Through our BA (Hons) Applied Performance (Community and Education) programme you’ll have the opportunity to develop your artistic practice. This course allows you to specialise within your own area of interest, giving you the chance to craft your future. Throughout the course you will regularly work with participants and communities in both formal and informal settings. Through experiential learning you will transform yourself from student to practitioner, working in partnership with your tutor, who will aid you to identify and undertake the roles of a director, performance maker and facilitator. We bring in an eclectic range of artists and companies to deliver workshops and seminars, giving you the chance to experience different styles and forms, all to inform your own practice. You’ll join your course mates in forming a professional company, where you will work collectively. Within this company you will be expected to undertake individual roles and responsibilities, developing your professional abilities. Professional practice is at the core of this programme’s delivery. With strong industry links and on-going relationships with educational and community based organisations, we aim to prepare you thoroughly for a career in applied performance. At Birmingham School of Acting we believe that making and applying performance with social and political objectives has the potential to have a significant impact on the lives of individuals and communities. We use performance as a tool to raise awareness, inform, educate, empower, and instigate change and as a method of intervention. As an emerging practitioner we will supply you with artistic space, autonomy and choice. With a primary focus on performance you will explore cultural discourses, developing an understanding of the awareness of critical reflection.

Throughout the programme you will develop both personally and professionally, graduating as a fully-trained applied performance practitioner. You will develop the necessary knowledge, understanding and skill to develop a career within applied performance, and further afield. This course will give you the space to nurture and develop your talent, providing you with the skill to operate with reflective, specialist awareness. An understanding of the relationship between theory and practice will be developed through exploration of a range of cultural and theoretical discourses. Establishing your research, academic, discussion and creative presentation skills you will develop confidence and competency in delivering work. You will establish yourself as a well-informed practitioner by developing an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the contexts and histories of applied performance, theatre and drama. The practical skills you’ll develop will allow you to make interdisciplinary, original work, catering to the needs of specific audiences. You will be able to work collaboratively to devise and write performances. In addition to this you will nurture your ability to plan, write, develop and facilitate workshops for groups, catering to different needs and contexts. You will learn a range of applied performance practical skills and methodologies appropriate to practice within community and educational contexts. Collaboration, leadership, communication, professionalism, and administration skills within professional contexts will be developed throughout the programme. This programme is designed with the purpose of encouraging you to realise your talent and skill. Through intensive work, and creative exploration you will develop versatility and a proactive attitude. You’ll graduate with the ability to take on numerous roles, particularly through the development of a specific set of skills.