Level 3 Performance for the Community

Please note this a new full-time course for September 2027 and applications open on 1 October. You can register below and we will email you when applications open.

Your stage is the community. Your stories come from real people. Your work can change how people see the world.

What if your performance could do more than entertain?

On this course, you’ll work as part of a creative company, using theatre and the performing arts to connect people, tell powerful stories and create positive change in communities.

Working in an artist-in-residence style environment, you’ll collaborate with professional artists and practitioners to devise original performances inspired by real people, places, experiences and issues that matter.

You’ll explore theatre through a range of styles and genres and develop your skills across acting, movement, dance, physical theatre, and production. You’ll also learn how to work with communities and young people, lead creative workshops and develop performances and creative workshops that educate, inspire and empower.

From your first creative idea to the finished performance or workshop, you’ll discover what it takes to make professional work happen – including funding, producing, marketing and touring your work to different audiences and locations.

Create work that matters. Connect with people. Make an impact.

Why choose this course?

Create With Communities

Great community performance starts with listening. You’ll research real communities, places and issues, gathering stories and ideas to inspire your work.

You could work with schools, youth groups and community organisations to develop workshops and performances that educate, inspire and empower.

The aim isn’t simply to perform to people – it’s to create with them.

Devised & Multi-Disciplinary Performance
You’ll create original performances from scratch, experimenting with different theatrical styles and using interviews, stories, music, movement, poetry, documentary material and digital media as creative starting points.

You’ll explore how theatre can combine with dance, music, film, visual arts, lighting and sound to create memorable experiences for different audiences.

You’ll experiment, collaborate and take creative risks while developing your own artistic voice.

Work With Professional Artists
The course has an artist-in-residence feel, with professional practitioners bringing their experience and creative approaches into your learning.
You’ll work alongside artists from different disciplines, learning how they develop ideas, collaborate with communities and turn creative concepts into finished work.

You’ll learn by doing, experimenting and creating.

Make Your Ideas Happen
Great ideas need more than creativity. You’ll learn how community performance projects are developed, funded and produced.

You’ll explore:
• Developing project ideas and proposals
• Budgets and funding opportunities
• Arts Council England funding
• Working with partners and sponsors
• Marketing and audience development
• Planning and evaluating projects

You’ll gain an insight into what it takes to turn a creative idea into a real project.

Take Your Work on Tour

You’ll explore how performances can move beyond one venue and reach different audiences. You’ll develop work that can adapt to different spaces and settings, then learn what it takes to take it on tour.

You’ll explore venues, scheduling, transport, technical requirements, marketing, accessibility, risk management and working with different audiences.

Theatre doesn’t have to happen in a theatre.

Your work could be performed in schools, community spaces, festivals, public spaces or traditional performance venues.