MFA Acting

One of the longest-established MFA Acting programmes in the UK, East 15 Acting School's MFA Acting (International) is an industry-focused, conservatoire-style professional training programme. This two-year full-time course is designed specifically for international students wishing to train in the UK.

Through this programme, you will gain mastery over a wide spectrum of core acting skills. Our training includes acting classes, movement lessons based on Laban, Feldenkrais, Somatic and Grotowski techniques, voice production, articulation, RP (Received Pronunciation) and singing. Additionally, you'll have the option to take extra Stage Combat classes in the evenings.

Throughout the course, you will 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 and the legacy of Stanislavski, as well as the unique methodologies and ethos of East 15 itself, which grew out of the techniques, beliefs and practice of one of the UK's most historically significant theatre companies of the 20th century: Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop.

On the MFA 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 five technically supported, publicly ticketed shows. Three of these are staged at our Corbett Theatre and the remaining two at theatres in Central London. All shows promoted to the industry.
• Film and record a professional Showreel and Voicereel, which are included in the MFA Acting (International) Online Showcase, intended to promote you to members of industry in the UK and abroad.
• Perform a full-length collaboratively Devised studio show to an invited public audience.
• Undertake writing workshops, leading to a public performance of your self-penned solo piece in our Vox Festival of new works.
• Take part in professional development workshops and masterclasses.
• Join a distinguished group of alumni, whose recent work includes roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company, in Marvel films and Netflix series.
• Collaborate with our MFA Theatre Directing students for modules on Brecht, Improvisation and Comedy.

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, life experiences and trainings will enlighten, challenge, educate and inform you, both as an artist and as a human being.

We regard every actor as an individual, and understand the need for different keys to unlock your capabilities as artists and human beings. Our training emphasises positivity, passion and professionalism, creating a truly safe space in which you can learn and explore to your fullest.

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

By the time you graduate, you will be a self-sufficient actor, in charge of your own process and able to work confidently with any director, in any genre or discipline.

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The MFA Acting (International) course runs for 20 months on a full-time basis. We accept about 25 students each year into this programme.

In your second year, you'll undertake Acting for Camera classes, Showreel filming, Voicereel recording, Writing Workshops, and four of your public performances exclusively with your MFA Acting (International) cohort, typically in two groups of 12 or 13.

In your first year, MFA Acting (International) students are combined with the MA 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 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 by professionals and for professionals, allowing our graduates to work successfully across the globe.

Our international, outstanding teaching faculty is made up of professionals from all areas of live and recorded performance.

Learn more about our staff here.

Specialist facilities

Our Loughton Campus is perfectly located, providing access to both the rich, cultural diversity of London and an attractive and peaceful setting in which to study.

We are just a five-minute walk from London Underground station, Debden, where you can travel in only thirty minutes to Central London, West End theatres and mainline train stations including the Eurostar.

We have three sites at our Loughton Campus – Hatfields, Roding House and Unit Four. Hatfields is a beautiful Georgian dower house, set in five acres of lawns with orchards, flowerbeds and a small lake, providing an idyllic atmosphere for study, relaxation and performance.

Just a short walk from Hatfields is Roding House, a £1.3 million facility containing 10 rehearsal rooms, a green room/café, a sound recording studio and a video editing suite, and our costume department.

Next to Roding House, Unit Four is a £1.5 million facility which is home to the Stage & Production Management department. The Unit contains a large workshop, paint shop, prop shop, prop storage facilities and teaching spaces.

Our on-site Corbett Theatre is named in honour of Harry H Corbett, a key member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and early benefactor of East 15. It is used extensively for student productions and is a practical training hub for our BA Stage and Production Management students.

The building is a medieval tithe barn that was dismantled and transported to Hatfields in the 1960s. These unusual origins create a unique performance space with a special atmosphere. Renovated to include full technical facilities, tiered seating for 130 people and fitted dressing rooms, the theatre provides an excellent resource for public productions, while the adjacent Bar and Café provides a social meeting point for students and staff.

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 and Tier 5 Theatres 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 your first year, you'll spend approximately half of your typical week in Acting class, with the remainder focused on Voice, Articulation, Movement and Singing classes. We believe in a holistic approach to training, so your work in the Voice, Articulation and Movement classes are usually connected to the project you are working on in your Acting class.

The second year focuses on developing your process by working as an MFA Acting ensemble with external professional theatre directors and designers. You'll continue with Voice and Movement classes, usually to support your productions. The productions you work on are fully public, intended to showcase you to UK industry. The cast size of each production is usually 12 to 13 actors.

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

Teaching

Year 1

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 Residence

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

Writing Workshops and Collaborative Projects

You'll take part in writing workshops with a professional playwright, developing your self-penned solo theatre projects. Additionally, you will either collaborate with a professional playwright for a newly commissioned play for Year Two, or on performance projects with Theatre Directing students.

Public Productions

Your first fully public show will be one of three full-length plays, staged in the 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. MFA Acting (International) first-year students mostly take on supporting roles in these productions.

Year 2

This year is focused on developing your process by working as an ensemble with external professional directors and designers.

Term 1

Solo Theatre Writing and Public Performance

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

Young People's Shows

You'll perform in fully technically supported public productions of shows aimed at younger audiences. Audiences comprise students from local schools, alongside the general public. These shows are directed by external professional directors and performed in the Corbett Theatre.

Term 2

Central London Productions

The second term begins with the ensemble performing in public productions at a Central London theatre venue. These productions are directed by external professional directors and aimed at promoting you to members of UK Industry.

Acting for Camera and Microphone

You'll take part in Acting for Camera workshops and film your Showreels, and thereafter record your Voicereels. These reels are available for your own portfolio and promoted in the Online MFA Acting International Showcase.

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 Audition Practice and Technique, Self-Promotion, Branding, Marketing, and starting your own company.

Term 3

Online Showcase

The MFA 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.

Final Shows

The ensembles perform in public productions, directed and designed by industry professionals, at a second central London theatre venue. These final shows are also promoted to the industry.