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POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME

information

2017 entry

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INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on having been offered a place on one of the MA/MFA programmes here at Central. This booklet includes a range of welcome letters from each programme’s Course Leader. These include information on what to prepare ahead of joining the School, and reading and equipment lists, if applicable. This is designed to assist you with being as prepared as possible to start on your degree programme with us, as well as to help with planning your finances for your time with us. For all programmes, students are expected to meet their own travel costs associated with their study. This may include curriculum sessions taught in spaces away from Central’s main Swiss Cottage site (such as at Central Bankside), production rehearsals, and course placements. Students should factor this into their budget planning. Full-time students are entitled to discounts off travel costs through Transport for London’s Student Railcard schemes. In all cases, further information will be sent to you in the summer as part of the enrolment and registration process. By that time, we will have more detailed, confirmed timetabling information. Where timetables have been included in this booklet, please note that these are purely indicative at this stage and are included to give a sense of the time commitment involved, rather than a detailed accurate breakdown. For far more comprehensive information on each of the MA/MFA programmes, please do review the detailed Course Specifications on each individual programme’s webpage. Links to the webpages are included in the relevant section of this booklet. The Course Specifications are located under the ‘Course Detail’ heading of each webpage. These Course Specifications currently show the detail for 2015-16 (as 2015-16 students are still studying and require them for reference), but will give a good indication as to the units studied, learning outcomes, and more. If you require further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Contents

1. MA ACTING (CLASSICAL) …………………………………………… 4 2. MA ACTING (CONTEMPORARY) …………………………………… 9 3. MA ACTING FOR SCREEN …………………………………………… 14 4. MA/MFA ACTOR TRAINING AND COACHING ………………… 16 5. MA/MFA ADVANCED THEATRE PRACTICE …………………… 18 6. MA APPLIED THEATRE ………………………………………………… 21 7. MA/MFA CREATIVE PRODUCING …………………………………. 23 8. MA DRAMA AND MOVEMENT THERAPY ………………………… 26 9. MA/MFA MOVEMENT: DIRECTING & TEACHING …………… 28 10. MA MUSIC THEATRE …………………………………………………… 30 11. MA/MFA PERFORMANCE PRACTICE AS RESEARCH ……….. 32 12. MA/MFA SCENOGRAPHY …………………………………………… 34 13. MA THEATRE CRITISICM AND DRAMATURGY ..……………… 35 14. MA/MFA VOICE STUDIES …………………………………………… 37 15. MA/MFA WRITING FOR STAGE AND BROADCAST MEDIA … 39

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MA ACTING (CLASSICAL) http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/acting-classical-ma Thank you for your application to MA Acting (Classical) here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in September. If you do choose to accept your offer you should be prepared for an exciting, challenging and tough year, exploring some of the greatest plays ever written. You will be entering one of the most famous drama schools in the English-speaking world to study an art of life and immediacy two-and-a-half thousand years old. From the great mythological dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides to the commedia tradition of the European Renaissance, and from the collision of Medieval belief systems with the modern mind in Shakespeare’s plays to the proto-naturalism of the work of Chekhov and Stanislavski, you will learn from and partake in a rich and humane aesthetic. You will be apprised of both the history and the contemporaneity of the theatrical tradition, and take on the responsibility to forge anew that tradition for the 21st century. The art and craft of the actor is that of empathy: the ability to exist with complete conviction in an imaginary situation, and to project onto that situation the actor’s own humanity, creating and earning sensation and effect in the audience. From the very start of the course you will be straight into classes from 9.00am to either 5.00pm or 6.00pm every day Monday to Friday, inclusive, for the first four-week intensive. After that you will be in class about 16 to 18 hours a week Monday to Friday; there are also likely to be one or two evening sessions a week (6.00-9.00pm) and two or three Saturday sessions. We try to give you at least a month’s notice of Saturday work. We don’t work on Sundays. We recommend that you move to London at least one week before the course starts in order to find your way around, sort out accommodation, etc. This is particularly important if you are coming from overseas and need to arrange British bank accounts, etc. It will be very difficult to do this once term has started. We are all looking forward to working with you on MA Acting. As well as intensive classes throughout the year developing both practical and critical skills, you will take part in two public productions and an industry showcase. The degree programme comprises two course cohorts – Classical and Contemporary – of around 14-16 students each; we aim to create tight ensemble groups. We have an internationally and culturally diverse group of students bringing a wealth of experience, making for a rich learning environment. PREPARATION You should, as soon as possible, get into the habit of regularly reading classic dramatic texts, especially Greek tragedies; the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries – particularly Marlowe, Middleton, Webster and Ford; and the drama of Chekhov and the Realists.

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You should acquire – if you don’t already own one – a Complete Works of Shakespeare. We recommend the RSC or Oxford editions; an alternative is the Routledge facsimile of the First Folio of 1623. For individual plays, you should use the Arden, Oxford, RSC or New Cambridge editions. You will also find a copy of Crystal, D. & B. (2002) Shakespeare’s Words, Penguin, extremely useful. The foundation of much of our work is the System of Konstantin Stanislavski. Prior to the commencement of the course, you should read the best contemporary edition of his collected writings Stanislavski, K. (2002) An Actor’s Work, (trans. Benedetti, J.) Routledge. Inspiration derives from many sources. Among the seminal texts which have influenced the thinking behind the course, written by practitioners whose work you will in turn be inspired by, are the following – you should aim to read as many as you can:

Barton, J. (1984) Playing Shakespeare, Methuen Berry, C. (1996) The Actor & The Text and (2001) Text In Action, Virgin

Books Brook, P. (1968) The Empty Space Donnellan, D. (2002) The Actor and The Target, Nick Hern Books Hall, P. (2003) Shakespeare’s Advice to the Players, Oberon Books Johnstone, K. (1979) Impro, Methuen Lecoq, J. (2000) The Moving Body, Methuen Mamet, D. (1998) True and False, Faber & Faber Meisner, S. (1987) On Acting, Vintage Oida, Y. and Marshall, L. (2002) An Actor Adrift, Routledge Rodenburg, P. (2002) The Need for Words and Speaking Shakespeare,

Palgrave Macmillan Rodenburg, P. (2015) The Right to Speak, Bloomsbury Methuen St-Denis, M. (1982) Training for the Theatre, Heinemann Strasberg, L. (1987) A Dream of Passion, Little & Brown

You would also benefit from reading a comprehensive theatre history. The classic is Phyllis Hartnoll’s The Theatre: A Concise History (3rd edition, 2012, Thames & Hudson). Richard Eyre’s Changing Stages (2000, Bloomsbury) is an excellent overview of the development of British theatre during the 20th Century. Naturally, you should visit the theatre as much as you can before and during the course. If you have not yet attended a production at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, we would strongly recommend that you do so – and preferably, stand. We also strongly encourage you to see the work of the National Theatre, RSC, Donmar, Almeida, Young Vic, Old Vic, Cheek By Jowl and Complicité. London’s theatre scene is extraordinary; one of the fantastic opportunities the city affords is the opportunity to see work from many other countries, especially through the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), based at the Barbican; the Globe Theatre’s Globe to Globe series; and the London International Mime Festival (LIMF). Experiencing Chekhov performed by the Vakhtangov Theatre, Kabuki by the

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Ninagawa Company, Brecht by the Schaubuhne, or Moliere by the Comedie Francaise can be as important a part of training as an actor in London as going to Shakespeare at the Globe, RSC or National; we hope that your consumption of theatre will be broad and voracious. PRACTICAL MATTERS A full reading list, course handbook and timetable will be available in the first week of term. Classes will take place during the first intensive and first term Mondays to Fridays between the hours of 9.00am and 6.00pm. You may also be asked to work one evening a week, 6.00-9.00pm, in the first term. You can expect about 30-35 hours a week of taught classes during the intensive and 16-18 hours a week during the term, with additional independent study and tutorials. You will need a full set of ‘blacks’ (black shoes/trainers, trousers and/or skirt/dress, t-shirt and top) for classes and rehearsals. There will be a number of extra course-related costs; this is not an exhaustive list but a realistic indication: Books, theatre tickets, etc. £300 Stage Combat/Period Dance examination fees (external qualifications) £100 Clothing: blacks and costumes/props for scene studies: £200 Photos/CVs/Spotlight registry/Equity membership etc. £600 Total £1200 DRESS CODE

- You are expected to dress sensibly and appropriately for all sessions; - Unless otherwise instructed by individual teachers, you should for all classes

wear loose black clothing, preferably of stretchy material; - Jeans or combats should not be worn in class (unless as costume for scene or

character study); - Clothing should not display distracting logos, images or captions; - Simple black trainers are the basic footwear, but you may at different times

be expected to go barefoot. Character shoes for women are useful but not essential;

- No makeup or jewellery should be worn in class, including watches; - Long hair / fringes should be tied / clipped back at all times; - Clothing which sits too low on the hips, low cut tops or tops which exposes

the midriff should be avoided; - No headgear should be worn in class; - If you wear glasses you are encouraged to investigate getting contact lenses; - Much of the work is high energy and may involve physical contact. Attention

should be paid at all times to personal hygiene and general cleanliness; - Staff have the right to exclude from activities or classes any student who

breaches the dress code; - Repeated breaches of the dress code may result in disciplinary process.

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TIME-KEEPING Working hours are normally between the hours of 9.00am and 6.00pm with an hour for lunch Monday to Friday, except during production periods. There may be occasional evening work (1 to 2 nights a week) or Saturday work, particularly during rehearsals for public productions. There are short breaks at strategic points in the day. Students are expected to be in the building 20 minutes before their first class of the day, and when space is available to have warmed up. Any student arriving late for the first session of the day is red-lighted, that is, excluded from all classes and rehearsals for that day, although such students may still use the library and other on-site facilities. To avoid ‘red-lighting’, students should aim to arrive each day well before the start of classes. You are also advised to explore alternative travel routes, including cycling, in case your normal route is disrupted. The only exceptions to this rule are pre-arranged medical or other urgent appointments for which leave of absence has been granted in advance using the correct form (available on the intranet). Please note that such leave is always at the discretion of the Programme Leader, Course Leader and/or other member of the course team. Students who are late for a class or rehearsal during the course of the working day will be excluded from that session. Even if a student is admitted to preserve the smooth running of a rehearsal process, the lateness will be reported to the Programme Leader. Where a student is unable to attend on a particular day due to illness or other very urgent personal circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen, he or she should call the MA Acting Course Support Officer in the Course Support Office on the morning of each day of absence. Where possible, the Programme Leader should also be contacted by email. Students are reminded that “punctuality and high levels of attendance” are seen as a core competence for the course. WRITTEN WORK Students are required to submit written work as part of their learning for the Sustained Independent Project. The deadlines for this are published well in advance, and will normally include a specific ‘handing-in’ time, which must be observed. All written work must be handed in to the Course Support Office and a receipt obtained. Work should never be left in pigeonholes or slid under doors. All work should be submitted in person, in hard copy, although you should be careful to keep a copy in case of mishap.

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Written work must be word-processed and must conform to the guidelines as set out on Learnzone. Work submitted late without a pre-negotiated extension will be subject to an automatic fail mark. LIFESTYLE AND PERSONAL HEALTH You need to remember that this is a rigorous programme of training, for which you will need to maintain maximum fitness. While none of us can always avoid occasionally getting common bugs which may lay us up for a day or two, there are steps we can all take to minimise the level of illness we suffer, including:

- maintaining a healthy diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables; - not smoking; - restricting alcohol intake to recommended levels, and avoiding all illegal

drugs; - getting plenty of sleep; - maintaining sexual health by taking all reasonable precautions; - engaging in activities such as Yoga, Pilates, Alexander Technique or

Feldenkrais, which help to maintain balance and harmony in the body and mind;

- warming up the body effectively before all strenuous activities to avoid injury;

- minimising stress by having order and structure within your working day. And finally, you are here to develop as a creative artist. There is hardship, but also joy, liberation and growth on a programme of this kind. It is important that whilst you are challenged and provoked you stay true to your own personal sense of artistry and revel in the experience of being an actor. Have a great remainder of the summer and we look forward to working with you come September. Martin Wylde Programme Leader, MA Acting Ben Naylor Course Leader, MA Acting (Classical)

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MA ACTING (CONTEMPORARY) http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/acting-contemporary-ma Thank you for your application to MA Acting (Contemporary) here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in September. If you do choose to accept your offer you should be prepared for an exciting, challenging and tough year, exploring some of the greatest plays ever written. You will be entering one of the most famous drama schools in the English-speaking world to study an art of life and immediacy two-and-a-half thousand years old. The Contemporary course combines teaching in practical voice, movement and acting techniques with an exploration of some of the key playwrights that have helped forge the canon of Western theatre, from the Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists to Chekhov, from Beckett to Kane and beyond. Uniquely it explores the relationship between the artists at the core of much Western theatre, the writer and the actor. The art and craft of the actor is that of empathy: the ability to exist with complete conviction in an imaginary situation, and to project onto that situation the actor’s own humanity, creating and earning sensation and effect in the audience. From the very start of the course you will be straight into classes from 9.00am to either 5.00pm or 6.00pm every day Monday to Friday, inclusive, for the first four-week intensive. After that you will be in class about 16 to 18 hours a week Monday to Friday; there are also likely to be one or two evening sessions a week (6.00-9.00pm) and two or three Saturday sessions. We try to give you at least a month’s notice of Saturday work. We don’t work on Sundays. We recommend that you move to London at least one week before the course starts in order to find your way around, sort out accommodation, etc. This is particularly important if you are coming from overseas and need to arrange British bank accounts, etc. It will be very difficult to do this once term has started. We are all looking forward to working with you on MA Acting. As well as intensive classes throughout the year developing both practical and critical skills, you will take part in two public productions and an industry showcase. The degree programme comprises two course cohorts – Classical and Contemporary – of around 14-16 students each; we aim to create tight ensemble groups. We have an internationally and culturally diverse group of students bringing a wealth of experience, making for a rich learning environment. PREPARATION You should, as soon as possible, get into the habit of regularly reading dramatic texts. Your first four weeks will begin with a Shakespeare intensive. You should acquire – if you don’t already own one – a Complete Works of Shakespeare. We recommend the RSC or Oxford editions; an alternative is the Routledge facsimile of the First Folio of 1623. For individual plays, you should use the Arden, Oxford, RSC

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or New Cambridge editions. You will also find a copy of by David and Ben Crystal (2002) Shakespeare’s Words, Penguin, extremely useful. You will then explore an acting process through contemporary Stanislavski techniques focusing on the plays of Anton Chekhov. In preparation please read as many of his plays as possible, particularly The Seagull to be found in Chekhov, A. (1988) Plays: The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, and Four Vaudevilles, (trans M. Frayn), Methuen, as well as other late 19th century plays by the Realists – Ibsen, Strindberg, Shaw, etc. The foundation of much of our work is the System of Konstantin Stanislavski. Prior to the commencement of the course, you should read the best contemporary edition of his collected writings Stanislavski, K. (2002) An Actor’s Work, (trans. Benedetti, J.) Routledge. Alongside this, Merlin, B. (2014) The Complete Stanislavski Toolkit, Nick Hern Books, is invaluable. Inspiration derives from many sources. Among the seminal texts which have influenced the thinking behind the course, written by practitioners whose work you will in turn be inspired by, are the following – you should aim to read as many as you can:

Barton, J. (1984) Playing Shakespeare, Methuen Bogart, A & Landau, T (2005) The Viewpoints Book, Theatre Communications

Group Brook, P. (1968) The Empty Space Donnellan, D. (2002) The Actor and The Target, Nick Hern Books Hall, P. (2003) Shakespeare’s Advice to the Players, Oberon Books Johnstone, K. (1979) Impro, Methuen Lecoq, J. (2000) The Moving Body, Methuen Mamet, D. (1998) True and False, Faber & Faber Rodenburg, P. (2002) The Need for Words and Speaking Shakespeare,

Palgrave Macmillan Rodenburg, P. (2015) The Right to Speak, Bloomsbury Methuen St-Denis, M. (1982) Training for the Theatre, Heinemann Strasberg, L. (1987) A Dream of Passion, Little & Brown

You would also benefit from reading a comprehensive theatre history. The classic is Phyllis Hartnoll’s The Theatre: A Concise History (3rd edition, 2012, Thames & Hudson). Richard Eyre’s Changing Stages (2000, Bloomsbury) is an excellent overview of the development of British theatre during the 20th Century. Naturally, you should visit the theatre as much as you can before and during the course. If you have not yet attended a production at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, we would strongly recommend that you do so – and preferably, stand. We also strongly encourage you to see the work of the Royal Court, National Theatre, Donmar, Bush Theatre, Young Vic, RSC, Cheek By Jowl and Complicité, Frantic Assembly and Paines Plough to name just a few. London’s theatre scene is extraordinary; one of the fantastic opportunities the city affords is the opportunity to see work from many other countries, especially through the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), based at the Barbican; the Globe

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Theatre’s Globe to Globe series; and the London International Mime Festival (LIMF). Experiencing Chekhov performed by the Vakhtangov Theatre, Kabuki by the Ninagawa Company, Brecht by the Schaubuhne, or Moliere by the Comedie Francaise can be as important a part of training as an actor in London as going to Shakespeare at the Globe, RSC or National; we hope that your consumption of theatre will be broad and voracious. PRACTICAL MATTERS A full reading list, course handbook and timetable will be available in the first week of term. Classes will take place during the first intensive and first term Mondays to Fridays between the hours of 9.00am and 6.00pm. You may also be asked to work one evening a week, 6.00-9.00pm, in the first term. You can expect about 30-35 hours a week of taught classes during the intensive and 16-18 hours a week during the term, with additional independent study and tutorials. You will need a full set of ‘blacks’ (black shoes/trainers, trousers and/or skirt/dress, t-shirt and top) for classes and rehearsals. There will be a number of extra course-related costs; this is not an exhaustive list but a realistic indication: Books, theatre tickets, etc. £300 Stage Combat/Period Dance examination fees (external qualifications) £100 Clothing: blacks and costumes/props for scene studies: £200 Photos/CVs/Spotlight registry/Equity membership etc. £600 Total £1200 DRESS CODE

- You are expected to dress sensibly and appropriately for all sessions; - Unless otherwise instructed by individual teachers, you should for all classes

wear loose black clothing, preferably of stretchy material; - Jeans or combats should not be worn in class (unless as costume for scene or

character study); - Clothing should not display distracting logos, images or captions; - Simple black trainers are the basic footwear, but you may at different times

be expected to go barefoot. Character shoes for women are useful but not essential;

- No makeup or jewellery should be worn in class, including watches; - Long hair / fringes should be tied / clipped back at all times; - Clothing which sits too low on the hips, low cut tops or tops which exposes

the midriff should be avoided; - No headgear should be worn in class; - If you wear glasses you are encouraged to investigate getting contact lenses; - Much of the work is high energy and may involve physical contact. Attention

should be paid at all times to personal hygiene and general cleanliness; - Staff have the right to exclude from activities or classes any student who

breaches the dress code; - Repeated breaches of the dress code may result in disciplinary process.

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TIME-KEEPING Working hours are normally between the hours of 9.00am and 6.00pm with an hour for lunch Monday to Friday, except during production periods. There may be occasional evening work (1 to 2 nights a week) or Saturday work, particularly during rehearsals for public productions. There are short breaks at strategic points in the day. Students are expected to be in the building 20 minutes before their first class of the day, and when space is available to have warmed up. Any student arriving late for the first session of the day is red-lighted, that is, excluded from all classes and rehearsals for that day, although such students may still use the library and other on-site facilities. To avoid ‘red-lighting’, students should aim to arrive each day well before the start of classes. You are also advised to explore alternative travel routes, including cycling, in case your normal route is disrupted. The only exceptions to this rule are pre-arranged medical or other urgent appointments for which leave of absence has been granted in advance using the correct form (available on the intranet). Please note that such leave is always at the discretion of the Programme Leader, Course Leader and/or other member of the course team. Students who are late for a class or rehearsal during the course of the working day will be excluded from that session. Even if a student is admitted to preserve the smooth running of a rehearsal process, the lateness will be reported to the Programme Leader. Where a student is unable to attend on a particular day due to illness or other very urgent personal circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen, he or she should call the MA Acting Course Support Officer in the Course Support Office on the morning of each day of absence. Where possible, the Programme Leader should also be contacted by email. Students are reminded that “punctuality and high levels of attendance” are seen as a core competence for the course. WRITTEN WORK Students are required to submit written work as part of their learning for the Sustained Independent Project. The deadlines for this are published well in advance, and will normally include a specific ‘handing-in’ time, which must be observed. All written work must be handed in to the Course Support Office and a receipt obtained. Work should never be left in pigeonholes or slid under doors. All work should be submitted in person, in hard copy, although you should be careful to keep a copy in case of mishap.

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Written work must be word-processed and must conform to the guidelines as set out on Learnzone. Work submitted late without a pre-negotiated extension will be subject to an automatic fail mark. LIFESTYLE AND PERSONAL HEALTH You need to remember that this is a rigorous programme of training, for which you will need to maintain maximum fitness. While none of us can always avoid occasionally getting common bugs which may lay us up for a day or two, there are steps we can all take to minimise the level of illness we suffer, including:

- maintaining a healthy diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables; - not smoking; - restricting alcohol intake to recommended levels, and avoiding all illegal

drugs; - getting plenty of sleep; - maintaining sexual health by taking all reasonable precautions; - engaging in activities such as Yoga, Pilates, Alexander Technique or

Feldenkrais, which help to maintain balance and harmony in the body and mind;

- warming up the body effectively before all strenuous activities to avoid injury;

- minimising stress by having order and structure within your working day. And finally, you are here to develop as a creative artist. There is hardship, but also joy, liberation and growth on a programme of this kind. It is important that whilst you are challenged and provoked you stay true to your own personal sense of artistry and revel in the experience of being an actor. Have a great remainder of the summer and we look forward to working with you come September. Martin Wylde Programme Leader, MA Acting Sarah Davey-Hull Course Leader, MA Acting (Contemporary)

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MA ACTING for screen http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/acting-for-screen-ma Thank you for your application to MA Acting for Screen here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. If you do choose to accept your offer you should be prepared for an exciting, challenging and tough year ahead. When we meet at enrolment in October I will take you through the forthcoming year, give you a timetable and provide any necessary details for the week ahead. There will also be a meeting of all the Postgraduate community, which will involve a general briefing, and some introduction activities.

Monday Independent Study

Tuesday Acting/Dance (Techniques for Acting on Screen. Unit 1 & 2)

Voice/Text Analysis (Techniques for Acting on Screen. Unit 1 & 2)

Wednesday

Acting Camera / (Techniques for Acting on Screen 1 & 2) Performance Project (Performance projects. Unit 5 & 6)

Movement (Techniques for Acting on Screen 1 & 2.) Screen Study / Acting (Critical contexts: Screen Study. Unit 4 )

Thursday Voice / Casting (Techniques for Acting on Screen. Unit 1 & 2)

Acting Camera (Techniques for Acting on Screen. Unit 1 & 2) Performance Project (Performance projects. Unit 5 & 6)

Friday Movement / Acting (Techniques for Acting on Screen. Unit 1 & 2)

Performance Projects. (Practices: Performance Projects. Unit 5 & 6)

This is a rough guide to the schedule; changes are likely to occur over the summer as visiting lecturers confirm their availability. Generally the days will be with in 9.00am – 6.00pm. In preparation for the course I would like to recommend that you read some of the following (Chekhov is essential):

Chekhov. Michael (1993) On the technique of Acting, Harper Churcher. Mel (2005) Truth in 24 Seconds, Virgin Churcher. Mel (2011) A Screen Acting Workshop, NHB Merlin. Bella (2007) The Stanislavski Toolkit, Nick Hern

I would also like you to read any voice book by one of the following: Patsy Rodenberg, Cecily Berry, Victor Turner, Michael McCallion.

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It will be very beneficial if you start to work on your body and voice. I suggest that you attend either a Yoga, Pilates, Contemporary Dance class, Tai Chi, Chi Kung or general movement class once a week. This will help to prepare you for the physical work we will be doing. If you go to the gym make sure you work to loosen your upper body as tight shoulder and chest muscles restrict the voice. If you are new to voice training please read one of the suggested books and become familiar with the voice as an instrument. It you have a vocal warm up prepared by a voice specialist then practice that on a regular basis. It may also be useful for you to know that you will need to get some up to date photographs taken for Spotlight, which is the online directory which is used by all casting directors and professionals in the UK. Unfortunately due to having to submit the photographs by November the time is tight. Below are a few photographers I suggest, but do look around if you wish.

Simon Annand: simonannand@blueyonder.co.uk Issac Peral: hi@issacperalphotography.com Cat Lane: cat@cat-lane.co.uk

It is a good idea to book a session for late September or October. Try to go on Mondays so this does not interfere with the course. As thousands of drama students are doing this at the same time bookings get tight, so advanced planning is a good idea. This can be quite expensive but if you get good photos they can last you a while and they are your first marketing tool. I look forward to working with you. Amanda Brennan Course Leader, MA Acting for Screen

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MA/MFA ACTOR TRAINING AND COACHING http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/actor-training-and-coaching-ma-mfa Thank you for your application to MA/MFA Actor Training and Coaching here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. If you do choose to accept your offer you should be prepared for an exciting, challenging and tough year ahead. The first week of the ATC porgramme is designed to introduce you to the course and its constituent elements. It also aims to place the course within the community of Central and actor training in general. There will be a number of sessions with the Course Team and other key personnel at Central. The indicative schedule for the remainder of the autumn term is as follows. Please note that the actual timetable will be confirmed at registration – this outline is purely indicative based upon previous years’ schedules:

Monday Independent study / research Tuesday Pedagogies (Unit 2) / Approaches to Acting (Unit 1 & 4)– Full timers

Laboratory session/ observation of classes Wednesday Approaches to Acting (Unit 1 & 4) / SIP (Unit 7) – Full timers

Academic reading/ study group / observation of classes Thursday Approaches to Acting (Unit 1 & 4) and Pedagogies (Unit 2) – Full and

Part timers Friday Approaches to Acting (Unit 1 & 4) - Full and Part timers

Part-time students are expected to attend two days per week. It is anticipated that classes will be 10:00am – 5:00pm, but this is subject to change due to room allocation. Some classes start at 9:00am and end at 6.00pm. There is the opportunity for independent work at Central on one evening per week for full- and part-time students. In preparation for the Approaches to Acting module, we would like to recommend that you read as many of the following standard acting books during the summer as you have time for: We will begin with Stanislavski and Chekhov so you should aim to get some of this reading done first.

Bogart. Anne (1994) The Viewpoints Book, Theatre Communications Group Chekhov. Michael (1993) On the technique of Acting, Harper Grotowski, J (1978) Towards A Poor Theatre, Methuen Hodge. Alison (2000) Actor Training, Second Edition Routledge Lecoq.J (1997) The Moving Body, Methuen Mamet. David (1999) True and False, Vintage Merlin. Bella (2007) The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit, Nick Hern Murray. S (2003) Jacques Lecoq, Routledge Panet, B. (2009) Essential Acting: A Practical Handbook for Actors,Teachers

and Directors, Oxon, Routledge.

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Stanislavski. K (2008) An Actor’s Work, Creating A Role, Building A Character, Routledge

For the Pedagogies module:

Biggs, J (2011) Teaching for Quality Learning at University, OUP Cowan, J (2002) Reflection in Action, Open University Press. Prior, R. (2012) Teaching Actors. Knowledge Transfer in Actor Training,

Intellect We look forward to working with you. Ian Morgan Course Leader, MA/MFA Actor Training and Coaching

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MA/MFA ADVANCED THEATRE PRACTICE http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/advanced-theatre-practice-ma-mfa Thank you for your application to MA/MFA Advanced Theatre Practice here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you on this ground-breaking course in October. The Course Handbook and the Student Handbook will be made available to you at Registration session via our Virtual Learning Environment. These will set out all of the units and requirements of the course, as well as providing guidance for all postgraduate students on administrative and academic matters. Listed below you will find some suggested reading for you to choose from, arranged in various ways. At the beginning of the list are some books for you to read and use as common reference points over the year. You will also find books grouped according to subject areas - you may like to dip into these, according to your subject interests. These will help inform the choices you make at the outset of the course. You should be able to arrange inter-library loans to view these texts. We will request all items on these reading lists to be available in the School’s library by the start of term. You will be responsible for documenting your own work on the course, and digital cameras may be booked out from the School’s Media Services Department. However you may also want to have your own camera, and other equipment, to record your work. We will also be suggesting performances, exhibitions and events for you to see, and see this as an important part of your first term at Central. Although you can use your own discretion as to how much you spend on this, we suggest you budget £15-20 a week for this purpose in the first term. We will be spending the first week of the term giving you an overview of the course, introducing you to the postgraduate community, and laying some foundations for our practical work together. In this first week you will be timetabled Monday to Friday 10.00am – 5.00pm. During the rest of the first term, you should reckon on being available 9.00am – 5.00pm from Monday to Friday. One day of the week in the first term will be devoted to the Cultural Landscapes Unit and part of the day may sometimes be spent visiting sites and organisations around London. Equipment and Reading List If you are involved in fit-ups in the performance spaces you will be required to wear steel-capped boots. Bring them if you have them. The following will serve as a good introduction to the first ‘units’ on the course and will also inform your own practice on the degree. If you are new to theatre and performance (having worked and/or studied in another sector/discipline) then the books marked with an asterisk* will be the best starting texts for your reading.

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*Allain, P. & Harvie, J. (2014) The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance, London & New York: Routledge. Second edition of a comprehensive introduction to key theatre artists, companies, concepts and practices.

Etchells, Tim: (1999) Certain fragments; contemporary performance and Forced Entertainment, London & New York: Routledge. A landmark text from the artistic director of one of the UK’s foremost innovative performance companies.

*Heddon, Deirdre and Milling, Jane, (2006) Devising Performance: A Critical History, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. Explores and questions fundamental concepts of collaboratively created performance and theatre. It places devising practices in a historical context and charts specific devising practices since the 1950's in Britain, America and Australia.

Kaye, N. (2000), Site-Specific Art: Performance Place and Documentation, London: Routledge ISBN: 0-415-18559-9. Good background reading for Site Specific Work.

Lehmann, Hans-Thies (2006) Postdramatic Theatre, London & New York, Routledge. A landmark and influential critique of contemporary and alternative performance practice here described as ‘post’ drama.

*Shepherd, S & Wallis, M. (2004) Drama/Theatre/Performance, London: Routledge. An introduction to the main critical concepts of the field of drama, theatre and performance by keywords.

Interdisciplinary Practices One of the first ‘units’ of the MA you will undertake is [inter]disciplinary Practices, there are three ‘clusters’ in this unit: Composition, Performance and Scenography. You will be introduced to these during your induction week. Here is some suggested initial reading for each. Composition

Anderson, M., Helmer, J. & Malzacher, F. (2004) “Not Even a Game Anymore” The Theatre of Forced Entertainment, Alexander Verlag Berlin. Bilingual (German/English) and innovative documentation of one of the UK’s foremost performance companies.

Kendrick, L. & Roesner, D. (eds) (2011) Theatre Noise: the Sound of Performance, Newcastle CSP. A collection of essays from the emerging field of theatre and aurality and agitatory performance.

Pavis, P. (2012) Contemporary Mise en Scène: Staging Theatre Today (trans. Joel Anderson), London & New York: Routledge. Analysis of the composition of the stage, spectatorship and how these have informed and evolve the experience of the theatre event.

Schneider, R. & Cody, G. (eds) (2001) RE: Direction: TDR Sourcebook, London & New York: Routledge. Organized into four key areas of the subject, the book explores: theories of directing; the boundaries of the director's role; the limits of categorization; and the history of the theatre and performance art.

Shepherd, S. (2012) Direction, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. An historical and critical overview of the development of the role of the director from its inception to contemporary practitioners.

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Performance Callery, D. (2001) Through the Body, Nick Hern Books. Full of practical

exercises clearly explained and a succinct overview physical theatre in Britain. A must have for both performers and directors.

Lecoq, J. (2002) The Moving Body: Le Corps Poetique (trans David Bradby), London: Methuen Publishing Ltd. Lecoq’s pedagogy and the key stages of his training.

Lecoq, J (2006) Theatre of Movement and Gesture (ed. David Bradby), London and New York: Routledge. Concepts and philosophies of Lecoq’s renowned techniques.

Oida, Y. (1997) The Invisible Actor, London: Methuen Publishing Ltd. A great vision of the performer in context – the special and the ordinary in the act of acting and the discipline of creativity.

Zarrilli, P. (1994) Acting (Re)Considered: Theories and Practices, Routledge. An exceptionally wide-ranging collection of theories on acting, ideas about body and training, and statements about the actor in performance.

Scenography

Baugh, C. (2005) Theatre Performance and Technology: The Development of Scenography in the Twentieth Century, Houndmills: Palgrave MacMillan. A thorough overview of the development of the field.

Collins, J. & Nisbet, A. (eds) (2010) Theatre and Performance Design: A Reader in Scenography, London & New York: Routledge. A collection of a wide range of essays and extracts from twentieth century theorists through to contemporary analysis of scenographic practice.

Howard, P. (2002) What is Scenography, London & New York: Routledge. A seminal study from one of the leading academics in the field of scenography.

McKinney, J. & Butterworth, P. (2009) The Cambridge Introduction to Scenography, Cambridge: CUP. As it sounds, an introduction to the emerging field of scenography.

Journals For the latest in critical thinking about performance and documentation of advanced theatre practice browse some articles in journals. You will gain online access to all current and back issues of these once you register at the School.

Aronson, A. & Collins, J. (eds.) 2015 Theatre and Performance Design, London: Taylor and Francis

Gough, R. & Lotker, S. (eds.) 2013. Performance Research: On Scenography, London: Taylor and Francis

Pitches, J. & Murray, S. (eds) 2010 - Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, London: Taylor and Francis

With all good wishes for the year ahead and we look forward to meeting you in October. Lynne Kendrick, Jane Munro, Ayse Tashkiran, Nick Wood Course Team, MA Advanced Theatre Practice

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MA APPLIED THEATRE http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/applied-theatre-ma Thank you for your application to MA Applied Theatre here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. If you do choose to accept your offer the Course Team and I are very much looking forward to working with you from October. Until then, I’ve enclosed some information which should be useful to you. You will receive your MA Applied Theatre Course Specification, a Student Handbook as well as other important information regarding the school, our facilities and your course during the first week. You’ll participate in various MA course inductions and whole-postgraduate school induction sessions too. The first weeks on the MA Applied Theatre will introduce you to the School, the course, the field of Applied Theatre and each other. A regular pattern of taught sessions continues through the term. As you are probably already aware, teaching takes place every Friday (to be confirmed), and on specific ‘intensive’ dates. The dates for Critical Contexts are given above. Later units will be confirmed in the Course Handbook. Part-time students will be taking Critical Contexts in their first Autumn Term but are also strongly advised to attend the first Pedagogies session (date to be confirmed) if at all possible. If you are taking the MA via the part-time route and anticipate a problem with this, please get in touch. Background Reading This list of texts is a suggested list of key reading which you might want to tackle prior to the start of the MA. Once on the course, you’ll be pointed in many, many more directions as far as reading and researching various aspects of Applied Theatre practice. These few books are fundamental. Some are quite basic. You will be introduced to more contemporary texts in each unit, but these are good background for the field. I would suggest buying the top 6 key texts, and getting to know them extremely well! PRE-COURSE TEXTS

Grady, S (2000) Drama and Diversity: A Pluralist Perspective for Educational Drama, London: Heinemann

Kershaw, B (1992) Radical Theatre as Cultural Intervention: The Politics of Performance, London: Routledge

Prentki, Y & Selman, J (2000) Popular Theatre in Political Culture: Britain and Canada in Focus, Bristol & UK: Intellect Books

Nicholson, H (2005) Applied Drama: The Gift of Theatre, London: Palgrave Taylor, P (2004) Applied Theatre: Creating Transformative Encounters in

the Community, Portsmouth: Heinemann Thompson, J (2003) Applied Theatre - Bewilderment and Beyond, Peter

Lang

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SUGGESTED TEXTS Babbage, F (2004) Augusto Boal, London: Routledge Boal, A (2000) Theatre of the Oppressed, London: Pluto Press Friere, Paulo (1996) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, London: Penguin Jackson, T (Ed.) (1993) Learning through Theatre: New Perspectives on

Theatre in Education, London: Routledge O’Toole, J (1992) The Process of Drama, London: Routledge Oddey, A (1994) Devising Theatre a Practical and Theoretical Handbook,

London: Routledge Somer, J (Ed.) (1996) Drama and Theatre in Education: Contemporary

Research, New York: Captus Press Wood, D & Grant, J (1997) Theatre for Children: A Guide to Writing,

Adapting, Directing and Acting, London: Faber Please note the following names and contact details for questions: • Selina Busby (Course Leader) E: selina.busby@cssd.ac.uk • Vanessa Onwuemezi (Course Support Officer) T: 020 7449 1599 E: vanessa.onwuemezi@cssd.ac.uk I look forward to beginning to work with you on the MA Applied Theatre in October. Until then, enjoy the summer! Dr Selina Busby Course Leader, MA Applied Theatre

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MA/MFA CREATIVE PRODUCING http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/creative-producing-ma-mfa Thank you for your application to MA/MFA Creative Producing here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. Until then, I am writing with some information that I hope will be helpful to you as you prepare to join the course. The Course Handbook and the Student Handbook will be made available to you at Registration via our Virtual Learning Environment. These will set out all of the units and requirements of the course, as well as providing guidance for all postgraduate students on administrative and academic matters. You will be responsible for documenting your own work on the course, and whilst digital cameras may be booked out from the School’s Library and Information Services, you will find it very useful to have a tablet / laptop to take notes and also keep reading materials (many of the books that we recommend at the base of this letter are much cheaper as kindle editions). Please note that there is no onsite personal storage, so please ensure your devices are with you at all times and are insured. We will also be suggesting performances, exhibitions and events for you to see, and see this as an important part of your first term at Central. Although you can use your own discretion as to how much you spend on this, we suggest you budget at least £20 a week for this purpose in the first term. You will receive separate information detailing the arrangements for enrolment and introduction to the School services in the summer. I will meet with you all to brief you when you register for the course. At this meeting I will take you through the forthcoming year, give you a timetable and provide any necessary details for the week ahead. The Autumn term can feel pretty intensive, with lots of introductory sessions aimed at getting you familiar with the various departments, courses, fellow students and the wide range of staff that are part of Central’s post-graduate community. In the first week of term you should plan to be in all day, each day. Although we tend to avoid taught sessions in the evening, due to availability of commercial producers, there are likely to be evening sessions on Mondays and Tuesdays some of which will be at the Society of West End Theatre Offices, so make sure that you don’t plan anything to conflict with this if possible.

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The indicative schedule for the autumn term is as follows. A typical day is 9.30am-5.00pm. Please note that the actual timetable will be confirmed at registration – this outline is purely indicative based upon previous years’ schedules:

Day Morning Afternoon

Monday

Creative Entrepreneur (Tutor led Workshops & Presentations ) *Please note there are likely to be evening sessions in October and November

Tuesday Creative Entrepreneur (Tutor or student led activity )

Wednesday

Independent study (for student led work on either Cultural Landscapes or Creative Entrepreneur units. Student Union time in afternoons weeks one to five)

Thursday Creative Entrepreneur (Tutor led Workshops & Presentations)

Friday Cultural Landscapes (Unit – Tutor led / Lecture)

Cultural Landscapes (Student led Seminars / Visits or Independent research)

Central has a very good specialist library and as a college of the University of London means that you have access to the excellent resources of Senate House, however there are some books that you are going to want to have by your side all the way through. I’ve asked our current students books that they have found most useful during the course, so these would be the ones that I’d suggest that you plan to buy in advance. Business and Enterprise

Clark, Osterwalder and Pigneur, Y (2012) Business Model Generation, John Wiley and Sons.

Clark, Osterwalder and Pigneur, Y (2014) Value Proposition Design, John Wiley and Sons.

Both Business Model Generation and Value Proposition Design are very visual, so unless you have a colour on your kindle / tablet, I’d suggest buying the hard copy as there’s not a huge difference in price. Don’t worry about trying to work through the process before the course…we shall be using it during the course for workshops, so having your own copy is useful. Entrepreneurial Models - Effectuation – Publications on this are pricy, so suggest that you don’t buy anything just yet. Do have a look at this PDF which explains the basic principles. http://www.effectuation.org/sites/default/files/documents/effectuation-3-pager.pdf

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Ries, E (2011) ‘The Lean Start Up: How constant innovation creates radically successful business’. This lean start up model is one which many small creative companies can use.

Pink, D (2006) ‘A whole new mind: why right brainers will rule the future’ Pink, D (2009) ‘Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us’ Pink, D (2013) ‘To sell is human: the surprising truth about persuading,

convincing and influencing others’

All of the above are very readable and provocative and with important insights for anyone doing business in a changing world. Any of the above, kindle editions are cheapest way to purchase. Arts websites to check out Familiarise yourself with the Arts Council website and have a look at this arts advocacy toolkit: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/why-culture-matters/making-case Audiences Agency – Great resources and sign up for their digital updates: http://www.theaudienceagency.org/services Producing Specific

Seabright, J (2010) So You Want To Be A Producer, Nick Hern Books: London. This is a very practical book aimed at commercial producers and which contests the term ‘creative producer’!

Green, J. (2012) How to produce a West End Show, Oberon Publications, London. A great read, funny and very clear. Although it focuses on West End Producing much of this is applicable to any kind of theatre producing. Julius will be teaching you for at least one of your units in your time on the MA/MFA.

I look forward to working with you. Jessica Bowles Course Leader, MA/ MFA Creative Producing

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MA DRAMA AND MOVEMENT THERAPY http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/drama-and-movement-therapy-ma Thank you for your application to MA Drama and Movement Therapy here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. Until then, I am writing with some information that I hope will be helpful to you as you prepare to join the course. As a new student you are joining both the community of postgraduate students at Central and the community of Sesame-trained dramatherapists working nationally and internationally. Preparation The eighteen month programme is busy, and there are various preparations before October which will support you when you begin the course. First, please buy and read the following texts before you start in October:

Jung C.G. (1993)

Memories, Dreams and Reflections Fontana

Gerhardt, S (2004)

Why Love Matters Routledge

Pearson, J. (1996)

Discovering the Self through Drama and Movement – the Sesame Approach

Jessica Kingsley

Lindkvist, M Bring White Beads when you Call upon the Healer

Rivendell, USA

Please don’t feel limited to reading these texts and you can look on the Course Specification on Central’s website for a fuller bibliography for the course. Therapy in training As a student on the MA Drama and Movement Therapy, you are required to complete 72 sessions of therapy during the course. At least 30 sessions are individual and at least 30 sessions are group dramatherapy. Please note, you do not need to arrange your group dramatherapy to start in the autumn, and the course team will offer you support for this once we are into term time. For your individual psychotherapy, we strongly advise you find a therapist to work with prior to the start of the course, so this is up and running when you begin in October. We have enclosed is a list of psychotherapists. The ones listed are mostly Jungian Analysts working in the London area, many of whom have worked with students over the years. The reason we strongly encourage working with a Jungian Analyst is that is reflects the theoretical underpinning of the course and the approach to dramatherapy you will be studying. NB therapy hours only formally count towards the requirement once you have registered as a student

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At interview, you will have been informed that the costs of therapy (both individual and group) are in addition to the course fees. For budget planning, the cost of group therapy is in the region of £35 a session and the cost of individual therapy £50-60 a session. Please note these are only guidelines and will vary. Fees for therapy will be fixed individually with your therapist. Provisional timetable The course timetable is yet to be fully confirmed, but please note that this is a full time Masters degree programme. This means it is difficult to do paid work alongside the curriculum. During the first term you are at Royal Central either four or five days a week. For the spring and summer terms, you will continue to be at Central Monday to Thursday and then on placement on Fridays. For the fourth term (September 2018 – March 2019), it is usual for you to work three days a week on specialist placements, with the remaining two days taken up with planning, supervision, tutorials, therapy and research for the portfolio. You are in Central every Monday during the fourth term. The indicative schedule for the autumn term is as follows. Please note that the actual timetable will be confirmed at registration – this outline is purely indicative based upon previous years’ schedules. The name of the unit is in bold:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

DMTP Sesame in context (Focus) 9.30-10.30 (Diary session) 11-11.30 DMTP Sesame in context (Landscapes) 11.30-1.00

PSYCHOLOGY (Developmental) 9-10.30 (Analytical) 12-1.45

Group Process 10.30-12.00

DMTP Myth 11-1

Various guest lectures 11-1

DMTP Drama 2.30-4.30

DMTP Laban 2-4.00

DMTP Preparation for Clinical Practice 2-4.00

DMTP Movement with touch and sound Weeks/times tbc (usually 2-5)

On behalf of the staff team, we are very much looking forward to working with you. Richard Hougham Course Leader, MA Drama and Movement Therapy

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MA/MFA MOVEMENT: DIRECTING & TEACHING http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/movement-directing-and-teaching-ma-mfa Thank you for your application to MA/MFA Movement: Directing and Teaching here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. If you do choose to accept your offer you should be prepared for an exciting, challenging and tough year. Until then, please find a range of suggestions you may find useful prior to starting the course. Reading We feel it will be helpful for you to have read some of these texts to use as common reference points over the year and will be helpful in beginning to prepare you for the course. If you have any personal favourites please do not forget to bring those with you and needless to say there will be a more extensive reading list in the course handbook. Here is a suggestion for some reading before the course begins:

Ewan, V. & Green, D. (2015) Actor Movement: Expression of the Physical Being, London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama - “a key text by Co Course Leader Vanessa, outlining the processes she has developed with actors”

Olsen, A. (2004) Bodystories: A Guide to Experiential Anatomy, New England, University Press - ‘read this in preparation for the anatomy unit’

Jean Newlove and John Dalby (2004); Laban for All, Nick Hern Books ISBN 1-85459-725-6 - “a good introduction to Laban. A clear and holistic approach to Laban’s system”.

Evans, M. (2009) Movement Training for the Modern Actor, London, Routledge - this is available electronically on line (so please do not buy it). We also have copies in the Library here. It is a key text in understanding the setting for movement at Central as well as the lineages of unnamed practices in actor movement’

Hodge, A. (2000) Twentieth-Century Actor Training, London, Routledge - “a very interesting collection of essays on key practitioners involved in actor training”.

Lecoq, J (translated by Bradby, D) (2006) The Moving Body: Teaching Creative Theatre, London, Methuen - “a creative, embodied teaching of a significant practitioner”

Equipment There are a limited number of lockers at the school, so please arrive with a small padlock. Although there is no requirement to purchase any study equipment, you may find it useful to bring the following with you:

Movement clothing and footwear; Video camera/digital camera/mini disc recorder/ player/laptop/iPod; Teaching and movement direction aids you already use (such as mats, balls,

ropes, belts, music, fans, hats, masks, ropes etc.); Notebooks etc.

Others Costs Travel: Your external placement activity maybe elsewhere in London or near London and the travel costs of travelling to and from the placement needs to be budgeted for by you. Central is in Zone 2 for travel and some of our hosts are in

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Zone 6 or beyond. MFA students – your second year is largely independent and you might like to consider any travel costs that may arise from your attachments. Visits: In your budgeting you may want to set aside a sum for off-site visits to theatre, dance and to the zoo. The first week of the term is an Induction process at the Swiss Cottage site. During this week we will be giving you an overview of the course, introducing you to as many people and systems in the School as possible, and laying some foundations for your time at Central. You will also receive your confirmed timetable for the autumn term. Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Ayse Tashkiran on ayse.tashkiran@cssd.ac.uk and I will happily answer any questions you may have. With good wishes for the summer and for the year ahead. Vanessa Ewan & Ayse Tashkiran Course Leaders, MA/MFA Movement

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MA MUSIC THEATRE http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/music-theatre-ma Thank you for your application to MA Music Theatre here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in September. If you do choose to accept your offer you should be prepared for an exciting, challenging and tough year. The first week of the course will be an intensive induction week of classes with the professionals with whom you will be working throughout the first term. You will be engaged physically, intellectually and emotionally from day one and it is important you prepare for this is various ways:

Bring a packed lunch on day one; Wear blacks with comfortable soft shoes to allow all movement. This is

expected as the basis throughout at least term one. Blacks should be cheap and loose-fitting to accommodate all physical work;

Jazz shoes are advisable as footwear, with bare feet (on some floors) an alternative;

Make-up should be avoided wherever possible or absolutely minimised; No watches or jewellery; You will be guided to lockers for storage in week 1. They are not large; Your phones should be off – not just on buzzing mode – if you bring them to

class; Prepare and memorise a modern monologue; you may be required to

perform it during your first acting class on Tuesday morning; Prepare two contrasted songs which you can perform easily. Have them

memorised and a copy of the music with you ready to be played by a pianist for later in the first week. They should demonstrate what you can do well. Simple songs which you know well are often a better choice;

If you play a musical instrument and it is possible for you to have it with you in London, please do so for the duration. We will discuss actor-musicianship during the first few weeks;

Even if you currently have one, start to consider your head-shot by looking around at those of successful UK performers, e.g. in Contact. They are crucial to your career and you will be expected to provide us with several throughout the year, and we will advise you on this in due course. This will need to be budgeted by you and certainly you will require extra copies throughout the year;

Being physically fit is crucial both as a performer and for the demands of the course. Any regular activity you can take part in over the holidays including dance or movement classes would be seriously advantageous for you. You will, by mow I hope, have been in contact with Arthur to help you prepare with this.

For each one of you, we hope the experience of the course will be individual, from the perspective of your own strengths, weaknesses and interests. In addition you will be working as a member of a multi-talented, large ensemble that creates and performs. Collaboration lies at the heart of both theatre and music and this course

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offers a rare and enriching opportunity to collaborate with an extraordinary range of highly skilled and renowned practitioners. The objectives for the course are closely connected to its ethos: competition is a vital element for any performer, but we suggest this course provides experience for the most important competition of all – indeed the only competition of lasting value - which is with yourself. Be prepared and willing to change! A unique characteristic of this MA is the emphasis on creating new work, exploring the continuum of creativity and performance. Your learning is governed by your peers, by the excellent and professionally experienced staff as well and the wider postgraduate population at CSSD, one of the largest of its kind. Past students on this course have achieved work in a great variety of genres including the West End musical but also into film and TV, opera, jazz, classical theatre, theatre for young people, contemporary theatre and above all into new work of all genres. Some have created their own trajectories by starting their own ensemble; not just serving the industry but helping to forge it. More importantly, we consider sustainability as crucial to a performer’s career and adaptability and flexibility both in genre and process are crucial to this. Some of the professionals you may be working with during term one will be:

Diane Alison-Mitchell MOVEMENT Emma Caplan ACTING Steve Elias DANCE Deborah Garvey VOICE Hazel Gold DANCE Maria Huesca SINGING Julian Kelly ENSEMBLE & SINGING COACHING Ewa Kolodziejska PERFORMER PREPARATION Arthur Kyeyune & Ingrid MacKinnon CONDITIONING David Merriman ENSEMBLE Rebecca Reeves SIPS

Recommended Reading

We recommend reading the following before the course: Hodge, A (2000) Twentieth Century Acting Training, London, Routledge Stanislavsky K (1989) An Actor Prepares, NY, Routledge Deer, Joe; dal Vera, Rocco (2008) Acting in Musical Theatre: a

Comprehensive Course, London: Routledge. Bunch, M (1982) Dynamics of the Singing Voice, New York, Springer Wien Berry C (1973) Voice and the Actor, NY, Wiley Publishing, Inc Rodenberg, P (1992) The Right To Speak, US, Routledge Bogart, A; Landau, T (2005) The View Points Book, NY, Theatre

Communications Group Brook P (1990) The Empty Space, UK, Penguin.

It will be a demanding and exacting year ahead. We, the MAMT course team, are very much looking forward to working with you to make it equally rewarding. Prof Paul Barker Course Leader, MA Music Theatre

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MA/MFA PERFORMANCE PRACTICES AND RESEARCH http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/performance-practice-as-research-ma-mfa Thank you for your application to MA/MFA Performance Practice as Research here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. If you do choose to accept your offer you should be prepared for an exciting, challenging and tough year. At Registration in October I will meet with you to say hello and talk through arrangements for the first week or so of the course. Full details of our first week as a group will be available then, but you can expect to have a fairly full induction week. A full reading list, course handbook and timetable will be available in the first week of term. In the meantime, the following texts are recommended reading prior to the start of the course (* indicates good texts to begin with):

Atkinson, T. & Claxton, G. (2003) The Intuitive Practitioner: On the Value of not Always Knowing What One is Doing, Milton Keynes, Open University Press.

Auslander, P. (2008) Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture, London, Routledge

Bannerman, C, Sofaer, J. and Watt, J. (2006) Navigating the Unknown, London, Middlesex University Press

Barrett, E. & Bolt, B. (2007) Practice as Research: Approaches to Creative Arts Inquiry, New York, St Martin’s Press.

Barthes, R. (1993) Image, Music, Text Fontana Press. Biggs, M & Karlsson, (2010) H. The Routledge Companion to Research in the

Arts, London, Routledge. Bolton, G. (2002) Reflective Practice Writing and Professional Development,

London, PCP * Bryon, E. (2014) Integrative Performance: Practice and Theory for the

Interdisciplinary Performer, London, Routledge. * Carlson, M. (2003) Performance: A Critical Introduction, London,

Routledge. * Cerbone, D. (2006) Understanding Phenomenology, Durham England:

Acumen Publishing Ltd. Jackson, S. (2004) Professing Performance, Acting from Philology to

Performativity, Cambridge Universtiy Press, UK. * Kershaw, B & Nicolson H (2011) Research Methods in Theatre and

Performance, Edinburgh University Press. Lefebvre, H. (2000), The Production of Space, Massachusetts, Blackwell Lehmann, H. (2006) Postdramatic Theatre, London, Routledge. * Nelson, R. (2013) Practice as Research in the Arts, Principals, Protocols,

and Resistances, Palgrave Nicolescu, B. (2008) Transdisciplinary Theory and Practice, Hampton Press. Pavis, P. (1998) Dictionary of the Theatre: Terms, Concepts, Analysis,

(Trans. C. Shantz) Toronto, University of Toronto Press.

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Phelan, P. (1998), Unmarked, the Politics of Performance, London, Routledge

Read, A. (2005) Theatre and Everyday Life, London, Routledge. Ridout, N. (2006) Stage Fright, Animals, and Other Theatrical Problems,

Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. * Schechner, R. (2010) Performance Theory, London, Routledge. * Shepherd, S. (2016) The Cambridge Introduction to Performance Theory,

Cambridge University Press. The indicative schedule for the year is as follows. Please note that the actual timetable will be confirmed at registration – this outline is purely indicative based upon previous years’ schedules:

Have a great summer and we look forward to working with you in October. Dr Experience Bryon Course Leader, MA/MFA Performance Practices as Research

Autumn Term October-December

Attendance required Mondays: 10am-1pm & 2-5pm Tuesdays: 6-9pm Thursday: 4-5:30pm & 6-9pm Fridays: 6-9pm

Unit: Critical Contexts Unit Performance Practices

10 weeks

Winter Term January-March

Attendance required (Schedule designed by students in collaboration with mentors around the following times) Mondays 2-5 pm Tuesdays: 6-9pm Thursday: 4-5:30pm & 6-9pm Friday 6-9pm

Unit: Defining and Developing your Discipline Unit: Performing Research

10 weeks

Spring Term April-July

Attendance Required (Schedule designed by students in collaboration with mentors/producers around the following times with possible additional times.) Mondays: 2-5 pm Tuesdays: 6-10pm Thursday: 1:30-5:30pm & 6-10pm Friday 6-10pm With Archiving Practices Thursday 1:30-4:30pm

Unit: Performance Practices and Research Laboratory (Festival) Unit: Archiving Practices, Practicing Archives

10 weeks

Summer Term MFA 2nd Year start in October

MA’s -Directed independent study (August-October) MFA’s – Summer off return in October for your 2nd year, extended Sustained Independent Project (MFA Thesis)

Unit: Sustained Independent Project (Thesis)

10 weeks 2nd Year

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MA/MFA SCENOGRAPHY http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/scenography-ma-mfa Thank you for your application to MA/MFA Scenography here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. As a new student you would be joining both the community of postgraduate and undergraduate students at Central. The time prior to starting the course is important in priming yourself for study. The programme is busy, and there are various preparations before October which can support you in your orientation and readiness to study. If English is not your first language please take the time to watch films, read newspaper articles and find out about your new cultural milieu. Timetable The course timetable is yet to be fully confirmed, but please note that the first term usually runs Mondays to Fridays. Mondays are normally designated specialist workshops and skills with some evening lectures in the Autumn Term. Tuesdays are normally designated independent study. Wednesdays and Thursdays are normally designated seminars and tutorials. Fridays are normally designated lectures. Further details of the timetable will be available on the first day. Essential Reading Before you start the course in October, we would like you to read:

Oddey, A. (2006) The Potentials of Spaces, University of Chicago Press; Salter, C. (2010) Entangled: Technology and the Transformation of

Performance, MIT Press. Additional Costs As a student on the MA/MFA Scenography you experiment with a range of media. You will need to buy your own basic modeling materials such as card, paper, paint, etc. Equipment should include a cutting mat, scale ruler and brushes. It is recommended, though not essential, that you have a camera, preferably with video capability and a good media-friendly laptop. You will need to budget for materials throughout the year for presentations and for visits to the theatre and exhibitions. When we experiment with very specific and specialist materials these will be provided by the course. On behalf of the staff team, we are very much looking forward to working with you during what I hope will be an exciting and rewarding year. Dr Simon Donger Course Leader, MA Scenography

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MA THEATRE CRITICISM AND DRAMATURGY http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/theatre-criticism-and-dramaturgy-ma Thank you for your application to MA Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. Over the past year, students on this MA programme have participated in a range of different activities, and, in addition to regular seminars and study sessions, have benefited from a number of joint projects with other MA programmes, as well as field trips, master classes and visits from special guests. Graduates of the MA have, in the past years, taken up positions in London theatres, as well as other cultural institutions, and a few have gone on to do further study at doctoral level. As I probably mentioned at interview, the vast majority of the work for the MA is individual or group study, and class time is only a small – but obviously vital – part of the overall programme. MA level study is characterised by independent thought and individual research, and this is reflected in the course structure. It will be your responsibility to follow up on work in class with your own research and reading. Along with other members of the Course Team, I am always happy to arrange to meet students to discuss any issues you are having, and tutorials are built into each term’s work. There is no specific advance reading for the first term’s units of study, but, in preparation for the Critical Contexts and Cultural Landscapes units (and indeed for the MA in general) you could consider looking at Marvin Carlson, Performance: A Critical Introduction, or perhaps might wish to read a selection from the Palgrave ‘Theatre &’ series (these are short books covering a range of topics, available for a reasonable price). You may also wish to get a copy of: Patrice Pavis, Dictionary of the Theatre, which – providing definitions of terms and demonstrating some of the critical questions in play - will prove an invaluable reference as you navigate the MA. Pavis’s Contemporary Mise en scène: Staging Theatre Today is also essential reading. I hope that this reading list is not too daunting. All of the items should be available from bookshops, or online: I recommend www.abebooks.co.uk for buying used volumes, but would encourage you to support bookshops (particularly independent ones), when buying new books, and to get into the habit of intelligent browsing… London has many good second-hand bookshops with theatre holdings (for example, Skoob books in Bloomsbury). You are not required to own a copy of every book in this list by any means: Central has a well-stocked library, and the University of London Senate House Library is exhaustive, so use your judgment to determine what you borrow and what you buy. In addition to purchasing books, other costs on the course include theatre tickets, and – in some cases – entrance to museums or exhibits. The Reviewing Performance unit, will necessitate going to a number of shows (roughly one per week), and students should budget accordingly. Although Central is unable to buy tickets on

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behalf of students, we will help where possible in obtaining discounted or group tickets. I look forward to seeing you in October. If you have any questions about the course, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. My email address is: joel.anderson@cssd.ac.uk. Dr Joel Anderson Course Leader, MA Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy

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MA/MFA VOICE STUDIES http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/voice-studies-ma-mfa Thank you for your application to MA/MFA Voice Studies here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. If you do choose to accept your offer you should be prepared for an exciting, challenging and tough year (or two!). The course timetable is yet to be finalized. As advance notice, however, you can expect to have four full days of contact hours during an average week in term one with Wednesday left free for Students’ Union activities. A detailed timetable will be available at Registration. As part of your initial preparation for one of the Practical Phonetics units, please look at Roach’s English Phonetics and Phonology (or similar) to provide you with some background context. This is an advanced text and, if you are a newcomer to phonetics, please consider finding an alternative introductory text or online resource that will allow you to become familiar with the phonetic symbols before you begin. This will form the underlying foundation for your work in teaching and coaching accents and dialects to actors. For the Vocal Anatomy unit, please look at the Perkins & Kent Textbook of Functional Anatomy of Speech, Language and Hearing, or any of the on-line anatomy resources (or similar) by way of introduction. (You do not need to purchase these resources unless you wish to – they are all available in the Library.) The Vocal Anatomy unit is taught in the in the first term and it is useful to anticipate that this culminates in the first written assessment to be submitted in the first week of the Spring term. The academic texts above are suggestions only and you may find other texts in their genre that better suit your learning style. Be brave and bold and above all curious about these texts. One of the highly recommended all-embracing speech and voice texts is Christina Shewell’s Voice Works as it bridges science and art. Current MAVS students have declared that reading this was one of the best ways they could have prepared for the programme. Students are reminded that the course is intense and limited in time. It is helpful to think in advance about what a fully immersive course of teaching and learning means to your lifestyle. This is not only a taught Masters degree but it is an experiential Masters degree. It is important, therefore, to anticipate ways in which you, as a learner, will engage with all aspects of the learning. This involves giving some thought to the ways in which you will engage with the routines of embodied vocal practice and how they can best meet your own developmental vocal needs. Additionally, it is helpful to think about how you might best experience, notate and learn from the taught weekly sessions in pedagogy, vocal anatomy, text and phonetics, the visiting specialist lectures and workshops, the peer-to-peer

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learning, the collaboration and research with other MA/MFA students across the School and so on. As part of your process of thinking ahead, please consider the ways in which you analyze your own voice and speech function, along with related vocal practices, as this can form an act of personal research. Consider how this might be supported through wider research activities. What are the questions about voice, performance theories and voice pedagogy and so on that you might like to explore? It would be a good idea to review your study skills and if necessary undertake a short course in returning to study. It will be worth looking in the library or bookshops for works on academic writing and research, as these will support a significant proportion of the work you will undertake on this MA/MFA. If you have experienced any frustrations in reading, managing time, taking notes in lectures, or organising thoughts, consider undertaking a test for dyslexia. This will be discussed at more length when you arrive. Some support is available through Central, however this is dependent upon national status and resources. Time is important; it is much better to be aware of learning issues prior to the course, which as you know, is relatively short. The staff team is very much looking forward to working with you during what we hope will be an exciting and developmentally rewarding year, and look forward to meeting you in October. Jane Boston Course Leader, MA/MFA Voice Studies

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MA/MFA WRITING FOR STAGE & BROADCAST MEDIA http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/writing-for-stage-and-broadcast-media-ma-mfa Thank you for your application to MA/MFA Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media here at Central, and congratulations on having been offered a place on the programme. I hope we’ll be working with you in October. Most MA/MFA Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media classes during the Autumn Term normally take place two days of the week, although the schedule may change a little depending on project work and the schedules of visiting professionals. Part-time students are normally only required to attend on one day per week for the ‘Principles of Dramatic Writing 1’ unit. A confirmed timetable will be provided at Registration in October. In addition to the course specific writing classes, during the first term, full-time students will also attend ‘Critical Contexts’ classes with students from MA Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy and MA/MFA Performance Practice as Research. The sessions introduce you to a variety of theoretical approaches to conceptual analysis within the field of theatre and performance. I will talk through arrangements for full and part-time students when we meet for course induction in October. There is a fair amount of reading involved during the autumn term. To get a head start you might read the following: Aristotle’s Poetics. A good scholarly edition is the Richard Janko translation (Hackett Publishing Company) though the T.S. Dorsch translation is perhaps an easier read (Penguin Classics). If you have time, you might also look at David Mamet’s ‘Three Uses of the Knife – On the Nature and Purpose of Drama’ (Vintage Books, Random House). You should also read David Edgar’s How Plays Work and/or Steve Waters’ The Secret Life of Plays. Additionally, for the autumn term, the following are recommended: General Reading

Aristotle; The Poetics Either David Edgar; How Plays Work and/or Steve Waters; The Secret Life of

Plays. Fraser Grace & Clare Bayley (2015); Playwriting: An Artists’ and Writers’

Companion Davvid Mamet; Three Uses of the Knife – On the Nature and Purpose of

Drama; John Yorke; Into The Woods Francois Truffaut; Hitchcock/Truffaut

Plays/Screenplays

Hossein Amini, Drive (screenplay) Gregory Burke, 71 (screenplay) Jez Butterworth, Jerusalem Anton Chekhov, Three Sisters Caryl Churchill, Love and Information Martin Crimp, The Country

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Debbie Tucker Green, random/hang Michael Frayn, Noises Off Sarah Grochala, S-27 Stephen Adly Guirgis, The Motherfucker With The Hat Sarah Kane, Blasted Peter Handle, Offending the Audience Charlene James, Cutting It Lucy Kirkwood, it felt empty at first when the heart went/

Chimerica David Mamet, Speed The Plow Arthur Miller, A View From The Bridge Abi Morgan, Sex Traffic (screenplay) William Shakespeare, Hamlet Sophocles, Oedipus the King / Arigone Ann Washburn, Mr Burns Timberlake Wertenbaker, Our Country’s Good Roy Williams, Sucker Punch

I wish you all the best over the summer and look forward to meeting everyone in October. Dr Sarah Grochala Course Leader, MA/MFA Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media