MA Acting

East 15 Acting School's MA Acting (International) is a conservatoire-style, industry-focused professional training programme, designed specifically for international students looking to train in the UK.

Through this intensive programme, you'll master a wide spectrum of core acting skills. You'll receive classes in acting techniques, movement (drawn from Laban, Feldenkrais, Somatic, and Grotowski techniques), voice production, articulation, RP (Received Pronunciation), and singing. You'll also have the option to take additional Stage Combat classes in the evenings.

Throughout the course, you'll receive individual feedback, guidance, and support from your acting tutors as well as skills tutors.

The advanced acting training offered on this course draws on contemporary industry practices as well as the legacy of Stanislavski. It also incorporates East 15's unique methodologies and ethos, which shape our approach to actor training. Our ethos grew out of the techniques, beliefs, and practices of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, one of the UK's most historically significant theatre companies of the 20th century.

On the MA Acting (International), you will have opportunities to:

• Undertake a six-week intensive study of Shakespeare, including a three-week residency at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Your residency culminates in a performance on the Globe stage to an invited public audience.
• Learn advanced physical skills and vocal techniques, alongside rigorous training in all aspects of acting. Our unique approach also emphasises the use of detailed research and targeted improvisation, with direct application to text, character creation and scene work.
• Perform in two technically supported, publicly ticketed shows. These shows are staged at our Corbett Theatre and promoted to the industry.
• Professionally film a Showreel and record a Voicereel, which are included in the MA Acting (International) Online Showcase, intended to promote you to members of industry in the UK and abroad.
• Stage a studio-scale performance of a collaboratively Devised full-length show at the School, performed to an invited public audience.
• Undertake writing workshops, leading to a Solo Theatre performance in our Corbett Theatre.
• Take part in professional development workshops and masterclasses.
• Collaborate with our MFA Theatre Directing students for modules on Brecht, Improvisation and Comedy.

At East 15, we regard every actor as unique, recognising the need for different keys to unlock your capabilities as artists and individuals. Our training emphasises positivity, passion, and professionalism, creating a truly safe space in which you can learn and explore to your fullest.

You'll work with highly experienced professional practitioners and directors alongside an international cohort of actors from all over the world. This rich mix of diverse cultural backgrounds, historical perspectives, and life experiences will enlighten, challenge, and educate you, both as an artist and as a human being.

You'll learn to create truthful, three-dimensional characters with emotional depth and veracity, and work with sophisticated texts in various genres and styles. Our training takes a holistic approach to building character and interpreting narrative, making it ideal for students interested in the craft of acting and performance.

By the time you graduate, you'll be a confident, self-sufficient actor, fully in control of your process and ready to work with any director, any genre, and any discipline.

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The MA Acting (International) course runs for 12 months on a full-time basis. We accept about 22 students each year into this programme.

You'll undertake Acting for Camera classes, Showreel filming, Voicereel recording, Writing Workshops, and your Solo Theatre public performance solely with your MA Acting (International) cohort, typically in two groups of 11 or 12.

In the early stages of the course, MA Acting (International) students are combined with first-year MFA Acting (International) students for most modules, working in three groups of 14 to 16 students. The composition of these groups change after each module in response to your individual needs and future journey as an actor. This flexible structure allows you greater choice in selecting texts, projects, tutors, and directors for your modules, supporting your personalised development.

This course is taught at our picturesque Loughton Campus.

View more Masters courses from East 15 Acting School, including Theatre Directing.

Our expert staff

Our training is delivered by professionals, for professionals, equipping graduates to embark on successful careers worldwide.

Our outstanding teaching faculty includes industry professionals from across the globe, bringing expertise from all areas of live and recorded performance. They are supported by specialists from the industry, ensuring high-quality training that stays current with industry developments.

Visit our staff page to learn about them.

Specialist facilities

Our Loughton Campus is located at the edge of East London, giving you easy access to the city while studying in a peaceful setting. We are only a ten-minute walk from the London Underground station of Debden, allowing you to get to the centre of London in just thirty minutes.

We have three sites at the Loughton campus:

• Hatfields is a beautiful Georgian dower house set on five acres of green land, boasting rehearsal spaces, a dance studio, a radio recording room, a library, screening rooms, a café, and common areas.
• Just a short walk from Hatfields is Roding House, which contains rehearsal rooms, a green room, a black box theatre space, and our costume department.
• Next to Roding House is Unit Four, which houses our Stage Management department. The Unit contains a large workshop, paint shop, prop shop, prop storage facilities, and teaching spaces.

The Corbett Theatre based at Hatfields is our own, fully-equipped theatre. Converted from a medieval tithe barn, the theatre has tiered seating for 130 people, alongside dressing rooms and teaching facilities. We use the Corbett Theatre extensively for student productions.

Your future

Graduates of this course are equipped with comprehensive, professional training and a clear, embedded process that enables them to pursue professional careers in theatre, film, TV, and other creative industries globally. Our alumni are working and winning awards as actors in the USA, China, Norway, South Korea, and many other countries. Several have formed their own successful theatre companies, such as LubDub Theatre in New York, and have written plays that have been performed professionally in London, New York, LA, Oslo, and Washington.

“The crosspollination of ideas and cultures brought together in the faculty and students in this course provides a valuable springboard in creating extraordinary theatre.”

Earl Kim, MFA Acting (International)

UK entry requirements

Our applicants need to undertake a successful audition or video audition, plus have a first degree with an overall 2.2, or equivalent or suitable life and/or professional expertise.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, we require IELTS 6.0 overall with a minimum component score of 5.5

If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.

Additional Notes

The University uses academic selection criteria to determine an applicant’s ability to successfully complete a course at the University of Essex. Where appropriate, we may ask for specific information relating to previous modules studied or work experience.

Course structure

At East 15, our training draws upon over 60 years of tradition, combined with a keen sense of the world of stage and screen today. Our carefully selected modules will give you the chance to explore and develop your specialist training.

In a typical week, you'll spend around half your time in Acting class, with the remainder focused on Voice, Articulation, Movement, and Singing classes. We believe in a holistic approach to training, so your Voice, Articulation, and Movement classes are usually connected to the project you are working on in your Acting class.

We know that choosing where and what to study is a big decision. We'll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services, and facilities as described on our website and in your contract with us. However, if we need to make material changes (for example, due to a significant disruption) we'll let our students and applicants know as soon as possible.

Teaching

Term 1

Character and Scene Study

In the first term, you'll focus on acting techniques evolved from the Stanislavski tradition, using extensive improvisational exercises to explore East 15's core approach to actor training. This enables students from diverse traditions and approaches to establish a shared language and process in preparation for subsequent training.

The focus then shifts to applying what you have learned in the initial improvised exercises to text. Through our intensive, detailed approach to text analysis, research, and targeted improvisation, you'll enhance your ability to bring characters and situations to life. You'll also deepen your process in the rehearsal and performance of naturalistic scenes. This module utilises naturalistic scripts: from Chekhov and Ibsen to Hansberry and Rattigan.

The first term ends with a collaboration with our MA and MFA Theatre Directing students, leading to an internal performance in one of our studios.

Term 2

Contemporary Text

In this module, each group works with a director to devise an entirely new show in response to a text, novel or article. These studio-scale shows are performed to an invited public audience at the School.

Shakespeare and The Shakespeare's Globe Residency

This module starts with three weeks of workshops and masterclasses designed to deepen your understanding of Shakespeare's text: its meaning and mechanics. You'll explore analytical and experimental approaches to develop clarity and accuracy while inhabiting the text truthfully. You'll also take part in masterclasses delivered by professionals with extensive experience at the RSC, National Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

The second half of this module is a three-week residency at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. During this time, you'll work with the Globe's own directors and experts in text, movement, voice and dance, rehearsing and performing 50-minute versions of Shakespearean texts on the Globe stage for an invited public audience.

Term 3

Acting for Camera and Microphone

You'll participate in Acting for Camera workshops, followed by filming Showreels and recording Voicereels for your own portfolio, as well as the Online MA Acting (International) Showcase.

Writing Workshops

These writing workshops with a professional playwright are aimed at developing self-penned solo theatre projects.

Online Showcase

The MA Acting (International) Online Showcase is launched to our wide database of UK Industry contacts, as well as selected Industry contacts abroad. The showcase also promotes your final public performances to UK Industry.

Public Production

You'll perform in one of three full-length plays in our Corbett Theatre at East 15. These productions are directed by established professional directors and fully supported by professional set, costume, lighting and sound designers. This experience allows you to create at least one complete role in a public production promoted to Industry, showcasing your talent and skills as a graduating MA Acting (International) student. MFA Acting (International) first-year students take on supporting roles in these productions.

Solo Theatre Writing and Public Performance

Your second public performance is the MA International Voices show, featuring a compendium of self-penned solo pieces, performed in our Corbett Theatre. This show is promoted to industry professionals, in addition to being livestreamed world over.

Professional Preparation

You'll participate in Professional Practice sessions with industry professionals, which include self-tape workshops led by casting directors, as well as workshops on Self-Promotion, Branding, Marketing, and starting your own company.