BA (HONS) ACTING: GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS (MALE)

Completing our online application form

You will need to create a username and password (four to eight characters) before you can apply online. You can
work through the form at your own pace, saving as you go along. You will need to provide information on your
previous and current education, employment and English language ability, as well as a personal statement and a
referee. We recommend you write your personal statement offline and paste it into the application form.

What should I include in my personal statement?

Your personal statement should cover your interests, accomplishments and personal ambitions. You should
discuss the relevance of any specialist training you have undertaken prior to your decision to apply for your
chosen course. You should also tell us whether you have applied to any other CDS Drama Schools and/or
Universities (and if so, which ones) and whether you have applied to Birmingham School of Acting previously.

How long should my personal statement be?

Your personal statement should be about 500 words in length and written in essay style. You should give your
personal statement the same amount of care an attention as your audition: be sure to cover all the elements
requested above, proof-read it carefully and check your spelling before submitting it with your application.

What does my reference need to include?

Your referee should be someone who is not a family member. Your referee should focus on commenting on your
stamina and character in particular, your ability to sustain rigorous training. He or she should also comment on
your suitability for study at degree level and your suitability to pursue a specialised course in acting.

Will I be auditioned?
Admission to the BA (Hons) Acting is via audition. We will contact you to discuss the process and to arrange an
audition after we have received and read your application. Before completing your application you should ensure
that you have read all of the guidance below and on our website regarding the audition process. You will need to
pay the appropriate audition fee before you are offered an audition.
Auditioning is a two-stage process Initial and Recall. This helps to ensure that each applicant is given a fair
opportunity and that we have the best information on which to base our choice of candidates. We receive
hundreds of applications each year and less than seven per cent of those applying gain a place. However, if you
pass your Initial Audition and attend a Recall Audition, you have roughly a one in six chance of being offered a
place. In addition to the guidance below, you may wish to read Auditions: Frequently Asked Questions.
We recognise that you will inevitably be nervous about your audition; much rides upon the outcome. We work
hard to ensure that your audition is a positive experience. Members of both academic and admissions staff will be
available to answer questions at all stages of auditioning. All auditions Initial and Recall are stewarded by fulltime students who are there to support and guide you through the process.

Your Initial Audition

PUNCTUALITY
You should make sure you arrive in plenty of time for your audition; if for any reason you will be late please let us
know. Punctuality is essential during the course, as it is when working in the profession. We are aware that
sometimes transport is delayed however, we will expect you to have arranged your travel to arrive on time even
if there is a reasonable delay.
WARM-UP SESSION
At the Initial Audition you will be given a short vocal and movement warm up with one of our current students.
These warm ups do not form part of the audition process they are just an opportunity for you to prepare yourself.
Please note: Street shoes and stilettos are not allowed in any of our studios, but jazz and character shoes are.
SPEECHES AND FEEDBACK
You will be asked to present two speeches to a panel of staff and/or professional actors normally two people,
but on occasion more. You will have up to ten minutes with the panel who will provide verbal feedback on what
you present, discuss your choice of speeches and possibly your motives for attending drama school.
You must prepare and memorise two contrasting speeches from different plays, one of which must have been
written in the last 20 years and one of which must be from an Elizabethan / Jacobean play. A suggested list of
Elizabethan / Jacobean pieces can be found in Suggested Audition Selections, below.
Each selection should be no more than two minutes in length and suitable for your gender, age and experience
(you may be stopped if a speech exceeds two minutes in length).
All speeches should be from published plays. Excerpts from film script, television dramas and unpublished plays
are not acceptable unless you can provide at audition, and leave with us, a copy of the actual and complete script
with the speech used clearly marked.
You should have read the whole of the play from which a speech is taken and be able to provide the correct title,
name of the author if relevant and translator. You may be asked questions about the play and your characters
journey within it (i.e. their motives etc.).
It is preferred that the content of the speeches should be something to which you can relate and understand. It is
not advised that you attempt an accent unless you are entirely confident of its accuracy and only if it is
appropriate to the speech.
Any performance choices you make should be justifiable within the text. The performance should reveal an
understanding of the scene and character and an ability to create and share appropriate emotions and
atmosphere. Try to make sure that any vocal and physical interpretation you do is strictly relevant.
Criteria for Speeches
Energy

Achievement of contrast

Choice of speeches

Creation of environment

Spatial awareness

Use / handling of language

Suitability of physicalisation

Power to hold an audience

Identification with character

Potential for development through training

CRITERIA FOR INITIAL AUDITION ASSESSMENT

The assessment of each candidate is based upon a set of criteria used consistently by staff, who comment on and
mark the work shown.
DECISION ON INITIAL AUDITION
The staff on the panel guided by the Course Director make the decision whether to offer a Recall Audition.
Within 10 working days of your Initial Audition you should receive confirmation by email of the result of your
audition. If you have not heard within 21 days please contact the [email protected]. Decisions for
international students applying via video/DVD may take longer, but you should hear within 30 days of our receipt
of your application. Should you fail to be offered a Recall Audition you can re-apply for the following academic
year.

Your Recall Audition

PREPARATION FOR RECALL AUDITIONS
The Recall Audition normally takes an entire day and consists of an acting workshop, voice and movement
assessments, the presentation of two speeches and a song. You may retain the speeches used at Initial Audition
or select new material.
As in the Initial Audition the speeches should be no more than two minutes in length and suitable to your gender,
age and experience.
Please prepare an accompanied song; this should be no more than three minutes in length and suitable for your
gender, age and vocal range. Piano accompaniment is required and the sheet music must be provided in the right
key.
Please note your performance will be stopped if the speech or song exceeds the stated maximum length. You may
be interviewed by the Course Director or his/her representative.
If you wish us to take dyslexia or dyspraxia into account at your Recall Audition you must bring with you a copy of
your assessment/report confirming the condition and hand it to the course tutor on the day of your audition.
We will also email your referee for a general statement.
WORKSHOP
The morning session is with the entire group of candidates and begins with a physical warm-up. This is followed
by an improvisational acting workshop which is observed by members of the teaching staff.
We look for your ability to work as a member of a team, access your imagination, propose ideas, listen and
respond to stimuli and demonstrate transformational skills. Members of the acting and movement staff will
assess the workshop.
As the workshop is extremely physical, it is recommended that you bring comfortable and appropriate
clothing; jeans or tight fitting clothes are not appropriate. The work will be undertaken barefoot and long hair
should be tied back so as not to cover your face. Tight belts, belts with buckles, clothes with prominent zips all
of which may be dangerous should not be worn. Trousers should be waisted and not slip down to the hips and
leg length should not drag on the floor. Tops should cover the cleavage and stomach areas. These requirements
are in accordance with the Schools dress code.

Workshop Criteria
Focus and concentration

Engagement

Physical confidence

Physical co-ordination

Imaginative and creative response

Flexibility

Ability to transform
Listening and responding

Sense of Rhythm
Posture / stance

SPEECHES
The delivery of speeches is in half-groups and they should be from published plays. Excerpts from film scripts,
television dramas and unpublished plays are not acceptable unless you can provide at audition, and leave with us,
a copy of the actual and complete script with the speech used clearly marked.
As at the Initial Audition, you should have read the whole of the play from which a speech is taken and be able to
provide the correct title, name of the author and if relevant translator. You may be asked questions about the
play and your characters journey within it (i.e. their motives, the plays content etc). It is preferable that the
content of the speeches is something you can relate to and understand. It is not advisable to attempt an accent
unless you are entirely confident of its accuracy and only if it is appropriate to the speech.
Any performance choices you make should be justifiable within the text. The performance should reveal an
understanding of the scene and character and an ability to create and share appropriate emotions and
atmosphere. Try to make sure that any vocal and physical interpretation you do is strictly relevant.
Speeches Criteria
Energy

Achievement of contrast

Choice of speeches

Creation of environment

Spatial awareness

Use / handling of language

Suitability of physicalisation
Identification with character

Power to hold an audience

Potential for development through training

THE SONG
Your song will be performed alone to a senior singing tutor. As with your acting selections, your song should be a
published work with piano accompaniment. We will provide a pianist but you must provide sheet music in a
suitable format for the pianist to use.
We are interested to see how you interpret a song and its content. We appreciate that some candidates are not
experienced singers but we do not believe that this stops anyone from expressing the style and content of a song.
It is important that you choose a song suitable for your voice, gender and age. The singing part of the assessment
may begin with a group warm-up.
Song Criteria
Qualities: including speech, twang, falsetto
Technique: including breathing, body alignment
Story Telling: journey of the song

INTERVIEW / MEETING
In certain instances, the Course Director or his/her representative may interview you, to gain a better
understanding of you and your motives for wishing to attend a drama school.
A voice tutor may wish to see you individually to assess more fully your vocal potential.
CRITERIA FOR RECALL AUDITION ASSESSMENT
The assessment of each candidate is based upon a set of criteria used consistently by staff, who marks the work
shown. In Recall Auditions all elements are assessed including speeches. Please note that audition feedback is not
given on Recall Auditions.

Suggested Audition Selections for Men

The following list is of suggested pieces only:
Male 18 20
Arthur (King John)
Act 4 Sc 1 lines 41 70
From:
Have you the heart? When you head did but ache
To:
I would not have believed him; no tongue but Huberts.
(Excluding second part of line 58 and lines 59 and 60)
Antipholus of Syracuse (Comedy of Errors)
Act 3 Sc2 lines 29 52
From:
Sweet mistress-what your name is else I know not
To:
Let love, being light, be drowned if she sink.
Giovanni (Tis Pity Shes a Whore)
Act 1 Sc 2 lines 139 158
From:
Lost. I am lost. My fates have doomed my death.
To:
O me! She comes.
Prince Harry (1 Henry 1V)
Act 1 Sc 2 lines 192 214
From:
I know you all, and will a while uphold.
To:
Redeeming time when men think least I will.
Sebastian (Twelfth Night)
Act 4 Sc 3 lines 1 21
From:
This is the air, that is the glorious sun
To:
That is deceivable. But here the lady comes.
Gratiano (Merchant of Venice)
Act 1 Sc 1 lines 79 104
From:
Let me play the fool
To:
Ill end my exhortation after dinner.
Young Clifford (2 Henry VI)
Act 5 Sc 3 lines 31 65
From:
Shame and confusion, all is on the rout!
To:
Nothing so heavy as these woes of mine.

Male 21 25
Prince Harry (2 Henry 1V)
Act 4 Sc 3 lines 151 178
From:
No, I will sit and watch here by the King
To:
Will I to mine leave, as tis left to me.
Richard Crookback (Henry VI iii)
Act 3 Sc 2 lines 164 195
From:
O, monstrous fault, to harbour such a thought
To:
Tut, were it farther off, Ill pluck it down.
Proteus (Two Gentlemen of Verona)
Act 2 Sc 6 lines 1 43
From:
To leave my Julia shall I be forsworn
To:
As thou hast lent me wit to plot this drift.
Mosca (Volpone)
Act 3 Sc 1 lines 1 33
From:
I fear I shall begin to grow in love.
To:
Are the true parasites, others but their zanies.
Richard (Richard II)
Act 3 Sc 2 lines 32 58
From:
Discomfortable cousin, knowst thou not.
To:
Weak men must fall; for heaven still guards the right.
Gaveston (Edward II)
Act 1 Sc1 lines 1 24
From:
My father is deceasd, come Gaveston
To:
But how now, what are these?
Edward IV (3 Henry VI)
Act 5 Sc 7 lines 1 20
From:
Once more we sit in Englands royal throne.
To:
And of our labours thou shall reap the gain.
Bassanio (Merchant of Venice)
Act 3 Sc 2 lines 114 - 148
From:
What find I here?.
To:
Until confirmed, signed, ratified by you.
Male 26 30
Vindice (The Revengers Tragedy)
Act 1 Sc 1 lines 1 49
From:
Duke: royal lecher; go, grey-haird Adultery.
To:
But wise men little are more great than they.
Oberon (Midsummer Nights Dream)
Act 2 Sc 1 lines 147 188
From:
Well, go thy way. Thou shalt not from the grove.
To:
And I will overhear their conference.
(Excluding Robin/Puck)

Prince of Morocco (Merchant of Venice)

Act 2 Sc 7 lines 13 60
From:
Some god direct my judgement! Let me see.
To:
Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may.
Mark Antony (Julius Caesar)
Act 3 Sc 2 lines 171 199
From:
If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
To:
Here is himself, marred, as you see, with traitors.
Lieutenant / Captain (2 Henry VI)
Act 4 Sc 1 lines 69 103
From:
Convey hem hence and, on our longboats side.
To:
And all by thee. Away, convey him hence.(excluding Suffolk)
Saturninus (Titus Andronicus)
Act 4 Sc 4 lines 1 26
From:
Why, lords, what wrongs are these! Was ever seen.
To:
Cut off the proudst conspirator that lives.
Faulconbridge (King John)
Act 2 Sc1 lines 561 599
From:
Mad world, mad kings, mad composition!.
To:
Gain, be my lord, for I will worship thee.
Iago (Othello)
Act 2 Sc 3 lines 327 353
From:
And whats he then that says I play the villain,.
To:
That shall enmesh them all.
Male 30+
Giacomo (Cymbeline)
Act 2 Sc 2 lines 11 51
From:
The crickets sing, and mans oer-laboured sense
To:
One, two, three. Time, time!
Iago (Othello)
Act 2 Sc 3 lines 327 353
From:
And whats he then that says I play the villain,.
To:
That shall enmesh them all.
Cassius (Julius Caesar)
Act 1 Sc 2 lines 136 162
From:
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world.
To:
As easily as a king.
Boyet (Loves Labours Lost)
Act 5 Sc 2 lines 81 118
From:
Prepare, madam, prepare.
To:
To check their folly, passions solemn tears.
(Excluding Princess)

Enobarbus (Antony and Cleopatra)

Act 2 Sc 2 lines 191 245
From:
I will tell you.
To:
Bless her when she is riggish.(excluding Agrippa)
Antigonus (The Winters Tale)
Act 3 Sc 3 lines 14 57
From:
Come, poor babe.
To:
I am gone forever.
King Philip (King John)
Act 2 Sc 1 lines 235 266
From:
When I have saud, make answer to us both
To:
And stalk in blood to our possession?
Duke of York (3 Henry VI)
Act 1 Sc 4 lines 112 150
From:
She wolf od France, but worse than wolves of France
To:
Gainst thee, fell Clifford, and thee, false Frenchwoman.

Speeches to Avoid
There is plenty of advice available on how to select speeches for your Drama School Audition. To assist in that
process, we would like to give you a short list of speeches which for various reasons we would prefer you to avoid
when coming to audition at Birmingham School of Acting. These pieces are:
Shakespeare (male)
Macbeth
Richard Crookback (Henry VI)(for under 21s)
Richard III
King Lear
Hamlet
Contemporary
Plays for one person are generally not a good idea; we advise you to avoid extended monologues by:
Victoria Wood
Alan Bennett
Claire Dowie
Eric Bogosian
We strongly recommend that you avoid speeches from plays by:
John Godber
Sarah Kane
Samuel Beckett
Harold Pinter
Steven Berkoff
Individual speeches which we ask you to avoid are:
Angela from Like a Virgin
Presley from Pitchfork Disney
Finally, may we remind you that the contemporary speech should have been written within the last 20 years;
Road, by Jim Cartwright, was written in 1986. The idea is for you to be able to demonstrate your knowledge of
contemporary repertoire.

What happens next?

OFFER OF A PLACE
Following an audition and/or interview, one of the following outcomes is possible:
You are offered an unconditional place
This means that you have a place on the course for which you applied. This offer is only for the year in
which you apply.
You are offered a conditional place
This means that you will have a place on the course for which you applied if you attain the required
academic qualifications. This offer is only for the year in which you apply.
You are offered a reserve place on the course.
This is the most common outcome. It indicates that you have reached an acceptable standard, but
because applications and auditions/interviews happen throughout the year we cannot allocate all places
on a course until the auditions/interviews have been completed.
You are not offered a place on the course
You cannot re-apply for a place on the same course in the same academic year.
APPEALING AGAINST AN UNSUCCESSFUL AUDITION
If you wish to appeal against a decision you should contact the Admissions and Enrolment at
[email protected] within 14 days of notification to receive a copy of the Appeals Policy. An appeals panel,
led by a senior member of staff who was not involved in your audition, will investigate thoroughly any grounds for
appeal and will notify you of the outcome.

Directions to Birmingham School of Acting at Millennium Point by Road

Millennium Point is clearly signposted from all main routes into the city simply follow the brown tourist signs.
Currently, there are major road works in the vicinity of Millennium Point and access routes may change on a
regular basis. You may need to follow diversion routes where indicated.
From M6, Junction 6 (Aston Expressway)
Follow signs to City Centre on the A38(M). After the first exit follow signs for Ring Road and Convention Centre.
You immediately come to Dartmouth Circus roundabout. Take the first exit (Dartmouth Middleway, A4540). At
the next roundabout take the third exit onto Jennens Road.
From M5, Junction 3 (Hagley Road)
Follow the A456 into Birmingham for approximately 6 miles, through the tunnel at Five Ways, onto Broad Street.
Follow signs for the A38 (Aston Expressway) onto Great Charles Queensway. Proceed under the tunnel at St Chad's
Queensway. Indicate left as you exit and go down to the island at the bottom. Take the third exit onto James Watt
Queensway. Continue onto Chapel Street, then turn left at the traffic lights onto Jennens Road. Go all the way
round the next roundabout to return along Jennens Road.
From M42, Junction 6 (Coventry Road)
Follow A45 City Centre for approximately 7 miles. You will then reach a large traffic roundabout (Bordesley
Circus). Follow signs for the M6 into Watery Lane Middleway. At the first roundabout, follow signs for the M6. At
the second roundabout, take the second exit into Lawley Middleway. At the third roundabout (Ashted Circus)
take the first left onto Jennens Road.

Car Parking at Millennium Point

The Car Park at the front of Millennium Point has closed due to the building of the Eastside City Park. Curzon
Street is also currently closed due to building work in the area, including Phase 1 of Birmingham City Universitys
new City Centre Campus.
There is a new multi-storey car park owned and managed by Birmingham City Council situated adjacent to
Millennium Point. The car park entrance is on Howe Street off Jennens Road. If you are using a sat nav please use
the postcode B4 7AP.
Charges at the time of writing are:
Up to 1hr - 1.00
Up to 3hrs - 2.80
Up to 6hrs - 4.00
Up to 2hrs - 1.90
Up to 4hrs - 3.50
Over 6hrs (up to 24hrs) - 5.00
Please retain your entry ticket on entering the Car Park. Payment is via machines located inside the car park
building at the end of your visit. At present this car park only takes cash and does not accept card payments.
There is a cash machine available inside Millennium Point on Level 0.

Walking from Birmingham New Street Station or Birmingham Moor Street Station
If you have arrived into Birmingham New Street, leave the station via the main entrance, exit to the left of the
escalators and follow the path around to the Rotunda building and continue following the signs for Moor St
Station. Moor Street Station is situated on Moor Street Ringway. (If you have arrived into Birmingham Moor
Street, turn right out of the station and continue as follows.) Walk along Moor Street Ringway over the set of
traffic lights; Birmingham Metropolitan College-Mathew Boulton Campus is on your left. After the traffic lights
Moor Street Ringway becomes Jennens Road. Walk a further 400m and Millennium Point is located on your right.
Other directions, including directions from buses etc, are available on the Millennium Point website.

City Centre Campus

Millennium Point
Curzon Street
Birmingham B4 7XG

M42

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T: 0121 331 5000

W: www.bcu.ac.uk