This class aims to impart to students basic performance techniques, skills, and working habits to equip them for a future as an actor of professional-calibre diligence, responsibility, agency, and technique, as well as a confident personal grasp of process in the context of the theatre-making constellation of practitioners.
Areas of focus include: the actor’s process undertaking scripted performance, from first reading through performance; the exploration of text and character and how that translates to performance both in an ensemble and as an individual; the individual actor’s responsibility to self and others—an ethos of the ensemble and how to work with other actors; the discipline, concentration and drive expected of the actor at a professional level; a constructive vocabulary for thinking about one’s work and that of others, within a culture of circumspect reflection as an indispensable creative tool.

This module provides a detailed understanding of Shakespeare’s language; it seeks to develop a range of tools to appreciate and engage performatively with Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatic texts, in a technique that can be expanded to engage with other such ‘heightened texts’. 

Techniques to inspire the imagination are placed at the heart of the work; students will aim to create acting that is believable, engaging and sustainable in either a theatre or film context. 

Particular attention is placed on verse and rhetoric and on the interdependence of language, meaning and intention.

The goal of this project is to instil in students a capacity for inspired acting based on a reliable technique, giving them concrete, definite steps towards the creation of convincing characterisation. The aim is to heighten within the students a sensitivity for the riches of inner life, and enable them to express accurately this inner life with increasing ease. 

The module initiates training in scene analysis, to promote coherent and inspiring performance choices in the actor. It then proceeds to explore techniques for creating convincing characterisation. This approach encourages the actor to access creative imagination in search of truthful performances, thereby equipping the actor to work artistically. Using a variety of techniques, many derived from Stanislavski and his heirs, students explore scenes from contemporary playwrights, rehearsed to performance level.

The goal of this project is to deepen the students understanding of Stanislavskian acting techniques and character development in approaching a play set in a different period and setting. Students work as a company to research and flesh out the ‘world of the play’. They explore techniques for independent actor research and character development. The project may include a first foray into accent work.

The module deepens training in scene analysis, to promote evermore specific choices in the actor. Students are also encouraged to put into practice the techniques of character analysis that they have been exploring in other skills classes. The class culminates in a work-in-progress showing.

Improvisation contributes to the development of listening and communicating, as well as individual and group problem solving. In the context of improvisation, characters and situations develop organically and rely on each person being present and open to a range of response.

This class aims to help the actor discover and cultivate their individual voice as a performer through improvisation. It also aims to instil in students essential improvisatory skills for use both in the studio and in performance. Over the course of the module students will be engaged in how to watch fellow actors work, how to offer constructive feedback, and how in turn they can learn from that feedback. They will also seek to gain competency in following direction – including side-coaching and feedback – supporting growth in concentration, flexibility and sensitivity.

It should be noted, that while improvisation as a performance mode often seeks to prioritise laughter provocation in an audience, this module retains a focus on improvisation in the studio as an essential strategy for creative exploration on one hand and augmenting all aspects of the individual’s instrument on the other.

The module aims to introduce students to, and guide them towards, an overall sense of the artist as actor, theatremaker and social agent via the personal, performative statement born and grown through the Manifesto process. Under guidance from the primary tutor as well as various industry mentors, students work towards a final, fully crafted performance in Year Two. Through a series of prompts and exercises, students are encouraged to discover their own subject matter, voice and style, and understand where it is situated in the contemporary landscape. The module includes research, reflective practice, and elements of dramaturgical practice. The focus of the module is a journey of discovery through self-expression and performance-making under the assured and supportive oversight of professional practitioners from various areas of specialty.

The module aims to produce multi-skilled and energetic theatre practitioners, enabling students to develop an innovative and proactive approach to theatre making. Students will be equipped with the ability to find or create their own distinctly individual work, whilst also being able to suggest casting opportunities in the work of others. The Manifesto process offers students tools and approaches for generating material for performance, while at the same time developing and building confidence in the student’s own theatre-making process. It empowers students to explore how to situate and contextualise theatre by connecting with the world around them and understanding their place, and the place of performance work, in society. This aspect of the module may include non-theatrical assignments e.g. social, political etc, or assignments in ‘popular theatre forms’ e.g. Cabaret / Performance Art.

This class helps the student establish a healthy working method for their voice, accessing their emotional availability, releasing blocks and undermining tensions, and accessing truth and authenticity. In this class they will explore their vocal mechanism, developing efficiency, ease and presence.

The class employs a number of methodologies to ensure the actor has a rounded vocal education with emphasis on the individual’s development. Practitioners explored may include but are not limited to Fitzmaurice, Rodenburg, Hart, Linklater, and Chekhov. The module gives the actor an appreciation of wide definitions of voice and voice work, and of the interconnection between communicative forms, from verbal to non-verbal, sung to spoken, actor/player to writer/theatre maker. This class also contains some element of accent work.

This class introduces the student to a wide variety of texts and their associated requirements. Students explore texture, metre, and structures including the specific demands of heightened classical verse forms. The class develops an advanced understanding of the link between voice and character and will prepare students for the demands of specific projects. establish a healthy working method for their voice, accessing their emotional availability, releasing blocks and undermining tensions, and accessing truth and authenticity. In this class they will explore their vocal mechanism, developing efficiency, ease and presence.

The class employs a number of methodologies to ensure the actor has a rounded vocal education with emphasis on the individual’s development. Practitioners explored may include but are not limited to Fitzmaurice, Rodenburg, Hart, Berry,  Linklater, and Chekhov. The module gives the actor advanced tools to approach a wide variety of texts and styles, from contemporary to classical, verse to prose, and a practical understanding of working in a wide variety of performance spaces and media, live and recorded.

This module aims to introduce students to the practice and ethos of an approach to Clown, rooted in the Mask of Four Temperaments and the Mask of Red Nose. The approach serves as a personal excavation and public opening out for self-expression as well as a technique for an actor’s centring and growth, a search for insight into the universal through the individual vessel. While drawing on the breadth of thought and practice in historic manifestations of the clown it is imperative these traditions are seen and practised through a modern lens that is inclusive, diverse and gender sensitive.

The aim is to present a series of lectures and seminars on Theatre History in a roughly chronological fashion from early western theatre to the present, as well as exploring a number of non-western theatre traditions. By exploring different traditions, conventions and movements, students deepen knowledge and understanding by positioning these within a range of political, social and cultural contexts.

We will also explore many extra-textual features of drama, including the performance styles of actors, the significance of performance space and place, and the role of the audience. We will reflect on what theatre and performance tells us about different social values and cultural identities. Alongside this will be an examination of important texts and performances, with application and introduction to feminist analysis. We will also allocate time to discuss and analyse recently attended/viewed productions and frame them within a historical or relevant context.. Each topic is covered in terms of playwrights, plays and characters, genre, themes, influences, innovations, costuming, architecture, actors and theatre practitioners of the period. A series of classes entitled Stageworld explores a variety of different styles, encourages the ability to envision a play as a live performance and to broaden the students knowledge of a variety of contexts and genres. 

We will reflect on what theatre and performance tells us about different social values and cultural identities. Alongside this will be an examination of important texts and performances, with application and introduction to feminist analysis. We will also allocate time to discuss and analyse recently attended/viewed productions and frame them within a historical or relevant context.

This module introduces students to technical and pragmatic aspects of theatre production, including producing and directing, for the purpose of building an awareness of the actor’s role and responsibilities in stagecraft. It looks at various positions in the theatremaking constellation, from Stage Manager to Director, Producer, Company Management and House Management. It also explores modes of theatrical staging, such as proscenium, thrust, end stage, theatre-in-the-round, and others, as well as conceptual approaches such as site-specific and interactive theatre. Introduction is also given to conventions for talking about staging in the rehearsal room.

The aim of this module is to improve the student’s core acting skills, through the heightened medium of song, to continue to develop individual singing and general vocal technique, and to further develop the student’s singing skill and confidence, both solo and ensemble. 

The Movement module in Year 1 is designed as an introduction to the interplay between anatomy, movement theories and performance qualities. Through exploration of physical techniques, improvisation and movement composition, students will be exposed to a fundamental approach to using the body as a responsive and expressive instrument. 

The module focuses on the body as an essential part of the actor’s training. By introducing movement  fundamentals that connect mind, body and breath, students will find themselves open to an enhanced range of physical and artistic expression. The movement module is rooted in a range of approaches and practices, including: Feldenkrais; Somatics; Body Mind Centering; Laban; Malmgren; Qigong; Contact Improvisation; Viewpoints; and Movement Observation.

The module is delivered over a number of different classes and requires students to be receptive, present, spatially aware, and able to listen and respond with the whole body. Classes will focus on movement and body awareness, movement psychology and character analysis. Students will develop their own physical understanding and range as well as their ability to take part in choric and ensemble work. 

In the second year, students take part in Transformation class in addition to their other movement classes, which involves the actor in detailed, specific observation of animals and birds in order to transform their body as completely as possible. This work, descended from Copeau, exercises the student’s imagination, memories and senses, working with body and mind to inhabit a detailed imaginary world.

The movement components of the course are essential in developing the actor’s instrument, unlocking each actor’s body and their unique ability to make the invisible visible.

This module aims to introduce the students to various performance combat routines and techniques. It will provide safe, quality training for actors in all areas of performance combat and will equip students with a basic set of skills advantageous for a future in the theatrical workplace.

In their second year, students have the opportunity to take exams and receive professional certification .

Dance movement for the stage seeks to cultivate a strong and supple body, capable of expression in a variety of performative styles. Classes concentrate on body control, energy dynamics, and precision, encouraging students to express themselves through their bodies in realistic and non-naturalistic ways. These classes also provide students with an opportunity to learn about effective uses of space, relationship and imagination through the creation of short choreographed pieces and the execution of a variety of social and musical theatre compositions. The module imparts to students how dance is framed within a cultural context with the choreography reflecting the social and ethnic traditions of a given era.

The primary objective of this class is to instil in students an active engagement of listening, as distinct from the passive engagement of hearing. Being present and engaged to the resonances within the theatrical process is essential to an actor. Being able to listen to the playwright, the director, fellow cast members and the audience is a fundamental skill, adding depth, integrity and truthfulness to an actor’s performance. Through rhythm work the student will begin the process of fine tuning their listening skills. Ensemble work will mandate that each member of the ensemble is listening to their part, their fellow classmates’ parts and to the overall orchestrated sound that all parts create all using very simple basic patterns. Developing rhythmic awareness is a core principal of this module.

Students are taught the basic repertoire of tap steps as a means of beginning their engagement with rhythm, then going on to explore various rhythmic variations. Emphasis is placed on articulation: clarity of sound, footwork and accuracy of rhythmic patterning as well as maintaining tempo and dancing with accompaniment. Students are given a basic tap warm-up consisting of fundamental tap steps highlighting musical measures, pulse and syncopation. They are thereby introduced to basic bar structures, rhythm patterns and ensemble engagement through a range of musical styles and traditions.

This one-week intensive module introduces students to the professional field of Voice Acting, and may include approaches to radio drama, voiceovers for commercials, narrations, podcasts, audiobooks and animations. Basic concepts of using the voice in audio recording will be introduced and practised. Areas of attention include tone, voice placement, pacing, dynamics, articulation, breath control, plosives and proximic effect. The module also explores the setting up a badic setup of a home studio and how to make a voice reel.

This module is intended to equip students with the practical requirements of working as an actor in Ireland. It begins development of audition skills and abilities in a supportive environment for the purpose of preparing students for professional theatre auditions. The module will include attention to honing those audition skills and gaining confidence as well as working as an ensemble (a driving element of the school’s ethos). Students will be assisted in cultivating sightreading skills. They will be asked to prepare pieces each week and they will be assessed on their level of preparation and delivery of the work. All students are expected to attend each class and give feedback and observations to each mock audition, to work within the ensemble with openness and generosity while demonstrating individual skill and ability, and demonstrating openness and ability to take direction.

The course will also cover fundraising, the writing of funding and grant applications, budget creation and general industry knowledge, including masterclasses delivered by a series of external and inhouse industry experts, preparing the actors in training for the practicalities of the industry, from acquiring an agent to selecting a headshot.

The module takes on a diverse approach integrating a range of physical, vocal and ensemble exercises each day. This will allow students to draw from a broad spectrum of practises when working as an independent artist, giving them a toolkit of exercises that are needed to assist full readiness and expression. By starting BUA as the first class of the day, the students are taught how essential it is to have a structured and deeply disciplined work ethic as an artist. 

The range of physical and vocal exercises aims to strengthen each student’s fitness, stamina, performance ability and focus, which will lead them to becoming a more versatile and embodied performer. Studio exercises and explorations will develop kinesthetic skills, spatial awareness and physical development of the body and voice.

Over the course of two years in BUA, students will develop an understanding of their own requirements in terms of body and voice maintenance, as well as being given opportunities to experience leading sessions for their peers.

Every year we invite an international practitioner as a Visiting Teaching Fellow from another theatrical culture to work with our first-year students on an intensive project, usually physical in nature.  The aim is to expand the students’ horizons and for them to experience and absorb techniques and teaching that might not normally be available to them in Ireland or in other anglophone settings.  2024 saw our first special international project with a visiting fellow from Norway.

From the very start of their time at Gaiety School of Acting, students receive regular classes in Acting for Screen, alongside their other Acting Skills classes. The class gives them an understanding of screen-specific techniques, an understanding of working in television and film and tools for approaching the intensive independent preparation work required for the medium. At the end of the first year, students undertake a self-made film project, where they gain invaluable experience and understanding of the process of script-writing, scheduling and editing.

In the second year, they continue their screen classes which culminate in their on-location film project with professional director and cinematographers.