About us - Education Through Acting

We are an education company for various businesses through the ETA system we developed.

96 Linwood Plaza, #264, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
T. 201-416-3818
etasystem.llc@gmail.com

WHY IS IT BOUND TO BE EFFECTIVE?

Let’s say students are preparing a theatrical performance for a school festival. In this case, a typical method used is Educational Theatre. This involves writing a script through discussion, rehearsing, and performing. (The process of Educational Theatre is identical to ETA.)

Here, the show is the surface-level goal. The school likely has a final objective they want to achieve through this show, such as fundraising, school promotion, or member bonding.

In Educational Theatre, the entire process is led by an education expert, namely a teacher. The teacher is not a theatre expert and doesn’t know how to create a high-quality show. As a result, the students participating in the work also flounder, and the whole process often devolves into laughing and joking around, resulting in a childish and short comedic skit. While creating such a work, participants cannot fully invest themselves, nor is it easy for them to gain any insights. The audience, too, cannot be expected to be moved by the show or to educate themselves.

In contrast, ETA (Education Through Acting) is guided and directed by theatre professionals rather than education experts. The director will encourage in-depth discussions among participants, create high-quality performances based on these discussions, and transform participants into artists. This approach can evoke emotional responses from the audience watching such performances.

ETA aims to create high-quality works that can be artistically appreciated. By achieving this surface-level goal successfully, it can have a powerful impact on both participants and audience, making it easier to achieve the ultimate purpose.

For these reasons, ETA must be directed by theatre professionals capable of preparing high-quality performances that resonate artistically. There is a key concept that directors must keep in mind when working with ETA: changing the status of participants.

When educational experts, teachers, lead, as in Educational Theatre, participants become students. Usually, students are not autonomous and tend to rely on educators, trying to learn from them rather than doing things on their own.

In ETA, participants are recognized as independent artists. They are not subjects to be educated but become active creators of their own work. This change in status makes participants more proactive and voluntary, enhancing the educational effect.

This transformation of participants into artists is the most critical aspect of ETA. The fundamental reason why Educational Theatre methods are often ineffective lies in this very concept.

Rehearsing a play over several months is no easy task. It is not merely about reading, memorizing, and reciting lines. Preparing a theatrical show involves presenting the entirety of a human life on stage within one or two hours. The foundation of acting begins with a thorough analysis of humanity. Acting, therefore, means stepping onto the stage as a dissected representation of a human being. It is not simply role-playing, but rather a process of being reborn as one’s character. But how can one human being transform into another? Acting is a battle to overcome this dilemma—a struggle where actors confront themselves, interact with diverse individuals, and push beyond their own limits. Each participant stands on stage as both themselves and their character, and through rehearsals, they redefine their existence and value by confronting various limitations. Theatre rehearsal becomes a form of self-discipline and one of the most effective methods of social education.This difficult process can be led by a theatre expert.

Educational Theatre lacks this serious artistic approach, which is fundamental to theatre itself. It is often reduced to theatrical play, used as a tool to achieve educational goals without fully understanding what theatre can achieve. As a result, Educational Theatre produces ambiguous creations that are neither educational nor theatrical, making it harder to achieve the ultimate objectives intended through the show, surface-level goal.

ETA, even if its purpose is educational, approaches the process artistically rather than educationally. Through this process, participants undergo self-discovery via artistic creation, while audiences experience empathy and are educated through that emotional connection.