language barriers, and discovering a supportive community that empowers me to chase acting dreams worldwide, especially in my beloved Portugal!"