Hello and welcome to Reigate College’s Performing Arts Department.
My name is Zoe Dunkley and I’m the Head of Department for Performing Arts. I’m also course leader for the Performing Arts (Acting, Musical Theatre and Movement), Level 3 Extended Diploma (the equivalent of three A Levels). You’ll be spending a lot of time with us studying Acting, Musical Theatre and Movement, so I’m really looking forward to meeting you and personally welcoming you to our department in September.
Before then I’d like you to complete a series of tasks and activities over the coming months to get you ready for starting the Extended Diploma course. These activities should all be completed independently from home, but because group work is so important in Performing Arts, we’ll take some time in September to come together and share what everyone’s learnt. Please also use this time to keep up with all the latest performances being released online.
The tasks are organised in three distinct steps and should all be completed by Choices Day on 25 August 2026. This is to give you the best insight into what the courses will be like and/or help prepare you for them.
Please note, some Course Leaders (for example for Music) may release their tasks earlier, as they may form part of the College’s audition process. If this applies to you, you’ll be notified separately.
New Starters Course Tasks and Activities
| Release date | Suggested Completion Dates | |
| Explore your Subject | 1 June | 1 July |
| Get Going | 1 June | 1 August |
| Aim High | 1 June | 1 September |
Welcome back to the Performing Arts Department!
Taking one of our Performing Arts courses here at Reigate College is a great way to start your journey towards your chosen career in performing arts. During your two years here, you’ll develop and improve your performance skills, as well as the skills and attributes needed to run a successful performing arts company.
For those who are thinking of a different career path, you’ll find that the confidence, creativity, team-working and presentation skills you’ll gain through studying Performing Arts will be hugely valuable whatever you do.
Get ready!
The world of Performing Arts is vast! The following are some activities you should be exploring now in preparation for studying any of our Performing Arts courses – in order to be successful, it’s important you stay up to date on how the industry is progressing, as well as having an understanding of its foundations.
Understanding live theatre today
To get an insight into theatre today, you should be reading newspaper articles and reviews as widely as possible.
When reading the newspapers and websites suggested below, you’ll find a lot of interesting material about how live theatre had to adjust as a result of Coronavirus; as well as this, you should also look to consider other issues that are affecting the Performing Arts, such as funding and royalties, and also look at jobs offered, openings, closings and training.
Experience live theatre for yourself
In order to understand live theatre, there’s nothing like watching it for yourself! There are so many live stage performances available to watch through YouTube and elsewhere, so watch them – and as many as you can!
Here are some websites to get you started:
National theatre live: http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=live+theatre+performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rvV1mXtOo&list=PLsa_IB3EW2g0W7u6Yx6hPefJyx9keQQ5M
Become a theatre critic
For this activity, we would like you to consider the live performances that you have seen over the last year and make notes / a scrapbook of the shows. One of them should be of a play that you’ve been in (this could be a piece of assessed performance work, or piece that you have done for fun or professionally.)
Consider using sub-headings that highlight:
- Acting skills
- Genre
- Set design
As you watch more performances in a variety of genres (plays, musicals, classical productions etc.), you should begin to build up an understanding of contrast in live theatre.
Developing repertoire
Reading a play/musical/libretto is an important part of the understanding and development of performance. The text indicates the movement of the actors, their tone, position etc. which all adds an extra level of detail. It may also include the lighting and setting of the furniture, as well as the sound effects required for the full assessment of the play.
Task: Read plays, one of which should be a musical. If you’re not sure what to choose, read the following article, which lists 25 plays all actors should read (some of which are available online as free e-texts):
Here are some tips to make the most out of reading a play:
- Read with a pencil in your hand so you can make
notes if necessary - Visualise the characters
- Contemplate the setting
- Research the historical context
- Sit in the director’s chair (can you find an
equivalent chair at home to sit in?)
It’s also really important to read the play aloud:
- Plays are written to be heard
- If you can, ask your family to read it with you –
reading in a group is more fun! - Listen for how characters use language that sets
them uniquely apart
Plays we’ve explored on Performing Arts courses include:
- DNA by Dennis Kelly
- Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter
- Spring Awakening by Steven Sater
- The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol
- The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht
- Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
You may like to take a look at the Performing Arts galleries section of the Reigate College website to see photos from some of these performances.
Task: For each of your texts, spend some time researching the context in which they were written and then have a go at annotating a section of each one.
As well as completing these tasks, don’t forget to keep making the most of the many opportunities to watch plays and musicals online for free.
Learning a Monologue
Each year, our Performing Arts students put on an evening of solo performances in the College’s Dramatic Arts Studio Theatre. You can watch the highlights from this year’s performances at:
https://www.reigate.ac.uk/videos/headshots-performance-2025/
In preparation for the BTEC Level 3 Diploma and Extended Diploma in Performing Arts, you will need to learn and perform two/three monologues. This will improve your rehearsal, line knowledge and performance skills, which are all essential for the course.
TASK: Please learn the following monologue from RENT
We begin on Christmas Eve with me, Mark, and my room mate, Roger. We live in an industrial loft on the corner of 11th street and Avenue B, the top floor of what was once a music publishing factory. Old rock ‘n’ roll posters hang on the walls. They have Roger’s picture advertising gigs at CBGB’s and the Pyramid Club. We have an illegal wood burning stove; its exhaust pipe crawls up to a skylight. All of our electrical appliances are plugged into one thick extension cord which snakes its way out a window. Outside, a small tent city has sprung up in the lot next to our building. Inside, we are freezing because we have no heat. From here in the loft we can see everything that goes on and I mean EVERTHING – the junkies, …the rich folk,…the tourists, …the city guys. We see and live through the hurt, the successes, the pain – it’s life and death here on the streets. But more than that – this is New York. New York baby – so good that they named it twice! (Sees someone) Take her for example, oh and her see – all of them, fresh faced and new to town, won’t last five minutes!
The following website will help you with the context and meaning:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_(musical)
If it’s helpful, you may like to download and print the monologue here.
TASK
Skills Audit
Having gone through and completed the tasks over the last few weeks, you will have gained a good grasp of some of the activities that are carried out within the study of Performing Arts. However, as a large part of the course will be practical, there is also a need to evaluate your own current level of skills in order for you to develop them.
The table below shows the level of skill you need to be able to demonstrate in order to do well on the course:
TASK Please copy out and complete the Personal Skills Audit below, filling in:
- comments on your current skills, including evidence/experience
- whether each skill is currently satisfactory (S), good (G) or excellent (E), and
- three ways you might develop in each area
Some suggestions have been given, which you may find helpful as a starting point.
Once you’ve completed the table, please answer the following questions:
- Why are time keeping, attendance, keeping to schedules, and learning lines quickly and efficiently integral to the rehearsal process?
- In your opinion, what does the term, ‘professional performer’ mean?
Performing Arts at Reigate College
Throughout the course, Performing Arts students at Reigate College have many exciting opportunities to take part in performances, workshops, masterclasses and trips.
If you’ve not already, take a look at our News Stories and Video Gallery to get a flavour of some of the things you might be involved with.
We’re looking forward to welcoming you to another exciting year of Performing Arts at the College!
Head of Performing Arts
