Acting and Performance BA (Hons)
- Dance, drama and music
- Undergraduate
- Subject to validation
The Acting and Performance BA (Hons) course at Kingston School of Art immerses you in multidisciplinary training to launch your career in the performing arts. Acting for stage and screen, performance-making, industry skills, contextual studies, and the actor-creator are the cornerstones of the programme. Students are supported to become dynamic performers, industry leaders and multifaceted professionals.
As this course is still subject to validation, some information may not be available at this time. Fees, entry requirements, and module descriptions will be confirmed once the course is validated.
Hone your skills in acting. Discover not just how to create performance, but why
Our Acting and Performance BA (Hons) degree is subject to validation
Begin your career in the performing arts
On this course, you'll develop your skills as an actor, performer and theatre-maker. You'll work in professional facilities such as The Rose Theatre studio, and the Studio Theatre in Kingston University’s landmark Town House building.
Students regularly collaborate with the filmmaking courses to gain on-camera experience. A student-run cabaret night in Kingston Town Centre allows students to test new material in a dynamic, public context.
As part of Kingston School of Art, students on this course benefit from joining a creative community where collaborative working and critical practice are encouraged. Our workshops and studios are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Kingston University is launching its new Acting and Performance BA (Hons) degree in September 2027. Currently the programme is subject to validation. This means the course is undergoing a rigorous approval process to ensure the content is relevant, meets industry standards and fulfils student needs.
In the meantime, you can register your interest in the course to be kept up to date with the latest course news. You will be among the first to know when the course opens for applications.
Dance, drama and music at Kingston School of Art
Develop your technique and learn the skills you need to launch your career. Hear from our staff and students about how they hone their craft.
Why choose this course
If you have a passion for acting and performance, this practical course is for you. It covers skills and methods in screen and stage acting, devising, comedy, cabaret, experimental performance and production design. You'll emerge as a multifaceted artist, prepared to wear many hats, supported by our industry-focused professional practice modules. You'll also explore not just how to make performance, but why, through the study of theatre history and contemporary socio-political contexts.
Our lecturers have practical and professional experience in the theatre industry. This ensures you'll have access to practical help and career advice from people with insider knowledge. On specific modules, you'll also work with guest speakers and visiting companies.
At the heart of our acting and performance course is a strong theatre industry link with the Rose Theatre, the largest producing theatre in south-west London. You might choose to do a work placement at the Rose. Every Kingston performing arts student receives a complimentary ticket to all Rose Theatre productions. The Rose also hosts regular classes and occasional masterclasses from industry experts, sharing and networking events, research platforms, director's insight events and company Q&As.
Check out what we’re up to on our Instagram page.
The Art School Experience
As part of Kingston School of Art, students benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice.
Our workshops and labs are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Course content
You will explore the ways in which acting and performance can both shape, and be shaped by a variety of artistic, political and historical contexts.
As you progress, you will work on projects that draw together different strands of your learning. Across the three years of the course, you will have increasing independence in the design and delivery of these projects.
Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list.
Year 1
Year 1 introduces key approaches to acting and performance and culminates in acting scene studies, an original ensemble-devised performance, and a collaborative production design. You will develop your skills as an actor-creator and enhance your knowledge of a variety of methods of theatre-making and acting styles. You will examine play texts and performances, learn basic principles of production design and explore how theatre history resonates in contemporary performance.
- Acting for Stage and Screen 1
- Performance Contexts 1: Histories
- Making Performance 1: the Actor-Creator
- Professional Practice 1: Performance Technologies
Year 2
Year 2 develops your understanding and practical knowledge of acting and performance through intensive study of tragic and comic acting, interdisciplinary collaborative devising, and psychological realism techniques advanced by practitioners such as Stanislavski and Meisner, to build the practical skills necessary for successful stage and screen performances.
- Acting for Stage and Screen 2
- Performance Contexts 2: Tragedy in a Global Context
- Making Performance 2: Comedy
- Professional Practice 2: Devising
Optional year
You have the option to take an additional year to study abroad.
Year 3
Year 3 allows for both greater independence and specialisation and culminates in a major production project in which you will be able to showcase the actor-creator skills acquired on the course. You will independently plan and carry out a professional placement or project in an industry context. You will expand your range as a performance-maker, including live art and experimental performance as well as original cabaret and variety acts.
- Production Project
- Making Performance 3: Cabaret and Variety
- Performance Contexts 3: Live Art
- Professional Practice 3: Acting and Industry
- Future Skills Apply
What career opportunities does this course offer?
This course is great preparation for role such as the following.
- Actor
- Artistic director
- Production designer
- Theatre technician
- Dramaturg
- Playwright
- Company manager
- Freelance artist
- Film production assistant
- Drama teacher
- Applied theatre practitioner
- Drama therapist
- Cabaret artist
- Casting director
- Theatre marketing and communications
- Community arts officer
- Youth theatre director
- Stand-up comedian
- Arts development and fundraising
Some of our graduates head straight into the acting industry. Ben Barnes, who plays Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia, is the most famous of our alumni, but so many more are jobbing actors. Some of our programme graduates work in major venues such as the Soho Theatre and the Rose Theatre. Alumnus Chris Sonnex is the Artistic Director of Cardboard Citizens.
Other students have set up their own companies and tour internationally – such as Tin Horse, Urban Theory Films and Bad Clowns – often in collaboration with former classmates. Conrad Murray founded the Beatbox Academy at the Battersea Arts Centre, and recently won an Offie Award for his original hip-hop musical. Graduates showcase their original work at nationally significant theatres, comedy, and performance festivals.
Many graduates undertake further vocational training after completing their degree, in subjects such as acting, directing, advanced theatre-making, playwriting, and theatre production. These graduates are at prestigious institutions such as the Drama Centre, Drama Studio, Guildford School of Acting, the Central School of Speech and Drama, BADA, and the Royal Court Young Writers’ Programme.
This course is great preparation for specialist training for careers in therapeutic and applied drama (for example drama therapy), especially if taken in combination with relevant subjects. Some of our graduates go on to become drama teachers in schools or professional theatre outreach contexts and gain acceptance to PGCE courses.
Future Skills
Our Future Skills programme is embedded within all our undergraduate courses and throughout the whole Kingston experience. These skills will help you to become a future-proof graduate by equipping you with the skills most valued by employers, such as problem-solving, digital competency and adaptability.
As you progress through your degree, you'll learn to navigate, explore and apply these graduate skills. You’ll also understand how to demonstrate and articulate to employers how these future skills give you the edge.
Gallery of student work
Alessandra
Alessandra Carli in Cabaret Live at the Fighting Cocks venue in Kingston Town Centre, 2025. Photo by Chrissie Taylor
VarvaraLiveArt
Everything You Are Told Is True, Varvara Kozlova, Kingston Live Art, 2019. Photo by Ezzidin Alwan
Daria Urtnowsky
Miss Ideal, Daria Urtnowsky, Kingston Live Art, 2023. Photo by Peter Case.
RSVP
RSVP, Production Project, 2026. Photo by Peter Case
Scarlett Simich
Scarlett Simich in The Seagull, 2025. Photo by Peter Case.
Green screen scene
Shekinah Obikwu and Ryan Hunt scene work in the KSA green screen studio, 2025.
Hattie Turner
Endometriyatakin’ the Piss, Hattie Turner, 2024, Kingston Live Art. Photo by Peter Case.
Posh
Posh by Laura Wade, 2026. Photo by Peter Case.
Tape
Still from performance film Tape ‘87 by Isabela Murcia, 2026.
Fees and funding
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Scholarships and bursaries
For students interested in studying this course at Kingston, there are several opportunities to seek funding support.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
