Acting & Performance Summer School in Oxford

Why Study Acting and Performance?

Do you enjoy the thrill of performance? Our Acting and Performance course is bound to increase your on-stage confidence and ability to work creatively. From day one you will get the chance to act, first acting out a short scene from Shakespeare’s Richard III and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, before moving onto modern works by Samuel Beckett, Willy Russell and John Godber. You’ll learn how to edit a scene, become familiar with performance techniques, and work closely with others. We’ll look at your body language, breathing and stage presence. All this hard work will culminate in showcasing a play to the rest of your class.

Join our Acting and Performance Summer School with Oxford Royale Academy and unleash your imagination and creativity.

The Oxford Royale Experience

New Perspectives 13-15

Broadening Horizons 16-18

World Classes, World Class

Select your curriculum

New Perspectives: Acting and Performance Skills (Option)

Course Summary

Through a combination of drama theory and practical activities, our Acting and Performance Skills course will provide you with an initial grounding in fundamental performance techniques, as well as increased on-stage confidence and the ability to work creatively in a group. You will experiment with skill-based improvisation, focusing not only on ‘performance’ but also on voice, body, characterisation, and the use of stage crafts.

From day one you will get the chance to act, working in groups on a short scene from a classic English dramatist (starting with Shakespeare). In the second week you will concentrate on key scenes from modern works, such as Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, or John Godber’s Teechers. On Fridays, these are performed to the rest of the class who offer their feedback. This progression from Early Modern drama to more contemporary theatre will allow you to explore how English drama has developed over the years.

Topics Covered

As well as providing a fun and engaging atmosphere to unleash your imagination, the course also aims to build effective group working skills and help you to practice self-control, attentiveness and focus. We also hope that you leave us with renewed curiosity about theatre and language.

At the end of the course you will know how to edit a scene ready for rehearsal, will be familiar with rehearsal and performance techniques, have the know-how to work with others to produce a play, and will be more aware of your body language, breathing and stage presence. On your final day you will prepare a play to showcase to your class.

What’s Included?

Residential in prestigious campuses: University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
For ages: 13-15 | Price from £4,995
Residential in a top university
A truly international environment – over 150 nationalities at ORA in 2019
An inspiring Acting course taught by experts
Accommodation, meals, tuition and cultural programme
Education travel insurance provided
Graduation, report cards and certificate
Maximum of 12 students per class for core morning lessons
Maximum of 15 students per class for afternoon workshops
20+ hours tuition / week

Broadening Horizons: Acting and Performance Skills (Option)

Course Summary

You will explore essential body, voice and acting skills through the medium of skill-based improvisation. This is a form of improvisation devised by the originator of theatre improvisation, Viola Spolin, and unlike many forms of improvisation does not have its focus on ‘performance’.

Instead, you will focus on skill development for all aspects of theatre work: voice, body, characterisation, blocking/use of the stage, stage crafts, motivation and emotion. A non-judgmental approach to acting is encouraged on this course, where it is not encouraged to see things in terms of ‘good and bad’ or ‘right and wrong’ but rather to promote intuition, imagination, problem solving and freedom of action, which will give you a sense of confidence, and is designed to bring out true potential. The influences for the techniques used in this course are derived not just from Spolin but also from Konstantin Stanislavski, Uta Hagen, Michael Shurtleff and Augusto Boal.

Topics Covered

In addition to expanding your knowledge of acting and performance skills, you will also work on a short scene or monologue chosen from classical or modern theatre. On the final Friday these will be performed to the rest of the class who will offer feedback. You will be immersed in theatrical techniques early on so that you are free to explore both modern and traditional English drama. These performance techniques are exercised so that you can apply these skills to the scene studies; in this way, the two parts of the course complement each other.

The short scenes or monologues that you will address cover a very broad cross-section of British theatre, so whichever skills and styles you wish to focus on, you are sure to find some application in the final performance. Playwrights include Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Harold Pinter, Michael Frayn, and Willy Russell alongside lesser-known writers whose writing is similarly enjoyable and exciting.

What’s Included?

Residential in prestigious campuses: University of Oxford
For ages: 16-18 | Price from £4,995
Residential in a top university
A truly international environment – over 150 nationalities at ORA in 2019
An inspiring Acting course taught by experts
Accommodation, meals, tuition and cultural programme
Education travel insurance provided
Graduation, report cards and certificate
Maximum of 12 students per class for core morning lessons
Maximum of 15 students per class for afternoon workshops
20+ hours tuition / week

Experience life on the campus of the University of Oxford

What’s life like at the oldest university in the English-speaking world? Join us this summer to find out! Your Oxford summer school is hosted in historic residential colleges where you will experience authentic undergraduate life. Sleep in student bedrooms set in centuries-old quadrangles, socialise in vibrant student common rooms, and relax in glorious college gardens. Take your place in vaulted halls where students have dined for over eight centuries. Learn in lecture theatres and laboratories where groundbreaking discoveries have been made, and study in the classrooms where 55 Nobel prize winners developed the key academic and life skills crucial for future success.

Live

Dine

Study

Hear from eminent guest speakers

Baron William Hague of Richmond speaks at our Great Debate event in Oxford

We know that you’re already passionate about your chosen subject. But have you ever wanted to find out more about another field, to explore paths as yet undiscovered? Wouldn’t it be great to listen to and debate with leading figures from the worlds of culture, media, sport and academia, while boosting your confidence and public speaking skills?

Here at ORA, we can help with that! In Oxford, you will enjoy fantastic talks from world-renowned guest speakers, from eminent Cabinet Ministers and ambassadors, to celebrated explorers and globally esteemed businessmen and women, all of whom are ready to share the secrets of their success with you. Unique among Oxford summer schools, our guest lecture programmes will help you to explore and debate the challenges facing the world today, from climate change to global security and the spread of misinformation, boosting your summer of learning even further!

Join exciting activities and trips

Summer should be fun, right?! Don’t worry, we get that - we never forget that you’re on holiday! We can help you to uncover Oxford’s secrets, from the best coffee shops to the dreamiest riverside parks, from Oxford’s very own castle to must-visit shops, galleries and museums. You and your friends will enjoy an amazing extra-curricular timetable, including dazzling graduation balls, excursions offering a glimpse of Britain’s past, and much more. Make Instagram-worthy memories as you visit glitzy attractions such as the bright lights of London’s theatres, Windsor Castle, and Blenheim Palace.

Experience quintessential English activities

Try a range of sports and activities

Explore all that Oxford has to offer

Enjoy inspirational excursions

Join exclusive parties

Something for the parents too...

Would you like to network with high achievers from over 170 countries, and gain your own taste of the Oxford experience? And would you like to visit classic venues such as the Ashmolean, the world’s oldest university museum? Or Oxford’s Grand Cafe, site of England’s first coffee house? If so, our parents’ events are definitely for you!

At the beginning of each summer school, we invite students’ parents, families and carers to join us for a reception hosted at a stunning Oxford venue. Mingle with other high flyers, and meet senior ORA staff and company founders who will be delighted to answer your questions about the summer school. Build new connections while enjoying an exclusive peek into the experiences that your children will enjoy this summer. We can’t wait to meet you!

Any questions?

Check out our FAQs

Once you have decided which course you would like to attend, you can book online using our secure booking system. Once your application has been submitted, you will be sent an email confirming that it has been received.

If you prefer, you can download an Application Form by clicking here. You can return the Application Form to us by any of these methods:

Scan and email to admin@oxford-royale.co.uk
Fax to +44 (0) 845 280 01 22
Post to Oxford Royale Academy, Yarnton Manor, Church Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1PY, UNITED KINGDOM.

Once your booking has been processed by one of our members of staff, you will receive email confirmation of your place on the course of your choice. A Welcome Pack will be available to download from the ORA Portal from April. If at any time you would like to discuss your booking with a course advisor, please feel free to email admin@oxford-royale.co.uk or call us on +44 (0) 1865 954 800.

All courses require a deposit payment to secure the booking. For Summer 2021, this is £995 GBP for all two-week courses for ages 13+, and £395 for one-week courses for 8-12 years. You may either pay the full course fee when you book your place, or pay the deposit amount and then the balance at a later date. The balance clearance is required at least 60 days before the start date of the course. Where the student is booking less than 60 days before the start date, the balance must be covered in full.

New online enrolments will require a Debit or Credit Card payment of at least the deposit amount. If you would like to enrol and make your deposit payment via Bank Transfer, please contact our Admissions team, who will be happy to assist you in doing so. (admin@oxford-royale.co.uk)

Payments for existing enrolments can be made via a number of methods, including domestic and international bank transfer, credit or debit card, as well as local payment options; please log in to your ORA Portal and click on the ‘Pay Now’ button on your booking details.

All course fees include the following:

Classes and tuition (20 taught hours per week)
Study files/materials
Guest lectures by academic speakers
Personalised academic reports and graduation certificate
Accommodation in your chosen location (see our accommodation page for the specific colleges and locations)
Meals in the Hall
Free WiFi (subject to availability)
Daily updates for parents and family on the ORA campus blogs
A wide selection of afternoon and evening activities
Coach excursions
Welcome and graduation events (parents invited)
A multitude of extras, including an ORA notebook and branded clothing

Yes, students will be awarded an Oxford Royale Academy Graduation Certificate in their chosen course upon satisfactory completion of the course. This will be presented in a graduation ceremony on the final evening of the course.

Most of our accommodation sites offer a mix of single and twin bedrooms, with some campuses having en-suite bedrooms available and others have shared bathroom facilities between a small group of same-sex students. If you have a particular preference for a certain room type, you can make a request on booking, which may be granted subject to availability. If a particular room type is required for medical reasons, please contact our Admissions Team who will be able to check availability on different sites, depending on the course chosen.

Sharing your room with fellow students is a great way of getting to know people and making friends.

All our programmes take place in a secure environment. Our students are supervised 24 hours a day by campus staff. All students must check-in regularly during the day: at roll-call at breakfast; at their morning classes; in the afternoon for lessons, workshops or activities; at dinner and in the evening before curfew. All campuses have a curfew.

Each campus office has its own safe where students may deposit items of value such as passports, travel documents, bank cards etc.

All campuses have residential staff who can be contacted 24 hours a day.

If your country is part of the EU or the European Economic Area you will not require a visa to enter the UK. It is always safest to check whether you need a visa with the relevant authorities.

Students attending our USA Summer Schools may be able to enter the USA on the Visa Waiver programme – we can provide individual support on request for those that do need a visa.

If you wish to change your course or study options (including dates), please do not hesitate to contact us. However, changes to courses are always subject to availability. For this reason, it may be more difficult for us to accommodate any changes requested less than 60 days before the course start date.

Oxford Royale Academy’s terms and conditions for refunds are as follows:

Any cancellation must be received in writing and can only be on the following terms:

no refund of deposit will be made under any circumstances, once the two-week cooling-off period has concluded;
for cancellations before your course start date, the remainder of the course fees less the deposit amount will be proportionally refunded as per the table below:

Period Before Start Date	Total refunded
120+ days	100%
90-119 days	50%
45-89 days	10%
0-44 days	0%

All students registered to attend our English Language courses will be required to take an English Language Placement Test, which will assess the relative abilities of each student. Students are then placed into ability groups based on the results of their assessment, and the material that they study is tailored to the level of the class.

Once you have booked your place on a course we will send you information on how to take our online Placement Test. This test should take approximately one hour and should be taken by the student at least one month prior to their arrival date.

Please note that Oxford Royale Academy English courses do not cater for beginners in English.

It is certainly possible to take more than one course and combine a variety of study programmes. This can be done in two ways:

Enrol on two different programmes. For example, you may wish to have two weeks on the Broadening Horizons course and then two more weeks on the Oxford Enterprise Programme.
Enrol on the same programme twice, but choose different subject options. For example, you may wish to have four weeks on the New Perspectives course, choosing Creative Writing & Experimental Psychology for the first two weeks, followed by Human Biology and Physics & Chemistry for the second two weeks. Four-week courses include New Perspectives, Broadening Horizons and Oxford Summer English only.

Students staying for two consecutive sessions will be provided with accommodation for the Saturday night, and their campus will provide supervised activities between their first session ending and second session starting. Should you have any queries about how to take more than one course please do not hesitate to contact us.