Dissertation Performances, trips and workshops . . .

Loads is happening on the Bucks Uni Performing Arts course at the moment!

The academic year is drawing to a close, and we are extra busy during this exciting time of the year!

Apart from the dissertation performance having kicked off, we have various theatre trips and extra workshops happening to fill up an already busy end of year schedule.

Read on to find out what our students experience alongside preparing and performing their final performances, hand in their last essays, and rehears for their last practical assessments . . . . 

Working up a sweat with Frantic Assembly

Two weeks ago we invited the renowned physical theatre company Frantic Assembly to Bucks New University to hold a devising workshop with our performing arts students.

Frantic Assembly have been creating thrilling, energetic and highly physical theatre work since 1994 and are well known in England and beyond. It was a pleasure to welcome their performer and Associate Artist Dritan Kastrati to our campus, and see him hold two 2hour workshops with students from across all years.



Dritan led the students through an intense physical warm up, working up a sweat, before guiding them through a series of challenging lifts which then formed the basis for devising short performance pieces. The lifts and contact work were particularly challenging for students who feel less confident with physical work; however, it was fantastic to see how Dritan stirred them on and convinced them that, with the right technique, everyone can be lifted or lift other people.

A day full of information and inspiration

Our CONSIDER THE FUTURE event on Wednesday 4 March was a great success, with some wonderful guest speakers and a panel of distinguished and very interesting performance makers.
The day focused on giving our students practical information on how to enter the professional performance industry. In the morning, a talk about how to establish yourself as a professional actor was led by Simon Darwen. In the afternoon, Dr. Jem Kelly introduced four performance practitioners who have founded their company at university. Jen Malarkey, Katy Balfour, James Grieves and Liam Jarvis gave personal accounts and useful suggestions on how to establish a company and get your work seen; particularly useful for our students who want to continue working together after graduating.