50thA N N I V E R S A R Y

FESTIVAL OF EUROPEAN ANGLOPHONETHEATRICAL SOCIETIES

22 – 25 May 2015

are proud to host

Supported by

42ND BRITISH ALL WINNERS FESTIVAL OF PLAYS

National Drama Festivals Associationhosted by Woking Drama Association

at RHODA McGAW THEATRE, WOKINGSunday 19th July - Saturday 25th July 2015

Curtain Up: 7.30pmAdjudicator: Paul Fowler

Tickets Available from Ambassadors Box Office 0844 871 7643

www.wokingdramafestival.co.uk 3

To all the participants of the Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies 2015and their audiences,

Between the 22nd and the 25th May 2015, twelve English language theatre groups will perform their pieces in the Altona Theatre in the hope that their work will be recognised in the Award’s Ceremony on the last night.

This theatre festival is taking place in one of Europe’s cultural centres. Over ten million people per year are drawn to Hamburg’s theatres, concert halls, musical theatres and museums – including the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, the Thalia Theater, the Hamburg Laeiszhalle and the Hamburg State Opera. This cultural diversity is complemented by our broad independent theatre scene, the likes of which are rarely found outside of an international cultural centre – like for example English language theatre.

Your hosts for this year’s FEATS, the Hamburg Players, have been part of Hamburg’s independent theatre scene for 50 years. This is a remarkable anniversary – the Hamburg Players have been performing three pieces a year for over half a century – and all without having received public funding.

I would like to heartily congratulate the Hamburg Players on their 50 year anniversary. And to all the FEATS participants, audience and the many people involved behind the stage, I would like to wish you some great nights of theatre and success: Break a leg!

Lord Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of HamburgOlaf Scholz

04106 - 70 88www.comdirect.de

1 Details unter www.comdirect.de/zufriedenheitsgarantie 2 Im Ausland an Geldautomaten mit der Visa-Karte, im Inland mit der girocard an rund 9.000 Automaten der Commerzbank, Deutschen Bank, HypoVereinsbank und Postbank. comdirect bank AG, Pascalkehre 15, 25451 Quickborn

> Das Giro fürs Leben – mit bis zu 150 Euro Prämie.Kostenloses Girokonto mit lebenslanger Zufriedenheitsgarantie1:• 100 Euro, wenn Sie uns mögen – 150 Euro, wenn nicht• Kostenlose Visa-Karte• Kostenlos Bargeld weltweit2

JETZT NEU

Leagas Delaney HamburgKunde comdirect Datum 07.04.15 Medium: FEATS Format 121 x 173 mm + 2 mm DU-Termin 10.04.15 Druck: IsoCoatedV2 (gestrichen) Job-Nr. Com66-006-15 Projekt Performance Kampagne 2015

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Leagas Delaney definiert keine Überfüllungen in Reinzeichnungsdokumenten, diese sind von der Litho/Druck anzulegen und zu überprüfen.

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Welcome from the Chair of FEATS 2015On behalf of The Hamburg Players, the hosts of this year’s FEATS, let me extend a warm welcome to everyone attending FEATS 2015. We are particularly proud and thrilled to be hosting FEATS for the second time in this, the Hamburg Players’ 50th anniversary year.

The Hamburg Players have been attending FEATS festivals in different European cities since the 1980s and have always had a fantastic time. Not only that, but we have also learnt so much from watching other theatre groups in action, and of course, each night’s adjudication. Whether you are a long-standing FEATS enthusiast or a newcomer to the festival, we hope you

enjoy the exciting range of plays we have lined up for you, and the unique international festival atmosphere which is FEATS.

Finally, I would particularly like to thank our wonderfully dedicated organising committee, who have been working (in their free time) for over a year now to bring you this year’s festival.

Enjoy!

Chair of Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies 2015Valerie Doyle

FEATS 2015 Sponsors and SupportersThe FEATS 2015 Organising Committee would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the following organisationsand individuals who have contributed financially and practically to the festival:

FEATS Organising CommitteeChair Valerie DoyleSecretary Poppy TirardStage Manager Lexi von HoffmannHospitality Carol KloevekornWebmaster Henrik ZawischaProgramme/PR Julian St. ClairFront of House Julie Spanswick

Fringe Coordinator Amy LeeLighting Coordinator Tom WhiteSound Coordinator Meg McFarlaneTickets Petra NowakParty Harald DjürkenSponsors Sonny PathakGroup Logistics Martina Plieger

Stuart Worthington

FEATS Steering CommitteeWhilst each festival is run by an Organising Committee formed by the host group, FEATS as a whole is overseen by a permanent team called The FEATS Steering Committee. The members of the Steering Committee represent the origi-nal founding groups and the current representatives are:

AATG: Evonne Dunne BATS: Pat Arn ECC: Andy Ing FEST: Wendy Jane Jones NWTC: Valerie Scott

Newsletter Editor Sue Seth Permanent Secretary and Webmaster David Crowe

27 July – 1 Aug: Edinburgh / 27 July – 1 Aug: Hemel Hempstead, Herts.

27 July – 1 Aug: Yorkshire / 3 Aug – 8 Aug: Belfast

3 Aug – 8 Aug: Kent / 3 Aug – 8 Aug: West Midlands

10 Aug – 15 Aug: Roehampton, London / 17 Aug – 22 Aug: Godalming, Surrey

Open to any young person aged 11-21 across the world!

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FEATS 2015 Running Order

We are pleased to announce the running order for FEATS 2015. We have tried to achieve a balanced programme based on the technical requirements, genres and lengths of plays.

Friday 22 May

Group 1 Esoc Theatre Group: A FriEnd oF A FriEnd Group 2 Anglophone collaborative Theatre of stuttgart: This sidE oF ThE GEsTApo Group 3 stockholm players: ThE dicE

Saturday 23 May

Group 1 inplayers international drama Group (Amsterdam): VirTuAl rEAliTyGroup 2 English comedy club: WAr BridEsGroup 3 new English American Theatre: ThE diAriEs oF AdAm & EVE

Sunday 24 May Group 1 lucerne World Theatre company: ThE AcTor’s niGhTmArEGroup 2 American Theatre company: spoon riVEr AnTholoGyGroup 3 Theater de WAAnzin: ElEphAnT sonG

Monday 25 May

Group 1 new World Theatre club: ThE sTrAnGE horsEmAnGroup 2 Frankfurt English speaking Theatre: snoWdropGroup 3 The Village players: in ThE middlE oF noWhErE

Best wishes from the Hamburg Team.

Contents

Lord Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg welcome address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Chair of FEATS 2015 welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5FEATS Organising Committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5FEATS 2015 Sponsors and Supporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5FEATS Steering Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5FEATS 2015 Running Order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Adjudicator Mike Tilbury, The Guild of Drama Adjudicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8FEATS Etiquette, FEATS Marking System, Summary of the Rules of Competition . . . . . . . 9Friday 22 May perfomances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Saturday 23 May perfomances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Sunday 24 May performances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16FEATS Party & Organised Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Monday 25 May performances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20The Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Fringe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2450 years of the Hamburg Players. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Past FEATS Winners (2005 to 2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30The Organising Committee for FEATS 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Thanks to all the Hamburg Players, Nola Dutton obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Imprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

A 40 p 35 s 15 d 10 Total 100

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AdjudicatorMike Tilbury Goda

Mike Tilbury has been actively involved in theatre all his life and has divided his time between acting, directing and adjudicating. He has been a Council Member of the Guild of Adjudicators, a position he held on a number of occasions, and as a past Chairman he played a key role in bringing about considerable change and modernisation within

the Guild. He is currently Chairman of the Drama Festivals Consortium.

He has sat a number of times on the examining panel at the Selection Weekend for prospective adjudicators, run acting workshops and appeared several times at the famous Minack Open-Air Theatre in Cornwall.

As actor he has appeared in everything from Ayckbourn to Ibsen and as director has particularly enjoyed the challenges of Tennessee Williams, Howard Brenton – and French farce. He has recently directed a production of Michael Frayn’s Donkeys’ Years.

His adjudicating work has taken him all over the United Kingdom as well as to Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Belgium and Spain where he adjudicated the Costa Del Sol Festival – in English, with temperatures in the 90’s and bats flying around the auditorium! He has adjudicated the English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish Finals as well as the British Final for the All England Theatre Festival. He has also adjudicated the All Winners Festival for the National Drama Festivals Association on three occasions.

He is delighted to be returning to adjudicate his fourth FEATS.

The Guild of drama adjudicators (Goda)

The Guild of Drama Adjudicators (GoDA) is the internationally recognised body for the adjudication of all forms of theatre. Founded in 1947 with membership limited to those with extensive experience of amateur and professional theatre, GoDA is the longest established organisation of its kind.

The original membership of GoDA consisted of forty-six founder members; the admission of additional members has been carried out mainly by means of rigorous testing of candidates on all aspects of adjudication.

Members of GoDA are drawn from a wide range of professional and amateur theatrical and performance backgrounds and include actors, directors, stage managers, designers, teachers, vocal coaches and writers. More than eighty per cent of our members have professional stage experience as actors, directors or stage managers and many members continue to work in professional theatre, broadcasting and performance.

Most members of GoDA are willing to adjudicate at speech and drama festivals and to lecture on drama and various aspects of theatrical art. Members may also be available as directors of plays, operas, musicals and workshops.

Copyright GoDA. For further information please see www.godauk.org

FEATS Etiquette

After the first two plays each evening there will be a 25-minute interval. Please return to your seats promptly. After the final play of the evening, please remain seated for the public adjudication.At the end of each evening our adjudicator Mike Tilbury will present a general appraisal of that evening’s performances to the entire audience. The FEATS awards are:

Best Production The Founders’ Trophy (donated by the AATG)

Second Best Production The ECC Centennial Cup Third Best Production The BATS Trophy Best Actor and Best Actress The Blackie Awards Best Stage Presentation The Grand Duchy Trophy Best Stage Management Marcel Huhn/Bruno Boeye Memorial Award Best Original Script DAW-Verulam Award Discretionary Award Don Luscombe Discretionary Award

FEATS Marking System

FEATS uses the standard NDFA* marking system which is:40 points for Acting / 35 points for production / 15 points for stage presentation / 10 points for dramatic achievementadding up to a total of 100 points. We have added a box below each play so that you, the audience, can give your own personal scores to the plays performed:

*NDFA The National Drama Festivals Association (NDFA) was formed in 1964 to encourage and support amateur theatre in all its forms and in particular through the organisation of drama festivals. Each year, the NDFA organises the British All Winners Festival, to which the winner of FEATS is eligible to be invited.

Summary of the Rules of Competition

1. The HAMBURG PLAYERS FEATS 2015 Organising Committee has appointed a Festival Stage Manager whose decisions on backstage matters, including timing, are final and binding on all Participants. Authorised personnel from the Theatre are entitled to intervene at any time, for whatever reason, in the interest of the physical safety of all persons or the infrastructure within the building. 2. Each participating group will present: - A complete play, or - An extract from a play, provided that this extract is intelligible to any member of the audience who may not have seen or read the full play (note that written and/or spoken synopses are not permitted), or - Some other form of theatrical performance approved by the Organising Committee. 3. The language of the production must be English. 4. No group is permitted to submit more than one competing entry to the same FEATS. 5. No member of a participating group may be paid for taking part in FEATS. 6. Under no circumstances is any Participant permitted to attempt to influence the adjudicator or to communicate with him concerning any dispute. 7. The filming, video or tape-recording of any performance, even for personal use, is expressly forbidden during the public performance. 8. Failure to comply with any of these rules of competition could lead to disqualification from part or all of the competition. 9. Each entry must be at least twenty-five minutes in length and must not exceed fifty minutes. The time allowed for setting the opening scene is ten minutes and for striking the set at the end of the performance is five minutes. 10. Decisions of the FEATS 2015 Organising Committee, including the Festival Stage Management Team, concerning interpretation of these rules and on all matters relating to the running of the Festival will be final and binding on all Participants.

A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100 A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100

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FRiday 22 May GROup 1

ESoc Theatre Group (darmstadt)

cASTSam Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carlo GhisiHelen Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . Hayley LetoriSusan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gerrit-Milena Strätling

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark GrundyLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James UsmarSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James UsmarWardrobe & Makeup . . . . . . . . . . . Moira Grundy Asha ParmarPrompt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Franka NagelStage crew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ethan Peterson Rauno Ots

Sam couldn’t say no to his friend, Jacques, because friends help each other. And so it happens that Sam and his wife, Helen, agree to host a friend of Jacques’ for ‘just a couple of days’ – much to Helen’s disapproval and Sam’s excitement. What ensues is a lot of trouble and a lot of laughs. Will Sam and Helen pull through their ordeal?

The ESOC Theatre Group was founded in 1988 and is a non-profit social organisation – part of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency (ESA) located in Darmstadt, Germany. Our mission is to provide a background for its members to practise theatre as a hobby and to make theatre in English available to an international community

of enthusiasts in and around Darmstadt. The main activities of the ESOC Theatre Group are the production of public amateur theatre plays, play reading sessions, workshops, theatre trips and other theatre related activities. The ESOC Theatre Group currently has around 50 members of many nationalities.

www.esoctheatre.org

A FriEnd oF A FriEndBy Bruno Sousa / Directed by Bruno Sousa

FRiday 22 May GROup 2

Anglophone collaborative Theatre of Stuttgart

This Side Of The Gestapo, the hitherto undiscovered memoirs of Hildegard Freud (née Sarah Stringer), gives us a unique perspective of life in war-torn Stuttgart between 1942 and 1945. Englishwoman Hildegard Freud’s take on life as a forced labourer in Nazi Germany throws an offbeat yet compellingly human light onto one of the darkest chapters in European history. Three years into a desperately unhappy marriage to a Frenchman twenty years her senior Hildegard faced an agonizing choice; either to remain with her husband in Nazi occupied Alsace or to be sent as a forced labourer to Germany. As the latter option meant liberation from a marriage that was destroying her physically and emotionally, she chose it as the lesser of two evils.

Founded in 2002, ACTS (Stuttgart) is a joint venture in Anglophone Actor and Media Training, Writers’ Workshops (pitch and scratch) and Multi-Platform Promotion focusing on practical co-operation between trainee actors, professionals and students. Performances include experimental media backed and conventional stage plays, event-media, immersion theatre and dramatized

readings. Topics range from dramatized controversies to revisiting historical issues.www.acts.hdm-stuttgart.de, Facebook aCTS-on-Campus

ThiS SidE oF ThE GESTApoBy Stuart Marlow / Directed by Raluca Urea

cASTHildegard Freud . . . . . . . . . . Cynthia Goettle GreenwoodHildegard Frankel. . . . . . . Raluca UreaHanna Koch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisa RitchieFrau Arntz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chelsea WerderHerr Arntz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reid NielsonAndré Freud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexander WiedmannKarin Halle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anja Lange

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erkki RaemetLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kai GoetzSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick RuciretoLighting & Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kai GoetzSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick RuciretoProduction Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stefanie Bissinger Elisa Arianos Loic Fürhof Clemens Helmchen

A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100 A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100

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FRiday 22 May GROup 3

Stockholm players

cAST2nd Prisoner . . . . . . . . . . .Seyed M Hosseini3rd Prisoner . . . . . . . . . . .Tom HowlandOld Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nigel HarveyWarder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Borja Fontalva

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . .Jonian GrazhdaniLighting & Sound . . . . . . .Jonian GrazhdaniMake-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andreja KlavžarProps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vikram SundarasekharPhotos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarah Tehranian

Three prisoners are allocated to the same cell. Adapting to the situation and ‘making the most of life’ locked up they find a unique way of settling arguments and making decisions in their imprisoned world. When the Warder arrives with the news that one of the prisoners is to be relocated the dice are used to decide who is to be moved. The outcome of this decision forces the inmates to reassess the power of The Dice.

With roots in the 1920s, The Stockholm Players is by far the oldest English-language theatre group in Sweden. In addition to staging two major productions a year, the group runs an ongoing programme of play readings, workshops and other theatre-related activities. Notwithstanding its amateur status, the company has distinguished itself by consistently offering high-standard performances. Its members are drawn from various walks of life and nationalities. However, they all have one common denominator – their love of English-language theatre.

www.stockholmplayers.se

ThE dicEby Forbes Bramble / Directed by Nigel Harvey

SaTuRday 23 May GROup 1

inplayers international drama Group (Amsterdam)

cASTDe Recha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brian AndreLefty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Eli Thorne

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sandy TopzandLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John RickerSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alex McKenzie

Two men are waiting for equipment to do an unspecified job. The one who is in charge insists on doing a dry-run inventory of the equipment expected. Here, the purely hypothetical assumes a wacky, sinister autonomy that transports them to a frozen wilderness: they grow close, they grow apart and they become mortal enemies. A gem of nuanced interaction, Virtual Reality is a deftly constructed, two-handed exercise built on back-and-forth shifts of mood and is a deeply funny, finely graded psychological portrait that also becomes a tribute to the conjuring powers of theatre. Imagine the testy, silly one-upmanship of Abbott and Costello crossed with the menacing ambiguity of Harold Pinter and you’ll get the idea.

InPlayers International Drama Group (Amsterdam) are a passionate group of individuals from all over the world – a melting pot of creative minds if we say so ourselves. We vary in age, level of experience, mind-set and of course opinion. Add this to the dramatic and emotional theatre environment and you get an explosive mix of free spirits, strong personalities, fierce ambitions, creative expression and powerful energy.

www.inplayers.org

VirTuAl rEAliTyBy Alan Arkin / Directed by Sandy Topzand

A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100 A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100

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SaTuRday 23 May GROup 2

English comedy club (brussels)

cASTJoan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peyton CiminoAmelia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Izzy PostonMother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joanna PatrickHoffman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard DalyMinna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amanda E. EkdahlArno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gareth LewisBragg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy Blumenthal

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy IngLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barbara DawSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve O’ByrneProducer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kerry LydonAssistant Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . Kristina KardumCrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rachel Heijkoop Janet Middleton Eileen SuttonCostumes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fiona McGinnis

Europe is at war. The young women of a small rural village in an unnamed country are being strongly encouraged to become ‘war brides’ – to marry the young men going into battle and produce the next generation of soldiers for the Empire. But what happens when some of them refuse? Marion Craig Wentworth’s play was a runaway success in America in 1915 and made into a film in 1916 before being banned when the USA joined World War I.

Formed in 1909, ECC Brussels is a founder member of FEATS. It co-owns the Warehouse Studio Theatre – a 65-seat theatre, rehearsal space, workshop and store with the American Theatre Company and Irish Theatre Group. The ECC performs three or four shows a year both at the Studio and in larger theatres around Brussels. It also holds monthly play read-

ings throughout the year. For more information have a look at the website http://ecc.theatreinbrussels.com. The group looks forward to hosting FEATS 2016 from 5 to 8 May 2016.

ecc.theatreinbrussels.com

wAr BridESBy Marion Craig Wentworth / Directed by Conrad Toft

SaTuRday 23 May GROup 3

new English American Theatre (Stuttgart)

cASTEve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Felice BeckerAdam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christian Reichel

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claire DeromelaereLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles C. UrbanSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles C. UrbanAssistant Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . Uka Meissner-deRuiz

In this witty and modern adaptation of Mark Twain’s affectionate satire, Adam and Eve (the world’s first ‘couple’) confront their many differences to find successful ways of living and loving together. Whether they’re creating language, inventing fire, taming nature or discovering love and death, what they learn about each other on the way will be familiar and funny to anyone who has ever experienced a close relationship. Relationships! Whose idea was that? One of you wants to get things done, the other wants to chill out in the garden. One of you wants a minute’s peace, the other wants to talk (and talk and talk). One of you likes things the way they are, the other wants change. One of you knows that eating the apple is wrong, but the other is going to eat it anyway. Relationships shouldn’t work but somehow they do. The play explores, in a very accessible way, companionship, its challenges and consolations and has some really moving moments among the laughs and smiles.

NEAT stands for New English American Theatre. The idea was conceived in 1991 as a means of making English-language plays more widely available to Stuttgart audiences. From the beginning the aim of NEAT has been to provide theatregoers with uncompromising presentations of original version English-language theatre as it may be experienced in the country of its origin. We prefer to challenge the non-native speaking

members of our audience rather than simplifying the text or unnecessarily accenting the visual aspects of a production for their sake. Our productions, which have included musical theatre, children’s theatre, staged monologues, one-act plays and music & poetry projects are authentic and our audiences are truly appreciative. NEAT is regularly invited to participate in Stuttgart’s intercultural events and has long become a fixture on the city’s theatre landscape. We are a talented international team who are often called upon for radio, television, film and advertising projects whenever the necessity for native English speaking actors should arise. Most actors on the NEAT stage are professionally trained in theatre craft but earn their livelihood in a wide variety of serious and conventional occupations. At FEATS 2015, we will be performing an excerpt from the play that ends with Eve’s fateful bite into the apple; mankind is still reverberating from the consequences!

www.neat-theater.de

ThE diAriES oF AdAM And EVEBy Mark Twain (adapted by Elton Townend Jones) / Directed by Charles C. Urban

A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100 A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100

16 17

Sunday 24 May GROup 1

lucerne world Theatre company

cASTGeorge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Derk van MourikSarah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marco TaddeiEllen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claudia CroceMeg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melanie LienhardHenry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David ParrottExecutioner. . . . . . . . . . . Chris Lee

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hedwig van IngenLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tony AherneSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Natasha PecherCostumes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yvonne Bauer

A man finds himself inexplicably in the backstage area of a theatre 30 minutes before a performance begins. When Meg, the stage manager, confronts him it becomes apparent that the man, George, is the understudy for an actor who has been involved in an accident and he must perform in his stead. George can’t remember attending any rehearsals or even being an actor at all – he doesn’t know what the play is! Haven’t we all had similar nightmares? But what if this isn’t a nightmare and his life really is at risk? After all, we are such stuff as dreams are made on.

Founded in September 2011, The Lucerne World Theatre Company (LWTC) is an amateur English-language theatre group that thrives on a passion for drama and the performance arts. Built on the principles of fun and inclusion, the club offers a gateway to the stage to its members who hail from all corners of the globe. LWTC offers its members acting classes as

well as opportunities to get involved in stage productions. To date, LWTC has staged numerous diverse shows including Bollywood Brides, an Indian-inspired musical extravaganza, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and It’s on you, John, for which LWTC won the 2014 Grand Duchy Award for best stage presentation at the FEATS theatre festival in Luxembourg.

www.lwtc.ch

ThE AcTor’S niGhTMArEBy Christopher Durang / Directed by Charlie Lucarotti

Sunday 24 May GROup 2

American Theatre company (brussels)

cAST

First Voice; Benjamin Pantier; Indignation Jones; Eugene Carmen; Editor Whedon; Thomas Rhodes . . . . . . . Johan Enegren Second voice /Beelzebub; Emily Sparks; Minerva Jones; Sersmith the Dentist; Jack McGuire . . Abigail GreefLoki; Reuben Pantier; Doctor Meyers; Judge Selah Lively; Ralph Rhodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yorgos FilippakisYogarindra; Mrs. Pantier; Mrs. Meyers; Daisy Fraser; Mrs. George Reece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robynn ColwellTrainor, the Druggist; Butch Weldy; Clarence Fawcett; Hildrup Tubbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael PriceHenry Phipps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher Flores

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . .Kallina ChristoforidiLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael PriceSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christopher Flores/Michael PriceBackstage help . . . . . . . . . . . .Dimitar StoyanovLighting operator . . . . . . . .Musab BuyuksoyProducer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inge Knapen

One hundred years ago, Edgar Lee Masters gave life to the deceased citizens of Spoon River through the creation of over 200 epitaphs written in free verse poetry. At the time of publication it was considered modern and revolutionary and its brilliance is evident in its continued thematic relevance and contemporary style. The American Theatre Company’s adaptation explores Masters’ critique on the game humanity plays and the powers that move the pieces.

Myriam Langford, a professional actress who studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Actor’s Studio in New York, convinced the entertainment committee of the American Women’s Club to try ‘something different’. Myriam’s professionalism was teamed with accomplished amateur actor Charles Besterman to create the American Theatre Company in 1969. Langford and Besterman set high standards of personal dedication and professionalism.

These same values resonate in the ATC today as we continuously strive to increase the level of professionalism in our productions. Just over a year ago the ATC tried ‘something different’ by launching its very own resident improv’ troupe, The Ghost Sheep, which has now become a central part of our theatre company.

www.atcbrussels.com

Spoon riVEr AnTholoGyBy Edward Lee Masters (adapted by Christopher Flores) / Directed by Christopher Flores

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A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100

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Sunday 24 May GROup 3

Theater de wAAnzin (Ghent)

An eminent psychiatrist has vanished from his office. The last person to see him is Michael, a troubled patient obsessed with all things elephant. Dr Greenberg, the hospital director, is determined to interrogate Michael, despite the head nurse’s cryptic warnings. Michael speaks of elephants and opera – with the occasional hint of murder and foul play – and lures the hospital director into a devious trap.

Theater de WAANzin was founded in 1988 in Ghent, Belgium. Our Theater De WAANzin is the continuation of a student theatre group, formed at the University of Ghent by a number of students of English literature. It has always tried either to stage modern, not well-known scripts or to adapt theatre hits to a modern setting or way of acting. The word WAANzin, meaning

‘insanity’, consists of two parts. ‘WAAN’ (dream, revel, illusion) and ‘zin’ (sense, meaning). What especially attracted us was the opposition of two contradicting items: WAAN in the meaning of

hope, desire and illusion. Illusion being the theatrical metaphor ‘par excellence‘, but also the indissoluble touchstone of life of which the dream (‘WAAN’) often is the only meaning (‘zin‘).

www.dewaanzin.be

ThE ElEphAnT SonGBy Nicholas Billon / Directed by Roeland de Trazegnies

cASTMichael Aleen . . . . . . . . . Laurens Van Der BekenDr Greenberg . . . . . . . . . . . Antoine VandenbergheMiss Peterson . . . . . . . . . . Joke Van Huffel(but surprises happen …)

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roeland de TrazegniesLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Guy VerzeleSound and camera. . . . . . . . . . . Lars De JaegherCrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roeland de Trazegnies Marnix Van Hamme An Vanden Broeck Laurens Van Der Beken Joke Van Huffel

The FEATS partyWill take place on Sunday 24 May directly after the adjudication. The FEATS party will be held in the Café Oelsner of the Altonaer Theater. Entry to the party is with pre-booked tickets only. No tickets will be available to purchase over the weekend. Please collect your pre-paid tickets from the FEATS hospitality desk.

orGAniSEd AcTiViTiES

Visit To Miniatur WunderlandSunday 24 May at 11.00 a.m.

We have reserved a time-slot for 35 people to visit this amazing exhibition, the largest model railway in the world. This really is a ‘Must See’: it is impossible to do justice to the attention to detail, craftsmanship and expertise in either words or facts and figures. You simply have to see it for yourself.

Sign up at the hospitality desk

Guided Walk Through Ottensen and altonaSunday 24 May and Monday 25 May at 11.00 a.m.

Leisure time during a FEATS weekend often includes a walk of some description and as walks are usually popular, the guided walk will take place on Sunday and Monday. Find out more about the history and culture of Altona – it has a lot to offer.

Sign up at the hospitality desk

Sunday 24 May

FEATS party & organised Activities

A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100 A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100

20 21

MOnday 25 May GROup 1

new world Theatre club (Luxembourg)

cASTThe Watcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janine HorsburghOld People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christine Mitchell Steve Wilkie Angela Milne Giampaolo Spedo Lesley Chesters John Brigg Wendy Dunning-Baker

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gav GuilfoyleLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laure GatterSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laure GatterLive sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evelyne BastienProduction design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John BriggCostumes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie BullTranslation and adaptation. . . . . . . . . . . John Brigg

Michel de Ghelderode (1898 to 1962) was an avant-garde Flemish dramatist who wrote wonderful, surreal and macabre plays about the human condition. This early work, Flemish in character yet written in French under the title Le Cavalier Bizarre, is no exception. The play takes a look at what happens when a group of people who are living out their last days in an ancient hospice for the destitute are suddenly confronted with death. Although the play draws from a time before the lingering medieval beliefs of ‘old’ Europe were brutally exposed to the modern age, the question is as valid now as it was then.

The New World Theatre Club of Luxembourg has been staging plays in English for more than 45 years and attracts members of many different nationalities. It runs a thriving youth theatre group and hosts LEATSS, the Luxembourg European Annual Theatre Summer School. NWTC has been a member of the FEATS steering committee since 1978.

www.nwtc.lu

ThE STrAnGE horSEMAnBy Michel de Ghelderode / Directed by John Brigg

MOnday 25 May GROup 2

Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre

cASTReg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eric BeveridgeDavid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivan AksenovJackie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexandra SokolowskiJulie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sumithra Retnam

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff BookAsst. Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . Daniela von der EmdenLighting & Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yassin BounakhlaCostumes & Make-Up . . . . . . . . Julie RegenbogenProps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sabrina LotzStage Hand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Mark

A lonely old man, fiercely independent and burnished by the wounds of the past, is visited first by his son, later by his cherished granddaughter. An irascible, preoccupied son conceals worries of his own; the granddaughter a typical child of the ‘lost generation’. Relationships are strained, but by no means strange; recollections of the past loom large. But are these memories what they appear to be? Even when they take on tangible form, which are real and which are deception? Even when the border between the two can be filled with laughter and joy, there comes a point where inner confusion spills over into a reality that can ultimately end up harming those we love.

FEST e.V. is the oldest and largest English-language amateur theatre group in the Frankfurt/Rhein-Main region. Founded by a group of British expats in 1977, FEST has since staged productions of every kind: drama, comedy, musical, cabaret, and – last but definitely not least – that magical box of Christmas fun, the British pantomime. FEST will be hosting FEATS again in 2017 at the English Theatre in Frankfurt.

www.festfrankfurt.org

SnowdropBy Mike Riepl / Directed by Mike Riepl

award My prediction Winner

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A 40 P 35 S 15 D 10 Total 100

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MOnday 25 May GROup 3

The Village players (Lausanne)

cASTKate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Béibhinn RegliPenny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pamela JenkinsBill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charles GilsonFish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christopher Hemmens

crEwStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Derek BetsonLighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ian GriffithsSound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mary CouperStage Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Saskia Faulk Dorothy Brooks Tim HancoxDeerstalks Riverbrook (voice). . . . . . . . . . .Heather GavinCommune Elder (voice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dorothy BrooksCommune Elder (voice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James Spencer

In The Middle Of Nowhere is a farcical family comedy about Kate, a 30-something, newly-cosmopolitan university lec-turer who travels home to see her parents, Penny and Bill, in their new house on the weekend of her father’s 60th birthday. It isn’t long before she’s butting heads with her fiercely right-wing father while her mother tries to keep the peace. Things take a turn for the surreal, however, when a strange man called Fish, who claims to have been exiled from a cult in the woods, barges in on their breakfast and refuses to leave.

The Village Players is one of five amateur drama groups in French-speaking Switzerland but the only one in the Lausanne region. Founded in 1981, the VPs stage two productions per year and present drama evenings (play readings, poetry, cabaret, theatre quizzes) once a month at their premises near Lausanne city centre. Although English-speaking, the group is multi-national

and welcomes members from all cultures and creeds. Indeed, in a recent production of Tolkien’s The Hobbit all of the dwarves spoke with pronounced French accents (speaking English of course but the actors were all Francophones). Former trophy-winners at FEATS, the Village Players are once again happy and honoured to be part of Europe’s foremost Anglophonic theatre festival.

www.villageplayers.ch

in ThE MiddlE oF nowhErEBy Christopher Hemmens / Directed by James Spencer & Christopher Hemmens

The Founders’ Trophy(donated by the AATG)Best Production

The ECC Centennial CupSecond Best Production

The BATS TrophyThird Best Production

The Blackie AwardsBest Actor

Best Actress

The Grand Duchy TrophyBest Stage Presentation

Marcel Huhn/Bruno BoeyeMemorial AwardBest Stage Management

DAW-Verulam AwardBest Original Script

Don LuscombeDiscretionary AwardDiscretionary Award

The AwardsNine prizes will be awarded at the end of the Festival. The adjudicator will decide the allocation of these prizes with the exception of the Stage Management Award which will be decided upon by the Festival Stage Management team. The adjudicator may choose not to give the DAW-Verulam Award for best original script.

FRinGe 13.00–14.00

Body-lAnGuAGE workShopGiorgi rossi, inplayers, AmsterdamWhen it comes to acting, the way you carry yourself can communicate far more than the words that come out of your mouth. For actors, body language study becomes extremely important. To go into the ‘skin of the character’ one needs to look into every aspect of their body language. The workshop seeks a greater understanding of one’s body and a predicted reading of the other’s body.

14.10 – 14.40

SonGS FroM A nATiVE SonHow better to celebrate FEATS in Hamburg than with some of the world’s most popular songs composed, though you may not have known it, by one of Hamburg’s native sons? A trio of local actors and singers who have worked with several of Hamburg’s English-language theatres will be treating you to some big-band music you’re bound to recognize.

14.50 – 15.20

lAnE 147 – onE AcT For cAlAiS / Stuart John MarlowAcTS, Stuttgart (Performance and scripts in aid of refugee charities)Calais harbour, once a featureless hurdle on the route to England, is now a vast fortress, protecting vulnerable car ferries against thousands of refugees who are storming the harbour walls. But intrepid Midlands motorist, Michael Leslie, shows no fear. Ah, but then there’s a sudden twist to the whole story.

15.30 – 15.15

who’S on FirSThamburg playersThis famous Abbott and Costello comedy routine evolved from early 20th-century Vaudeville and English music hall routines using comic misunderstandings of names and words. The subject, baseball, touches a cultural nerve in the United States and the routine runs in a continuous loop at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

15.15 – 16.00

AudiTion / david croweTagoraThis play was inspired by the Theatres Act of 1968, which abolished the powers of the Lord Chamberlain to censor stage performances in Britain. Our sketch takes place about a year later, when theatrical liberties had become a part of life for those in the business – but maybe not for the aspiring performers.

SundAy MAy 24

13.00 – 13.50

A chip in ThE SuGAr / Alan Bennettrover rep, hamburgA Chip in The Sugar is one of the most popular monologues from Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads series. Middle-aged Graham, who still lives with his mother, finds life becoming complicated when his mother meets an old flame. The Rover Rep Theatre was established in 2003 by Rebecca Garron as Hamburg’s first and only professional pub theatre. For ten years it provided native-speaking actors and directors living in Hamburg an opportunity to work professionally in their native language and to introduce the German public to significant contemporary playwrights writing in English.

14.00 – 14.30

TEch BooTh / daniel J. karpenchukuniversity players, hamburgEternal Love, opening night. Quite a challenge for Darryl and Christine in the tech booth. The play is so ridiculous that not even the director shows up, the actresses hate each other, Darryl hates his job, Christine hates Darryl’s girlfriend – and no one ever appreciates the stage managers!

14.40 – 15.10

ThE SchEME / Mike rieplFEST, FrankfurtOn the brink of initiating an infallible long-planned money-spinning scheme, one of two partners suddenly finds he can’t provide the essential final touches. Tensions rise as his frustrated partner does his utmost to bring The Scheme to a successful conclusion after all. A surprise visitor inadvertently brings the conflict to a dramatic head.

15.20 – 15.50

ThE niGhT oF ThE cupid / Giorgi rossiinplayers, AmsterdamGiorgi Rossi, a Brazilian actor, has been playing the character of Cupid, the God of love, for seventeen years. Cupid, the God of Love, appeals for your help and humour to survive with his romantic and happy little monologue about love.

16.00 – 16.30

ElEMEnTS oF iMpErFEcTionTat company, The hagueThe one-act performance portrays an array of specifically chosen Shakespeare Sonnets, supported by drone sounds of female voices based on Lied von Shakespeare by Brahms. The performance uses a psycho-physical approach, in which transformation, impulse, imagination and inner and outer gesture are central.

SATurdAy MAy 23

2425

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All performances begin at 7.30pm. Premiere Thursday 4th June – tickets €10. All other tickets €10 to €16. Matinee Saturday 6th June at 3.30pm. Tickets can be bought online at www.tickets.hamburgplayers.de, Theaterkasse Schumacher or at box office on evening of the performance. Reservations can be made by e-mail – tickets@hamburgplayers.de, or by phoning Hamburg Players Hotline 040/713 13 99. Marschnerstr. 46, 22081 Hamburg, Abendkasse Tel. 040/29 26 65

Licensed by ITV Global Entertainment Limited and an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon4 – 6 and 9 – 13 June 2015

FRinGe16.10 – 16.40

BEdTiME / Mary Gallagherhamburg playersIt’s that time of day when you’re supposed to sleep but can’t because your mind is exploding with too many thoughts. Kitty and Tina, two pre-teen sisters in the 1950s, ponder life’s big questions such as: what does forever mean? Hamburg Players Madeleine Lange and Elena Kaufman present this heart-warming one-act.

14.00 – 15.00 FEATS ForuMin café oelsner

15.00 – 15.30

JAnE o’BriEn & BAndJane presents her own brand of gutsy songs: a spicy mix of jazz and pop, with chilled out beats and Irish roots, tempered with passion and a wry look at where we are at today. She is backed by four top-class musicians: Torge Niemann on guitar, Ralf Kamphuis on vibraphone, Karlo Buerschaper on bass and Björn Puls on drums. Cool jazz pop with a very warm heart.

15.40 – 16.10

loVE, loSS, And whAT i worEnora and delia Ephronhamburg playersEllen Bergman, Valerie Doyle, Rebecca Garron, Carol Kloevekorn & Amy Lee perform a series of monologues and ensemble pieces about women, clothes and memory covering all the important subjects: mothers, prom dresses, mothers, buying bras, mothers, hating purses and why we only wear black.

16.20

FEATS SkiTThe one and only, the legendary. Don’t miss the traditional Festival revue.

SundAy MAy 24

MondAy MAy 25

26

Years ofthe H amburg Players

The Hamburg Players Chairs have been to date: Peter Big-glestone, Elizabeth Fleming, Chris Turner, Alexander

Black, Sonny Pathak, Catherine Schwerin, and Valerie Doyle.

143 productions directed by 57 directors, sometimes in pairs, more often alone

We have dared 3 Shakespeare plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2001; Much Ado About Nothing, 2010 and Twelfth Night in 2014.

Our most played authors are Alan Ayckbourne (8 plays), Agatha Christie (7 Plays) Noel Coward (7 plays), Neil Simon (7 plays), reflecting what we have – we hope – learned to be your, our audience’s favourites: comedy rather than tragedy, murder mystery rather than drama.

We have put on two original plays, both of them adaptations of famous novels, on our stage: A Christmas Carol, 2009; Pride and Prejudice, 2013

For our 143 productions 495 actors from 15 different coun-tries were put on stage; many of them again and again, some of them once only, some of them screaming and kicking.

We have participated in FEATS 15 times and have won two awards for best Stage Management (1985

and 2009), 4 awards for Best Actress (Rebecca Garron and Lexi von Hoffmann 1995, Valerie Doyle and Julie Spanswick 2011, Amanda Lee 2013 and Ellen Bergman 2014), 1 award for Best Actor (Jason Couch 2000), 1 award for third best play (The Furies, an original play by Elena Kaufman, 2008), 3 awards for second best play (The Actor’s Nightmare by Christopher Durang, directed by Elaine Lloyd Barnett 2000, Babel’s in Arms by David Ives, directed by Carol Kammerer in 2011 and For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls by Christopher Durang, directed by Valerie Doyle in 2013) and 2 awards for best play (Foxtales by James Pascoe, directed by Rebecca Garron and Joana O’Neil 2002 and Amateurs by David Auburn, directed by Valerie Doyle in 2014).

May 7 and 8, 1965 – Two successful nights featuring four one-act plays performed in English by a group

of Hamburg based expats and the Hamburg Players e.V. amateur theatre group was born. The first full-length play was Separate Tables by Terence Rattigan, who was very popular at the time. The rehearsals took place in the cellar of the British Consulate, with performances on the 21st and 22nd October 1965 in the former Unilever House, with the profit of DM 2100 being donated to UNICEF. The US army in Bremerhaven was so delighted by this new opportunity for English language entertainment in the region that they offered to build the sets for subsequent performances, in return for a performance in their local garrison theatre.

The shows increasingly began to attract a German audience, looking to brush up or improve their

English skills, and the number of performances increased accordingly. Performances began in the Theater an der Marschnerstraße in 1967, at first with four shows a year, later reduced to three shows a year in 1975 with 9–10 performances per show. With The 39 Steps at the end of the 50th season, the Hamburg Players can look back over 144 productions, 42 of which were directed by the

‘grandfather’ and Chairman of many years, Peter Bigglestone, with the remainder directed by 58 different directors. The Hamburg Players stage has felt the tread of 492 actors, many only once, and some on many occasions. This reflects the dynamic nature of the Hamburg Players’ membership – welcoming many English-speaking students or employees of international companies who come to Hamburg for only one or two years. Some of our actors have even gone on to make a name for themselves outside of the Players, for example Pamela Knaack, Mark Lyndon and Susanne Mewe.

The many years of regular productions have led to a professionalism that cannot be shaken. On one occa-

sion an actor lost his voice completely but continued to play his character while remaining mute with his lines delivered from the side of the stage by another actor, Mark Lyndon. Within a couple of performances the two were completely synchronised – lips and (disembodied) voice, much to the delight of, and with deserved praise from, the audience.

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2009 Brussels, BelgiumFirst place New World Theatre ClubSecond place Stockholm PlayersThird place Het HomerostheaterBest presentation American Theatre CompanyStage management Hamburg PlayersOriginal script Not awardedBest actor Wander Bruijel (Het Homerostheater)Best actress Antonia Kitzel (Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre)Discretionary award Anglophone Collaborative Theatre of Stuttgart – Film sequence in Shakespeare in Paris by Stuart Marlow

2010 Bad homburg, GermanyFirst place New World Theatre ClubSecond place English Comedy ClubThird place Geneva English Drama SocietyBest presentation Theater de WAANzinStage management ESOC Theatre GroupOriginal script British American Theatrical SocietyBest actor Timothy Lone (New World Theatre Club)Best actress Melanie Zander (ESOC Theatre Group)Discretionary award British American Theatrical Society – Eric Tytgadt and Tom de Beckker in Oh, My God! by Daniel Sossi

2011 Geneva, switzerlandFirst place Bonn PlayersSecond place Hamburg PlayersThird place Semi-CircleBest presentation TagoraStage management ESOC Theatre Group & Stockholm PlayersOriginal script Not awardedBest actor Peter Ferrow (Bonn Players) & Scott Jacobs (Bonn Players)Best actress Valerie Doyle (Hamburg Players) & Julie Spanswick (Hamburg Players)Discretionary award Het Homerostheater – for the luggage that converted into furniture

2012 Antwerp, BelgiumFirst place Entity TheatreSecond place Theater de WAANzinThird place CATS RheindahlenBest presentation CATS RheindahlenStage management English Comedy ClubOriginal script Frankfurt English Speaking TheatreBest actor Daniel Holzberg (Entity Theatre)Best actress Anne Wollstein (Entity Theatre)Discretionary award Geneva English Drama Society

2013 The hague, netherlandsFirst place American Theatre CompanySecond place Hamburg PlayersThird place Stockholm PlayersBest presentation Stockholm PlayersStage management ESOC Theatre GroupOriginal script ESOC Theatre GroupBest actor Andrew Carey-Yard (New English American Theatre)Best actress Amanda Lee (Hamburg Players)Discretionary award Village Players – Awarded to Gwen Czajkowska for her non-speaking role in The Stronger

2014 mamer, luxembourgFirst place Hamburg PlayersSecond place Semi-CircleThird place Irish Theatre GroupBest presentation Lucerne World Theatre CompanyStage management AATGOriginal script Entity TheatreBest actor Caraigh McGregor (Irish Theatre Group)Best actress Ellen Bergman (Hamburg Players)Discretionary award New English American Theatre – the opening sequence in Death by Woody Allen

2005 hamburg, GermanyFirst place English Comedy ClubSecond place New English American TheatreThird place Theatre in English/ Theatre in EducationBest presentation Stockholm PlayersStage management British American Theatrical SocietyOriginal script Geneva English Drama SocietyBest actor Colum Hatchell (English Comedy Club)Best actress Debbie Roche (CATS Rheindahlen)Discretionary award Theatre in English/ Theatre in Education – for bravery

2006 Ettelbruck, luxembourgFirst place Brussels Shakespeare SocietySecond place Frankfurt English Speaking TheatreThird place American Theatre CompanyBest presentation Theater de WAANzinStage management Anglophone Collaborative Theatre of StuttgartOriginal script Brussels Shakespeare SocietyBest actor Caraigh McGregor (American Theatre Company)Best actress Antonia Kitzel (Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre)Discretionary award Theatre in English/ Theatre in Education – for lighting

2007 The hague, netherlandsFirst place English Comedy ClubSecond place Irish Theatre GroupThird place American Theatre CompanyBest presentation Village PlayersStage management Bonn PlayersOriginal script Anglophone Collaborative Theatre of StuttgartBest actor Caraigh McGregor (English Comedy Club)Best actress Margot Nisita (Bonn Players)Discretionary award Stockholm Players

2008 stockholm, swedenFirst place Bonn PlayersSecond place Frankfurt English Speaking TheatreThird place Hamburg PlayersBest presentation Entity TheatreStage management Irish Theatre GroupOriginal script Irish Theatre GroupBest actor Caraigh McGregor (Brussels Shakespeare Society)Best actress Greta Redmond (New English American Theatre)Discretionary award Theatre in English/ Theatre in Education – for teamwork

PastFEATSWinners(2005 to 2014)

lExi V. hoFFmAnn

JuliE spAnsWick

pETrA noWAk

cArol kloEVEkorn

Amy lEE

hArAld dJürkEn

VAlEriE doylE

hEnrik ZAWischA

Tom WhiTE

sonny pAThAk mArTinA pliEGEr

poppy TirArd

JuliAn sT. clAir

mEG mcFArlAnE

StaGe ManaGer

Front oF HouSe

tiCketS

HoSpitaLity

FrinGe Coordinator

party

CHair

webMaSter

LiGHtinG Coordinator

SponSorS Group LoGiStiCS

SeCretary

proGraMMe/pr

Sound Coordinator

The Organising Committee

for FEATS 2015in Hamburg

32 33

The FEATs community suffered a sad loss last August with the untimely death of nola duttonNola first became involved in FEATS when she appeared in the AATG entry for the 1987 FEATS in Antwerp where she won best supporting actress. She later became Chair of the AATG and member of the organising committee

when they hosted FEATS in 1990 in The Hague. It is believed that the idea of starting a FEATS Fringe was hers and certainly that was the first year that the Fringe appeared. She served as AATG representative on the Steering Committee for a number of years.

Even after returning to the UK, she maintained her enthusiasm and support for FEATS and brought a memorable production of The Incredible Adventures of Orca the Goldfish to the Fringe in 2001. Many will also remember her as the administrator for LEATSS for many years and a regular attendee of summer schools in Munsbach and Clairefontaine from 1990 to 2013 having attended no less than 17 times.

As a director, Nola was a firm advocate of the directing style taught at LEATSS which she introduced to the groups she worked with on Teesside in the UK. She also had occasion

to bring it back to mainland Europe as visiting director for NWTC’s production of Picasso at The Lapin Agile in 2006.

She was a wonderful, warm and talented person and will be sorely missed by her family, many friends, and the English language amateur theatre world in the UK and mainland Europe.

Thanks to all the Hamburg Playerswho have volunteered, whether contributing to the website, working backstage,front-of-house and on hospitality:

Jessica Albiston

Cathy Barreca

Ellen Bergman

Felicity Blecke

Charlotte Bock

Renate Brandt

Jason Couch

Stephen Earl

Denise von Fuerstenberg

Rebecca Garron

Nele Giese

Sandra Giese

Jocasta Godlieb

Eddie Gray

Jonathan Greenman

Dagmar Hadaway

Syd Hadaway

Liz Härtwig

Sarah Jung

Elena Kaufman

Marlies König

Ute Kreitz

Madeleine Lange

Kris Löschmann

Birgit Lüdemann Winter

Lynda Matschke

Marion McAlpine

Petra Ninnemann

Ronnie Nowak

Joana O’Neil

Reni Pathak

Daniel Plappert

Alex Robertson

Iara Sandorminski

Martin Scheibe

Chris Turner

34

imprint

The Hamburg Players e.V.Oberaltenallee 20 A22081 Hamburg

E-Mail: info@hamburgplayers.de

Geschäfts-Nr. VR 8673Amtsgericht HamburgCaffamachereihe 2020355 Hamburg

Grahpic Design: www.ruehl-design.de

Text Creditsp. 28 Jürgen Schmidt, Jocasta Godliebp. 29 Lexi von Hoffmann,p. 33 (Nola Dutton Obituary) – Philip Dutton

Copyright of pages 10 to 22 (excl p.19) inclusive remains the propertyand responsibility of the theatrical society shown.

Image Credits:

p. 3 Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburgp. 5 The Hamburg Players (Henrik Zawischa)p. 8 Mike Tilburyp. 10 ESOC Theatre Groupp. 11 Anglophone Collaborative Theatre of Stuttgartp. 12 Stockholm Playersp. 13 InPlayers International Drama Group (Amsterdam)p. 14 English Comedy Clubp. 15 New English American Theatre p. 16 Lucerne World Theatre Companyp. 17 American Theatre Companyp. 18 Theater de WAANzinp. 19 Henrik Zawischap. 20 New World Theatre Clubp. 21 Frankfurt English Speaking Theatrep. 22 The Village Playersp. 28 The Hamburg Playersp. 29 The Hamburg Playersp. 32 The Hamburg Players (Henrik Zawischa)

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