Acting and Performance

Acting and performance at university level is both a craft training and an intellectual enquiry into the nature and history of theatrical art. Performance practice develops through regular studio work, rehearsal, and production, building your technical skills in voice, movement, character, and ensemble work. At the same time, academic study situates what you do in the studio within the history and theory of theatre, from classical Greek drama and commedia dell'arte through Stanislavski, Brecht, and Grotowski to the devised, site-specific, and digital performance practices of the present.

The best performers understand not just how to act but why theatre matters and what it can do.

At the University of Huddersfield, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year with work placement and work placement opportunities throughout, giving it a strongly practical and professionally oriented character. The placement year puts you in contact with a professional performance context, whether a theatre company, arts organisation, educational institution, or other relevant setting, and allows you to apply your skills and develop your professional identity before completing the degree. This experience is particularly valuable in a field where early professional relationships and practical experience are central to building a career.

The programme develops a range of performance approaches and styles, and you will engage with both scripted and devised work, indoor and outdoor performance, and the collaborative processes through which theatrical productions are created.

Huddersfield has good connections with the regional theatre and arts sector, and the programme draws on teaching from practitioners as well as academics.

Graduates pursue careers as performers in theatre, television, film, and radio, as workshop facilitators, community artists, drama teachers, and in roles across the arts and creative industries. Many also move into directing, producing, writing, and arts administration, and the combination of performance skills and professional experience from the placement year provides a strong foundation for a varied career in the creative sector.