MA Acting

Your initial audition should be a filmed submission and will need to be uploaded to YouTube. On the recording, please state your name and your UCAS number. At the start of your audition recording you should introduce yourself and talk about your inspiration to be an actor, your career objectives and any professional experience you have. Please also briefly discuss why you want to study at RBC; what do you hope to gain from an MA in Acting and anything else you feel is important we know about you. Your introduction should not exceed 2 minutes.

It may help you to plan what you want to say to avoid waffling, but do not feel you have to be too formal.

You must prepare, memorise and film two contrasting pieces. You can use any device to film; a camera, an iPad or a phone. Please download our Audition Recording Guide to help you create and submit your recording.

Please state the name of the character, the play and playwright. Give a brief account of where the character is in the play, i.e. It is Act 2 and Sasha has just told her boyfriend she is pregnant. Keep it simple, there is no need to outline the entire plot.

Piece 1 should be from a Classical play (Elizabethan/Jacobean).

Piece 2 should be from a contemporary play. Pieces generally should suit your age and suitability of casting however, the most importance consideration is to choose a speech that you feel confident to perform.

Ultimately, choose something that you feel confident with and you believe will demonstrate your potential to train as an Actor at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (Acting).

Each selection should be no more than two minutes in length and suitable for your age and experience (if a speech exceeds two minutes in length, it may not be seen to its completion).

All speeches should be from published plays. Excerpts from film script, television dramas and unpublished plays are not advisable.

It is preferred that the content of the speeches should be something to which you can relate and understand. Any performance choices you make should be justifiable within the text. The performance should reveal an understanding of the scene and character and an ability to create and share appropriate emotions and atmosphere. Try to make sure that any vocal and physical interpretation you choose is strictly relevant. We encourage you to make creative choices with your work.

We recommend you perform the following traits in your speech:

• Energy
• Achievement of contrast
• Choice of speeches
• Creation of environment
• Spatial awareness
• Use / handling of language
• Suitability of physicalisation
• Power to hold an audience
• Identification with character
• Potential for development through training

The staff on the panel – guided by the Course Director – make the decision whether to offer a recall audition. You should receive confirmation by email and on your applicant portal of the result of your audition within 10 working days of your initial audition. If you have not received a decision within 21 days please use the ‘contact us’ button on the applicant portal to get in touch.

Decisions for international students applying via online recording may take longer, but you should hear within 30 days of our receipt of your application. Should you fail to be offered a recall audition, you can re-apply for the following academic year.

*Please note that we do not give feedback for the MA Acting Initial auditions.

The recall audition consists of:

• an acting workshop
• voice and movement assessments
• the presentation of two speeches and a song

You should make sure you arrive in plenty of time for your audition; if for any reason you will be late please let us know.

As with the initial audition, the speeches should be no more than two minutes each and be suitable to your gender, age and experience.

Please prepare an accompanied song; this should be no more than three minutes in length and suitable for your gender, age and vocal range. Piano accompaniment is required and the sheet music must be provided in the right key.

Please note your performance will be stopped if the speech or song exceeds the stated maximum length. You may be interviewed by the Course Director or a representative.

If you wish us to take dyslexia or dyspraxia into account at your recall audition, you must bring with you a copy of your assessment/report confirming the condition.

Please bring refreshments/lunch to your recall audition as this will not be provided by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (Acting).

The session is with the entire group of candidates and begins with a physical warm-up which is observed by members of the teaching staff.

We look for your ability to work as a member of a team, access your imagination, propose ideas, listen and respond to stimuli and demonstrate transformational skills. Members of the acting and movement staff will assess the workshop.

As the workshop is extremely physical, it is recommended that you bring comfortable and appropriate clothing.

We recommend you perform the following traits in your workshop:

• Focus and concentration
• Physical confidence
• Imaginative and creative response
• Ability to transform
• Listening and responding
• Engagement
• Physical coordination
• Flexibility
• Sense of rhythm
• Posture/stance

You must prepare and memorise two contrasting speeches from different plays, one of which must be from an Elizabethan / Jacobean play.

You can use same the same speeches as used at the initial audition stage unless feedback from the initial panel states otherwise.

Each selection should be no more than two minutes in length and suitable for your gender, age and experience (you may be stopped if a speech exceeds two minutes in length).

The contemporary speech – you should to be able to demonstrate your knowledge of contemporary repertoire.

The delivery of speeches is in half groups and they should be from published plays. Excerpts from film scripts, television dramas and unpublished plays are not acceptable unless you can provide at audition, and leave with us, a copy of the actual and complete script with the speech used clearly marked.

As at the initial audition, you should have read the whole of the play from which a speech is taken and be able to provide the correct title, name of the author and, if relevant, translator. You may be asked questions about the play and your character’s journey within it (i.e. their motives, the plays content etc). It is preferable that the content of the speeches is something you can relate to and understand.

Any performance choices you make should be justifiable within the text. The performance should reveal an understanding of the scene and character and an ability to create and share appropriate emotions and atmosphere. Try to make sure that any vocal and physical interpretation you do is strictly relevant.

We recommend you perform the following traits in your speech:

• Energy
• Achievement of contrast
• Choice of speeches
• Creation of environment
• Spatial awareness
• Use / handling of language
• Suitability of physicalisation
• Power to hold an audience
• Identification with character
• Potential for development through training

Your song will be performed alone to a senior singing tutor. As with your acting selections, your song should be a published work with piano accompaniment. We will provide a pianist but you must provide sheet music in a suitable format for the pianist to use.

We are interested to see how you interpret a song and its content. We appreciate that some candidates are not experienced singers but we do not believe that this stops anyone from expressing the style and content of a song. It is important that you choose a song suitable for your voice, gender and age. The singing part of the assessment may begin with a group warm-up.

We recommend you perform the following traits in your speech:

• Qualities: including speech, twang, falsetto
• Technique: including breathing, body alignment
• Story telling: journey of the song

In certain instances, the Course Director or a representative may interview you, to gain a better understanding of you and your motives for wishing to attend a drama school. A voice tutor may wish to see you individually to assess more fully your vocal potential.