Our BA Musical Theatre course will develop your professional and collaborative sensibilities through a rigorous programme of training. You’ll gain individual technical, critical and evaluative skills, with practical classes in a range of core disciplines.

On this course, your skills are continually developed through integration exercises, scene work, project rehearsals and productions of classic and contemporary musicals. Classes in dance and singing are highly-prioritised alongside acting classes and projects, which will enable you to become multi-skilled and highly versatile, ensuring your appeal to the industry and a flying start to your career.

Be trained, employable* and industry ready in two years (*84% graduate employment, figures correct as of September 2019).

Fourth Monkey’s BA (Hons) Acting Accelerated Degree offers some of the most comprehensive and contemporary training for artists entering the industry today. With three years worth of training in two, our intensive approach incorporates all the relevant disciplines vital for a successful career in this ever-changing and rapidly-diversifying industry.

The training includes five public performance seasons, one being an industry showcase, as well as a professionally produced acting showreel and voice reel.

With an alumni employment rate of 84% within 12 months of graduation, Fourth Monkey’s BA (Hons) Acting Accelerated Degree is suitable for those looking to forge a career as a professional actor and theatre maker. Fourth Monkey’s Accelerated Degree offers innovative and cutting edge actor training with opportunities unparalleled in contemporary actor training.

This course provides students with the unique experience of training in an ensemble environment. You will learn by working in repertory alongside established industry professionals, whilst also creating and producing your own work and becoming industry ready in two years. This is an extremely cost effective and efficient way to train as the student receives the same amount of contact training hours as on a three-year degree programme, more momentum in development due to the intensive nature and structure of the course, and the skills necessary for a career of longevity and variety due to the content of the programme and Fourth Monkey’s ethos of ensemble.

There are also opportunities to gain a bursary for the winner of Fourth Monkey’s Experimental Fringe Project, professional and paid employment with our professional ensemble company, the Fourth Monkey Ensemble, and continued professional career development, maintenance and guidance through masterclasses and workshops on Fourth Monkey’s Actor’s Co-Lab programme post-graduation.

FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY AND FOURTH MONKEY ACTOR TRAINING COMPANY PARTNERSHIP

Fourth Monkey’s BA (Hons) Acting accelerated degree is awarded by Falmouth University, which has been ranked gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, the new classification of degree teaching standards. Gold is reserved for institutions where teaching, retention and graduate outcomes are consistently outstanding and are of the highest quality found in the UK.

Falmouth University has a history of over 100 years at the leading edge of creativity and is now at the forefront of driving innovation and entrepreneurialism across the creative economy with its mission of ‘‘doing it for real’’.

Below is an outline of the key features of the programme:
• 40+ hours per week contact training time
• Training with internationally renowned practitioners, working professionals and internationally renowned and award-winning theatre companies
• British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat (BASSC) certifications
• Theatre making training and opportunities
• Professionally produced actor’s showreel
• Professionally produced actor’s voice reel
• Five public performance seasons including an industry showcase
• Fourth Monkey Experimental Fringe Bursary
• Opportunity to gain paid employment with Fourth Monkey’s professional ensemble company, Fourth Monkey Ensemble

"The Fourth Monkey training is my personal steel core, I’ll always have it and I can depend on it. This place is me and I am this place. I’m so proud to be a graduate of this school.” - Amy Rushnet, Two Year Alumni 2019

This is a unique and renowned course designed specifically for those who are already practising as or who wish to establish themselves as professional theatre directors.

MA/MFA Theatre Directing is open to emerging theatre directors from the UK and to students from around the world. Teaching is by a wide range of leading directors and professional practitioners from the UK and overseas. The programme benefits from its close ties with the London theatre world, which provides training expertise of the highest calibre and the professional networks that are vital to launching a career.

East 15 also runs some modules overseas, most recently in Moscow and Bali, involving specialist practical study in an alternative cultural environment.

The MA runs for one year on a full-time basis and the MFA for 24 months. For the MA, you take four modules during three consecutive terms, followed by a three-month period of independent study, at the end of which you present your Director’s Production Workbook (or, alternatively, your MA Dissertation).

For the MFA, running over 24 months, you take eight modules during six consecutive terms, followed by independent study that results in a fully resourced practical project at one of East 15’s spaces or in a London theatre (or, alternatively, an MFA Dissertation).

Each year you have the opportunity to choose four modules out of the seven or eight different options that we offer every year. The menu of modules rotates on a regular basis but always covers a range of directorial practice that is unrivalled in its diversity and will include several of the following:Shakespeare, Contemporary British Drama, Comedy, Musical Theatre and Opera, Physical Theatre, Brecht, Techniques of Adaptation, Improvisation and Devising Techniques, Contemporary Irish Drama, Rehearsal Processes and Workshops, Collaboration with Designers, Attachment (Assistant Director), The Artistic Director, Commedia dell’Arte and Directing for Camera.

Overseas modules in Bali and Thailand include: World Theatre and Theatre of the East. In Moscow, at the GITIS Institute, modules include: Stanislavskian Acting Methodology, Meyerhold and Biomechanics, Michael Chekhov.

MA/MFA Theatre Directing is open to applicants with a background in theatre directing or related fields and is specifically tailored to those seeking professional development in this area. Study is full time but some module choices enable periods of time away to pursue professional theatre work.

East 15 Acting School’s MA Acting is a challenging course that encourages the development of a personal methodology based upon East 15’s unique practices.

On one level, it is a thoroughly practical, highly intensive, vocational course. On another level, it is a thought-provoking, life-changing reflection on the function and art of the actor – exploring techniques from some of Europe’s most influential practitioners as well as innovative professional practice from the UK and internationally.

MA Acting is a specialist course of one academic year with additional work on marketing students to the industry with a showcase. You will need discipline and motivation to work at an advanced level. Beyond these, the requirements are abundant energy, insatiable curiosity and a robust sense of humour.

Some students may already possess a university degree (not necessarily in a related discipline) whilst others will have established themselves in other career paths and now seek to change the direction of their lives towards that of a professional actor.

This course also attracts professional actors who feel the need to reflect on their practice, extend their range and skills, refresh their creativity, increase their professional contacts and gain academic recognition.

This course is taught at our picturesque Loughton Campus.

This course provides a foundation in acting and can prepare you for further study, either at East 15 or at other acclaimed acting schools. The intention is to help create actors who will have an intellectual as well as a vocational life in the theatre, introducing you to the concepts and mechanics behind each.

The Certificate of Higher Education in Theatre Arts is a highly focused exploration of acting techniques and aims to introduce you to the context that gives each theatrical era its distinctive identity. This includes (on a practical level) movement, music, improvisational skills and acting. Overall, it is an intensively practical scheme.

Throughout the three terms, students undertake a number of compulsory modules. These cover audition technique, movement, voice and singing. During the first two terms at the Southend Campus, you are also introduced to acting courses that specialise in Stage Combat, Physical Theatre, Community Theatre and World Performance.

In addition to exploring the history and theory of theatre and its relation to other arts forms, you have regular opportunities to attend performances of plays, music and dance, as well as to visit art galleries, films and relevant historic sites.

This course is taught at both our Loughton and Southend Campuses.

East 15 Acting School’s BA Creative Producing (Theatre and Short Film) course is a full-time, industry-focused training aimed at entrepreneurial artists with an interest in creating, producing, administrating and promoting theatre and film.

This three-year practical course draws together the broad disciplines of theatre and film (such as writing for performance, lighting & sound, theatre directing & directing for camera, screenwriting, film editing, location management, dramaturgy, and digital set design) with business-focused aspects of the creative arts and associated industries (including marketing, web-design, social media, fundraising, and arts management). It prepares you for a career in the creative industries working as producers and facilitators, and develops transferable skills in communication, presentation, administration, leadership and critical analysis.

Based at our vibrant and modern Southend Campus, you will have direct access to our state-of-the-art Clifftown Theatre and the opportunity to work alongside further East 15 students studying on our actor training programs.

East 15 Acting School’s BA Stage and Production Management course is a practical-based professional training that prepares you for careers in a range of production and technical roles in theatre, events and related creative industries.

We emphasise learning through practice and you are part of a creative production team from early in the course. Based at our picturesque Loughton Campus, our proximity to London means you will be able to keep up-to-date with the latest technical innovations in one of the world’s greatest theatre capitals. Our specially equipped Unit Four building is complete with workshops, an IT suite and seminar rooms – the perfect environment for learning your craft!

This highly progressive and dynamic course allows you to explore and develop your skills in art and design. You will experiment with a variety of exciting techniques and processes, and gain a range of contemporary and traditional skills through studio and workshop practice.

You will build your knowledge of artists, designers and makers, whilst visits to cultural venues such as Bristol, Oxford, Manchester and London will give you an exciting overview of contemporary international art and design practice.

Studying an Extended Diploma in Art and Design at HCA provides you with the space, understanding, and opportunities you need to develop.

Channel your passion into a rewarding year of personal and creative development.

This course is ideal for students who want to further their experience of art, design and media, and develop their ability and confidence. The majority of students use this course as a stepping stone to aLevel 3 Diploma in Art and Design, though others may choose alternative further study pathways or full-time employment.

This programme is for advanced students with exceptional aptitude in their specialism, and strong professional and artistic ambitions. It provides specialist, professional training if you are looking to embark on a national and international career.

The Artist Diploma represents post-Masters progression, and is designed to meet the specialised needs and aspirations of outstanding performance students, and to support them with the competence and sensitivity required.