EnActe School of Drama is the educational arm of the renowned Bay Area theatre company EnActe Arts, Inc., an organization dedicated to global storytelling and diverse voices. The School of Drama has students of all ages, catering to its clientele with drama-based holistic education suitable for children, youth, adults, and even industry professionals. The primary philosophy of the School of Drama is that the skills provided by film and theatre arts are applicable, practical, and integral to the development of any career in any field. We have been successful in a constantly changing climate (even through challenges such as COVID-19), because what drama teaches most is self-thought, adaptability, resourcefulness and all attributes of social competence including presentation, perception and persuasion. We teach more than drama; we teach a new way of thinking to radically shift the way we think about the correlation between art and technology.
Currently the Enacte School of Drama only offers classes through our partnered school programs. We hope to launch further offerings mid 2023. If you are apart of a school and would like to bring Enacte School of Drama to your campus, contact us. We will update when we have further offerings available.
Course Offerings and Descriptions
Level: Kindergarten and 1st Grades
Our introduction to performance through classic storytelling provides a safe space for students to explore their imaginations and emotions through theatre games and performance. Students will work collaboratively in an ensemble performance-based retelling of a storybook, under the guidance of a professional storyteller. They will learn how to work as a team, become stewards of their community, how to project their voices, communicate with their body and exercise critical thinking skills through story analysis and game play. Through all of these tools, each student will find a new way of communicating and succeeding with the world around them.
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: No Fear, Drama is Here! and Voice Acting for Animation Series
Level: Elementary, Middle, & High
Our classic theatre and film acting class provides an immersive, collaborative, and educational experience. Students will have custom scenes written for them by a professional writer, each working on their specific challenges and framed around their personal needs. They will learn projection through vocality, critical thinking through script analysis, creativity through character dimensionalization, command through stage/screen presence, and confidence through emotional exploration. Through all of these tools, each student will find a new way of communicating and succeeding with the world around them.
Final Project: All students will perform in a virtual public showcase for their parents, friends, and peers.
Video: https://youtu.be/ButOZ6zqmTY
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Voice Acting for Animation Series
Level: Middle & High
Our personal narrative writing class empowers students to effectively communicate their personalities, ideas, and stories. This skill will benefit a wide range of students – whether for personal statements for college applications, writing memoirs and fiction, or simply passionately communicating their inner selves to an audience. Creative nonfiction in a personal essay is the exciting intersection between creative and fact-based writing – and is the key to success in any modern industry. This is a skill that is demanded repeatedly of students of all levels throughout their education and career. This course teaches the essential attributes of social competence through the framework of EnActe’s three P’s: perception, presentation, and persuasion.
Final Project: A university admissions style personal essay.
Video: https://youtu.be/BNuDkOr4Wwo
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: No Fear, Drama is Here! and Voice Acting for Animation Series
Level: Middle
Students who are interested in WRITING and ILLUSTRATING will learn how to create their own comic books! An instructor experienced in narrative and design will help students learn how to write comic book scripts, plan out panels, draw characters and scenes, place bubbles, and design their final project! Students will walk away with all the technical, creative, and story skills necessary to create and publish their own stories in comic form! Students will use programs such as Procreate*, Adobe PhotoShop*, or even the free Krita to draw their final images.
Final Project: With the skills they have learned they will publish six pages of a comic book. *Licensing fees for the software is not included, however all projects can be completed with Krita if students don’t have access to Procreate or Adobe PhotoShop.
Video: https://youtu.be/AyX9UMPpMXc
Length of Course: 90 minutes – 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Science of Animation & Film Pre-Production
Level: Elementary & Middle
Our popular program is designed for either elementary or middle schoolers. A typical day begins with a screening of a short animated film (3-8 minutes), then delves into story analysis and design in order to help students think critically to creatively write a story using the same logical / narrative structures. Each class ends with each student having an outline for a clearly communicated coherent narrative. This program helps students learn the invaluable skill of clear and persuasive communication from a basis of storytelling. Ultimately, students will have the structures necessary to make arguments, change minds, and impact the future.
Final Project: Each student will walk away with a portfolio of story outlines they have brainstormed during their time in the class.
Video: https://youtu.be/ALdvq7K9W3A
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Leadership for Future Innovators, Screen Writing Lab, & Radio Plays!
Level: Elementary & Middle
Our most popular program continues! ESoD offers the opportunity for students to delve even deeper into story design and creative writing! Once again, each class will begin with a screening of a previously unwatched animated short film (3-8 minutes), which will then be used to help students think critically to creatively write their own story over the duration of the entire class. Critical Thinking & Creative Writing II features more complicated and intricate narrative structures, more advanced logical exercises, and more opportunities for thinking out-of-the-box!
Final Project: Final stories written in this class will be published in an e-pub format that can be shared with students’ families and friends!
Video: https://youtu.be/ALdvq7K9W3A
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: Beginning Critical Thinking & Creative Writing
Other Class Recommendations: Leadership for Future Innovators, Screen Writing Lab, & Radio Plays!
Level: Elementary & Middle
By popular demand, ESoD is pleased to announce a workshop style extension of our most popular program! This exciting opportunity to continue expanding on creative writing fully allows each student the time to craft and fine tune a structured, coherent, and impressive story through collaboration with their cohort and instructor. Students will understand how to creatively break past story structure utilizing new short animated (3-10 minutes) films that challenge and broaden creative horizons.
Final Project: Final stories will be more detailed and polished and will be published in an e-pub format that can be shared with students’ families and friends!
Video: https://youtu.be/YQkmaGe_iE
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: Intermediate Critical Thinking & Creative Writing
Other Class Recommendations: Leadership for Future Innovators, Screen Writing Lab, & Radio Plays!
Level: Elementary & Middle
In this competitive and engaging course, students will learn all the technical skills they need to prepare for shooting a film! Under the guidance of a master instructor, students will creatively write a short properly formatted screenplay, with an understanding of narrative, character, dialogue, theme, and technique! Then students will plan for the creative look of their film, build a shot list, design storyboards, make cast profiles, and even schedule a production! In this inspiring course, students will take their first steps to learning the trade secrets and knowing how to make a film!
Final Project: A pre-production binder that contains all the information they need to move a film into production.
Video: https://youtu.be/dAGf99Z2jSg
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Create your Own Comic Book & Science of Animation
Level: Elementary & Middle
Is your child going to change the world? This class will give your student the opportunity to think about big ideas in a way they can digest and communicate their own big ideas to shape the future. Each class the student will watch a short TedTalk given by someone between ages 6-15 and engage in a critical analysis of the ideas presented within their cohort. Then students innovate their own new projects and share their ideas with their peers. This process will challenge their ideas and ultimately teach them about persuasion, public speaking, charisma, stage presence, clarity, and other leadership skills! Students will have a blast while learning fundamental skills that will help them in their future careers.
Final Project: Each student will write, perform, and record their own TedTalk which can be shared with their friends and family!
Video for Elementary School: https://youtu.be/rZFwT_Xrokg
Video for Middle School: https://youtu.be/AgfTLoMDP2k
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Critical Think and Creative Writing Series
Level: Elementary & Middle
Does your child like group projects? This course elevates the work of the previous class by having the students work together in a collaborative presentation. Using TedTalks each student group will set out to solve a problem or find a solution for a global or community issue. Then they will research, write, and present their own group TedTalk!
Bonus* Each time this course is taught it will have a new “problem” to solve!
Final Project: Video of the group TedTalk presentation for friends and family to view!
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Critical Think and Creative Writing Series
Level: Elementary & Middle
This immersive course is offered to older students only. Students will be provided with access to software that will give them the tools to make an animated short film! This includes writing the script and designing the animated puppets. In creating their custom puppets, students will understand programming, algorithms, logic, and the mechanisms of modern animation. Ultimately, each child will be able to bring life to their puppet, animating them with their own movements and webcam-captured dialogue. This highly technical course is for any child who is fascinated by the computer science behind the art of animation!
Final Project: An animated short film written, directed, and animated by the student!
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Create your Own Comic Book & Voice Acting for Animation Series
Level: Elementary (3rd-5th)
This immersive course is offered to older students only. Students will be provided with access to software that will give them the tools to make an animated short film! This includes writing the script and designing the animated puppets. In creating their custom puppets, students will understand programming, algorithms, logic, and the mechanisms of modern animation. Ultimately, each child will be able to bring life to their puppet, animating them with their own movements and webcam-captured dialogue. This highly technical course is for any child who is fascinated by the computer science behind the art of animation!
Final Project: An animated short film written, directed, and animated by the student!
Length of Course: 2 hours, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Create your Own Comic Book & Voice Acting for Animation Series
Level: Elementary, Middle & High
In this course, students will develop a character through physicality and vocality, learning empathy, immersion, and articulation. Then, they will be recorded virtually in sync with a pre-animated piece, and their voices dubbed (using ADR — automated dialogue replacement) onto the clip. This class teaches them the process of animation (providing a general overview of the technology) and sound recording, as well as aids in performance as well.
Final Project: A short clip featuring an animated character speaking with their voice!
Video: https://youtu.be/RdWNkLOQcWg
Length of Course: 1 hour, weekly
Prerequisite: none
Other Class Recommendations: Create your Own Comic Book & Voice Acting for Animation Series
Level: Elementary, Middle & High
In Voice Acting for Animation, your children learned the PAPA technique (Projection-Adaptability- Physicality-Articulation) to embody new characters! In this advanced class, they have an opportunity to take it even further! They will work with an encouraging and experienced instructor to develop even more voice acting skills and in their final project, they will perform two completely different characters from The Land Before Time in one scene, AND as Olaf from Frozen, singing an entire song!
Final Project: Two short clips featuring the animated characters speaking with their voice!
Video: https://youtu.be/S-LAgZxbzrY
Length of Course: 1 hour, weekly
Prerequisite: Beginning Voice Acting for Animation
Other Class Recommendations: Science of Animation & Radio Plays!
Our School Partners
EnActe School of Drama Team
Director of the EnActe School of Drama
Noah Lucé (he/him) has worked as an actor, voice actor, director, intimacy and fight choreographer, up and down the West Coast. Currently he is a Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz in Theatre Arts. His performance credits include: The Miracle Worker, Legacy of Light (The Western Stage); and Romeo and Juliet, (s/r) Wuthering Heights (Santa CruzShakespeare). Other selected credits include: The Duchess of Malfi, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Bacchae (GreenStage); Comedy of Errors (Wooden O); Lonestar, Pippin, The Merchant of Venice (Quiet); and Creature (Theater Schmeater). Noah trained with Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, attended Cornish College of the Arts (BFA); and received his master’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz. When not working on a theatrical project or teaching, Noah finds joy in photography, spending time with his family, including his wild brood of dogs, and watching classic films.
Operations and Curriculum Liaison EnActe School of Drama
Xander (he/him) is an actor, playwright, and teacher. He has recently received his M.A. at UC Santa Cruz in playwriting where he adapted the Bertolt Brecht play Mother Courage and her Children to modern day Mexico. . He wears many hats at EnActe as he is also an Operations and Curriculum Liaison dealing with scheduling and curriculum development. Pioneering the new Improv class to be part of the EnActe curriculum.
Communications Manager / Video Editor at EnActe School of Drama
Deanna Nicole Shinsky (she/her) is a quirky fun loving actress with a passion for the creative process. A graduate from the Tom Todoroff Conservatory in NYC, Deanna has trained in voice and speech, movement, and classical and contemporary text. Deanna has played roles from Shakespeare to Chekhov to Neil Simon. With big laughs, heart, and out of the box ideas, Deanna has won awards for her work in short films and theatrical performances. Outside of acting, Deanna has a bachelor of science degree from University of California, San Diego and is also in school to become a practitioner of Chinese Medicine.
EnActe's Teachers
Cristina Anselmo (she/her)
Stefan Fisher (he/him)
Nancy Frank (she/her)
Genene Griffiths Ortiz (she/her)
Joel Moore (he/him)
Dilip Ratnam (he/him)
Rachel Repetto (she/her)
Luisa Sermol (she/her)
Atika Shah (she/her)
Michaela Stewart (she/her)
Peter Svensson (he/him)
EnActe Academy
Summer and after school programs for ages 5-18. These classes can be taught in person and remotely through our school partners and after school providers. Some of our most popular courses are:
- Voice Acting for Animation
- Leadership for Future Innovators
- Team Building through Story
EnActe Studio
Evening and weekend programs for adults.
EnActe Storytellers is a subscription program that offers customized clinics for writers, directors and performers.
Bespoke Masterclasses with renowned theatre makers and storytellers.
EnActe Conservatory
EnActe School of Drama is proud to announce the launch of EnActe Conservatory, a comprehensive, advanced theatre program!
More coming in 2023; stay tuned!
