Prepare yourself for a successful career in Stage Management by studying at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Our BA (Hons) Stage Management degree provides in-depth, practical training; we aim to produce confident graduates who are ready for a successful career in the industry as soon as they leave us....

Prepare yourself for a successful career in Stage Management by studying at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Our BA (Hons) Stage Management degree provides in-depth, practical training; we aim to produce confident graduates who are ready for a successful career in the industry as soon as they leave us. You’ll gain authentic industry experience while developing the vital skills needed in each role of a stage management team.

The BA Production Technology and Management programme is a very practical course that will see you take on industry-standard roles from the very start. With a timetable that is also reflective of industry practice, you will build the stamina and resilience to withstand a challenging yet rewarding career.

Production consists of both the BA Production Technology and Management and the BA Production Arts and Design programmes. Production students will work very closely with each other in the classroom and on RCS productions.

This is the only conservatoire-based technical theatre degree in Scotland. Through the programme we aim to produce production technicians, stage managers and lighting designers who can turn their hands to any related role, making them employable in a range of contexts, whilst also being specialists in career pathways, i.e. stage management, stage technology, sound design, sound engineering, lighting technology and lighting design.

We’ll help you to create your own pathway through the programme, focusing on your areas of interest. You will learn to work creatively, as an individual artist, as part of a production team and in collaboration with other students of all disciplines.

RCS is a major public performance venue with world-class facilities. The combination of professional venues, extensive workshops, construction spaces, design studios, and the latest stage and workshop technologies provide a fantastic learning environment.

We work closely with industry to ensure our curriculum is current, competitive, and of the highest professional standard, so you will gain all of the skills and knowledge needed for your future career. We have very close relationships with key Scottish national companies, such as Scottish Opera, the National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Ballet as well as companies across Scotland, such as the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, Blue Parrot Production and Events in Edinburgh and Warehouse Sound in Glasgow.

Further afield we have well-established relationships with national and international organisations such as the Association of British Theatre Technician (ABTT), the Association of Stage Pyrotechnicians (ASP) the Production Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA), United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc. (USITT), Cirque du Soleil, TAIT, Just FX and the National Theatre in London.

Our graduates will aspire to become the creative leaders and innovators of the future and will be encouraged to push accepted boundaries and create new standards of practice in the industry at large.

The Production Arts and Design programme has been designed to create a high-level conservatoire learning environment for aspiring scenic artists, prop makers, stage carpenters, costume makers, and set and costume designers.

Welcome to Production at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Production consists of both the BA Production Arts and Design and the BA Production Technology and Management programmes. Production students will work very closely with each other in the classroom and on RCS productions.

The Production Arts and Design programme has been designed to create a high-level conservatoire learning environment for aspiring scenic artists, prop makers, stage carpenters, costume makers, and set and costume designers. You will learn in an environment where your technical knowledge is as important as your creativity and individuality.

You will be accepted based on your profile in one particular area, taken from the five subjects on offer (scenic art, set construction, costume construction, prop-making, and set/costume design). You will follow an individually-negotiated pathway based on a major and minor study to ensure a quality learning experience and afford you the opportunity to engage with the broad and diverse range of performance programmes.

The opportunity to work with film-makers, dancers, musicians and actors is unique and the facilities in which we do this are second to none. The Wallace Studios at Speirs Locks has purpose-built production workshops and design studios and the Renfrew Street building houses five public performance spaces including a fully-equipped proscenium arch theatre and a black box studio theatre. The combination of professional venues, extensive workshops, construction spaces, design studios and the latest stage and workshop technologies provide a fantastic learning environment.

As our standards are rooted in industry practice we have exceptionally strong links with professional partners from across the UK and beyond. We have very close relationships with the key Scottish national companies, such as Scottish Opera, the National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Ballet as well as the majority of regional theatres such as the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. We work closely with industry to ensure the expertise you acquire is current, competitive and of the highest professional standard.

The BA Performance in British Sign Language and English is an undergraduate degree that teaches students to be both actors and makers of work.

If you identify as D/deaf or hard of hearing, and want to perform or create work on stage and screen, we want to meet you. You should be keen, curious and ready to work. Our students use BSL and/or spoken English. It is your choice. We look at how to create performance through both of these languages.

Choose to study with us and be part of a unique programme which is breaking down barriers in the industry and opening up theatre to new audiences. You are welcome to come and meet the team and observe our classes in advance of applying.

During the three year programme, you will benefit from the distinctive environment of RCS and study a rich blend of performance modules.

This course is designed around the learning and teaching needs of deaf performers and is the only course of its kind in Europe. The programme has been developed in association with Solar Bear Theatre Company with input from a range of theatre, education and deaf professionals.

The working languages of the programme are British Sign Language (BSL) and spoken English. You will have fully-qualified BSL interpreters in class and in rehearsal.

The small class size ensures you will have the opportunity to work closely with our teaching staff and visiting professionals. You will also benefit from our many collaborative and professional partnerships including Solar Bear and National Theatre of Scotland.

You will develop skills in acting, movement, dance, signing on stage, improvisation and puppetry as well as explore highly visual and physical performance styles. We will teach you the skills you need to prepare you for a career in film, television, theatre and more.

The programme only recruits for students every 3 years and the next cohort is due to start in September 2022.

Become a multi-disciplinary artist with outstanding abilities in acting, singing, dance and music

The BA Musical Theatre programme is for exceptionally talented students who are dedicated to developing their skills in acting, singing, dance and music. We are looking for the next cohort of students who want to train with us alongside industry professionals, and who aspire towards a career in the competitive musical theatre industry.

Now more than ever, artists who can showcase musicianship as an integrated part of their acting, singing, and dancing are in demand both creatively and commercially.

This programme is distinctive in that it offers conservatoire-level tuition in acting, singing, dance and music. We want to work with the most talented and committed actors, so we ask that students are multi- disciplined in the performing arts.

Perform
Your education here will centre on performance and you will have numerous opportunities to perform on stage both within RCS and at external venues around Scotland. During your final year, you will participate in fully- produced musicals, including an actor-musician show, as well as perform in a final showcase. Our aim is that you will graduate from this programme as a confident, versatile artist ready to work in the profession.

Collaborate
RCS is the only conservatoire in Europe to offer programmes in dance, drama, music, production and film. We encourage collaboration between all art forms, therefore as a musical theatre student here, you could regularly work with your peers to create new and engaging work.

Opportunities for collaboration include Options modules and the annual Bridge Week festival, where students can come together from across the conservatoire to bid for project money to create new pieces of performance. You may also have the opportunity to collaborate and learn from industry professionals during your studies, benefiting from the Royal Conservatoire’s close relationships with Scotland’s national artistic companies.

Our graduates consistently gain industry representation and continue to work across the arts and entertainment sectors. Graduates can currently be seen performing in the West End, on Broadway, in national and international tours, with national companies, regional theatres, and in a variety of television and film projects.

This intensive programme will prepare you for a career in theatre, screen and radio as you explore your individual creativity in acting, voice and movement.

The three year BA Acting Programme at RCS is one of the best professional actor training programmes in the UK. We accept 24 students with outstanding potential and commitment who are dedicated to a performing career from over 1,800 applicants each year. Graduates of the programme have progressed to work extensively in the industry and alumni includes household names such as Amy Conachan, Laura Donnelly, Sam Heughan, Katie Leung, Richard Madden and James McAvoy.

You will work intensively with our expert teaching staff on developing your skills in acting, voice and movement to equip you for a career in film, television and theatre.

Our movement specialists are trained in Lecoq technique, and will help you acquire some of the best movement for actors in UK actor training, facilitating everything from stagecraft to understanding techniques used in CGI and green screen. You will be working with the Centre for Voice in Performance (the national centre of excellence for teaching, practice, and research) using techniques developed by voice expert Nadine George.

We are the only UK conservatoire that offers training in all performance disciplines and you will have the opportunity to collaborate with your peers, formally and informally, in dance, music, production, and film. As an acting student you will have the opportunity to collaborate on film projects with students from the Film department.

The BA (Hons) Musical Theatre Performance programme is designed to enable you to develop the skills, attributes and knowledge necessary for a career as a creative entrepreneur and artist (singer-actor-dancer) in the Musical Theatre industry.

Key Features:
- Support and guide your development in preparation for a career in the professional musical theatre industry
- Empower students to operate as creative entrepreneurs
- Foster the development of graduates able to make and perform musical theatre works that reflect, interrogate and/or enrich society
- Enable you to value, have confidence in, articulate and execute your own artistic choices
- Support your development as an independent learner able to recognise and realise your own intellectual, creative and practical potential
- Facilitate your learning from professional musical theatre practitioners
- Enable you to understand the range of creative roles within musical theatre and how these might inform future employability
- Nurture your collaborative and leadership skills.

The BA (Hons) Professional Dance and Musical Theatre is a high-calibre vocational programme which will equip you for a career in the professional entertainment industry.

The BA (Hons) Professional Dance and Musical Theatre is a high-calibre vocational programme which will equip you for a career in the professional entertainment industry. The three-year programme offers intensive specialist training in dance, singing and acting, aiming to provide you with excellent employment skills. Upon graduation, employment may include musicals (West End and touring), dance companies, television, theatre and education.

After the first year you undertake your studies within a more focused specialist track: triple threat training, singer/acting focus or a more dance-based track. This allows you to choose a direction of study in the second and third year that is in line with your skills, abilities and likely destination.

This BA (Hons) Professional Dance and Musical Theatre is validated by the University of Birmingham.

The Course:
- Full-time, delivered over three years
- High contact hours
- Vocational and academic studies
- Practical skills including dance, singing and acting
- Variety of performance opportunities including musicals and showcase
- Small class sizes to ensure effective individual learning
- Greater understanding of cultural and historical developments through academic study and research projects
- Offers opportunities to be creative through guided choreography projects
- Career guidance and industry advice opportunities
- Opportunity to be seen by a range of industry professionals prior to graduation

Studying on the Design for Performance pathway of the BA (Hons) Theatre Practice course, you will:

- Be prepared to work creatively and professionally as a set and costume designer
- Receive intensive design training with industry-wide interaction
- Develop skills through speculative and realised performances at Central
- Collaborate with performers, directors, other designers and production team.

The course develops practitioners with a strong sense of direction and identity, and an ability to think conceptually. From the first year you undertake speculative design projects that will challenge and test ideas in a broad range of performance contexts, from text-based drama to opera, dance, site-specific performance and installations, under the guidance of professional directors, designers and choreographers.

The work of the costume constructor is to interpret the given costume designs, whether period or modern, abstract or representational. Students on this course will learn to be sensitive to the stylistic intentions of the designer and director, and how to research and understand the time, place and narrative of the production through analysis of the scripts or creative concepts.

Alongside training in high level and diverse making skills, students will also learn and develop skills in time management, resource management, budgeting and scheduling, working closely with students of all other theatre disciplines to realise productions.

On the Costume Construction pathway of BA (Hons) Theatre Practice, you will:

- Develop skills in costume interpretation and creative
- Learn pattern drafting, women’s and men’s costume making, hat making and accessories
- Undertake costume supervision and placements with professional companies and designers
- Work closely with students of all other theatre disciplines to contribute to the overall understanding of performance and theatre production.

Technically skilled and creatively inventive ‘makers’ are an essential part of any production team, sensitive to the stylistic intentions of the designer and director. The training will principally be in theatre, but these skills are widely transferable to different environments, including television, film and major live events.