US Army IMCOM Europe Entertainment One Act Play Festival and YouthFEST '22

• Friday, Oct. 7.

  • 5:00 pm: Festival Registration begins. Mandatory festival registration will be available all Friday evening and all day Saturday. Sign ups for the monologue competition will be available until all slots are filled.

  • 5:30 pm: Welcom and Opening Comments: 1SGT Maurice S. Hendrixson, USAG Ansbach and Mr. Jeff Wertz, IMCOM Europe DFMWR.

  • 6:00 pm: "Demystifying Adjudication". (30") Presentation by Kathy Pingel on how adjudication works and what it should mean for actors, directors and the audience.

  • 6:30 pm: Death Takes the Train. (40"). YouthFEST '22 entry. Ansbach Terrace Playhouse Youth Troupe

  • 7:30 pm: The Villain's Deception. (50") Ansbach Terrace Playhouse

• Saturday, Oct. 8.

  • 9:00 am-12:00 pm: Festival Registration begins. Mandatory festival registration will be available all Friday evening and all day Saturday. Sign ups for the monologue competition will be available until all slots are filled.

  • 9:00 am -1200 pm: Scheduled tech times and rehearsals for all entries.

  • 1:00 pm: "Demystifying Adjudication". (45") Presentation by Kathy Pingel on how adjudication works and what it should mean for actors, directors and the audience.

  • 1:45 pm: I Love Ruthie. (45"). YouthFEST '22 entry. The Amelia Earhart Playhouse

  • 2:30 pm: The Yellow Boat. (45") KMC Onstage, Kaiserslautern

  • 3:30 pm: Memory Garden. (40") The Stuttgart Theater Center

  • 4:30 pm: Goldilocks & the Three Bears. (50") Ramstein's Razz Ma Tazz Theatre

• Saturday, Oct. 8.

  • 7:00 pm: "Demystifying Adjudication". (45") Presentation by Kathy Pingel on how adjudication works and what it should mean for actors, directors and the audience.

  • 7:30 pm: A Quiet, Empty Life.*  (20") SHAPE Players Performing Arts Center

  • 8:00 pm: Laid Bare. * (35") Vicenza's Soldiers' Theatre.
  • 8:45 pm: The Book of Leviticus & Medea.*  (45") The Amelia Earhart Playhouse.      *Please note: This plays contain adult language, humor and situations.

 SATURDAY FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS (at Terrace Playhouse)

10:00-11:30: Directing Seminar with Kathy Pingel & Ron Ziegler. (13 yrs. and up)

11:15-1200: Entertainment Staff Meeting with Quiana Clark-Roland, AACT
                  Executive Director. (Entertainment Staff Only.)

SUNDAY FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS (Subject to change.)

• All workshops will be presented at Theatrix on Franken Kaserne on Sunday, Oct. 9 from 9:30 am to 3:15 pm.
• A bus will depart the Von Steuben Community Center  on Bismarck Kaserne at 9:00 am to take participants to Theatrix. The bus will depart Theatrix at 3:30 pm and return to the Von Steuben for the Awards Ceremony. 

• The Festival Awards Show and Ceremony will be at the Von Steuben Community Center on Bismark Kaserne.
• Festival Awards Schedule. (Subject to Change)
  • 4:00 pm. Festival Reception. Appetizers and a cash bar.
  • 4:30 pm. Welcome and Opening Comments. COL Aaron B. Dixon, USAG Ansbach and CSM Christopher D. Truchon, IMCOM Europe.
  • 4:45 pm. Monologue Competition. The top three will receive awards.
  • 5:10 pm. "Behind the Curtain" Documentary Screening. A documentary film by Emmy Award-winner, SFC Alexander Henninger, about the Vicenza Soldiers’ Theatre and its production of the play, CLUE. 

  • 5:45 pm. Festival Awards Presentation. Best Awards for One Act Plays; Outstanding Avchievement Awards for YouthFEST '22 shows; and Best Monologue Awards. 

  • 6:30 pm: END

      (Show Titles subject to change.)

• The Ansbach Terrace Playhouse. USAG Ansbach, Germany.
  • Death Takes the Train by D.M. Larson. Directed by Jillian Forsberg. YouthFEST Entry.
  • The Sarsaparilla Saloon presents 'The Villain's Deception by Jeanette Watts. Directed by Vikki Hanrahan. One Act Entry.
• The SHAPE Performing Arts Center. USAG Benelux, Belgium.       
  • A Quiet, Empty Life by Craig Pospisil. Directed by Brett Harwood. One Act Entry. 
• KMC Onstage. USAG Rheinland Pfalz/Kaiserslautern, Germany.        
  • The Yellow Boat by David Saar. Directed by Kendra Wagers. One Act Entry
• The Stuttgart Theater Center. USAG Stuttgart, Germany.       
  • Memory Garden by Mark Scharf. Directed by Michelle Elmore. One Act Entry.
• The Soldiers' Theatre. USAG Italy/Vicenza, Italy.
  • Laid Bare by Ian Michael Thompson. Directed by Jerry Brees. One Act Entry.
• The Amelia Earhart Playhouse. USAG Wiesbaden, Germany.
  • The Book of Leviticus & Medea by Christopher Durang. Directed by Philippe Augustine. One Act Entry
  • I Love Ruthie by Adam Mirajkar. Directed by Audrey O'Donnell. YouthFEST'22 entry
• Razz Ma Tazz Communty Theater, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
  • Goldilocks & the Three Bears by Stan Gill. Directed by Cindy Krewson. One Act Entry.

2022 Monologue Competition Procedures and Guidelines.

• The annual monologue competition is open to competitors from 13 years of age and up.
• All those interested must sign up in person on Friday night or Saturday in the Terrace Playhouse Lobby.
• All monologues must be memorized completely and you must have a hard copy of the script for the monologue coach.
• Monologues can not exceed 7 minutes in length.
• All monologues will be presented to the monologue coach in closed performances on Sunday morning at Theatrix on Franken Kaserne from 9:30 to 10:45 am.
• 7 to 12 monologues will be selected for competition and for further coaching. Individual coaching sessions will be held Sunday afternoon at Theatrix on Franken Kaserne from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm.
• The monologue competition will be held during the Festival Awards Ceremony at 1830 at the Von Stueben Inn on Katterbach Kaserne, Ansbach. This event is open to the public. The top three monologues will receive awards.
• Contact your local Entertainment or Theatre Director for more information or assistance.

Paul Bourne is the Artistic Director of the Menagerie Theatre Company, Cambridge, England. He is also the artistic director of the international Hotbed Festival of New Writing and a former Artistic Director of Center Stage, New York. Paul is a Fellow at The University of Cambridge and a faculty member at Skolkovo University in Moscow. His international directing career has spanned across Europe and he has directed over seventy professional productions in ten different countries. His work has ranged from productions on the Fringe to major international productions in St. Petersburg and London's West End. Highlights include the world premiere of Tennessee Williams’ Guignol in New York and the world touring production of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged (out of Washington DC). Paul was a Judge at the very first US Army One Act Play Festival in 1995. He has been involved in Army Entertainment for many years running master classes, directing and supporting programs in Europe and The US. Paul is the creator of the US Army/IMCOM Europe Entertainment performance workshop, “It’s No Joke! Act Against Bullying.” This workshop addresses the issues of bullying among youth and is being presented by Entertainment Branches in cooperation with US Army CYSS at all US Army Garrisons in Germany and Italy.

Andrea Huber is an internationally renowned performer and director. She is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and an Irene Ryan National Acting Award Winner. As an opera singer and musical theatre performer, she has performed at the Krefeld-Mönchengladbach Opera House, the Graz Opera House, the Prague State Opera and many other major opera venues in Europe. She has also performed in South Africa, Norway, Greece and the US. She performed in Kiss of the Spiderwoman in Baden bei Wien, Austria, where she is currently appearing in the musical, Nine.  She presented her one-woman Kurt Weill show in Graz, Austria in March 2020. Andrea directed a highly successful production of The Marriage of Figaro for the Boston Opera Collaborative in Feb. 2020. She also directed Oliver! and Sweeney Todd at the former Roadside Theater in Heidelberg, where she also performed her one-woman cabaret shows to rave reviews. Andrea was an adjudicator and workshop leader for the 2015 and 2019 US Army One Page Play Festival and the 2020 TOPPERs.

Vic Phillipson has worked for Army Entertainment for 31 years.  He was an Entertainment Director in Giessen from 1992 until 1995, and then in Heidelberg from 1995 until 2000.  Since moving to Norway in 2000, he has worked as a technical consultant for the program. He has served as the Technical Director and Stage Manager for the annual IMCOM Europe One Act/One Page Play Festivals and the Tournament of Plays (TOPPERs) Awards Show and Ceremony for over 22 years. When not consulting for Army Entertainment, Vic produces plays and musicals in Norway and works as a Port Agent for European Cruise Service at points of call for cruise ships all along the southern coast of Norway.

Kathy Pingel - Until her retirement in 2015, Kathy was the Director of Education and Youth Programming at the Des Moines Community Playhouse for ten years. She also served as Artistic Director of the Kate Goldman Children's Theatre. She holds a BA in theatre from Eastern Michigan University, a MA from Northwestern University in Performance Studies and an MAT from Northwestern. Kathy has adjudicated at the state and regional, national and international festivals for the American Association of Community Theatre. In 2017, she was named an AACT Fellow and in 2019 was given the prestigious Art Cole Lifetime Achievement Award. Since leaving the Des Moines Playhouse, Kathy has directed and taught in Kentucky, Oregon, Michigan, Iowa, Florida, Oklahoma and Ansbach, Germany. Kathy’s newest role is Dramaturge for AACT’s NewPlayFest.  

Ron Ziegler resides in North Port, Florida and is a freelance director and teacher. He recently retired from his position as Festivals Coordinator for the American Association of Community Theatre. Ron served on staff at the Des Moines (IA) Playhouse as Associate Director where he was the first Artistic/Managing Director for the Kate Goldman Children's Theatre.  While in Des Moines, he founded and managed the Iowa Fringe Festival. He is a past President of the American Association of Community Theatre, was named an AACT Fellow, and has adjudicated state and regional theatre festivals across the US and many times for US Army Entertainment. Ron and his spouse Kathy Pingel were awarded the 2015-16 Cloris Leachman Award for Outstanding Direction for their co-direction of Des Moines Young Artists Theatre's production of The Hobbit, and co-directed Peter and the Starcatcher and Girls' Weekend for Ansbach Terrace Playhouse.

Marissa Blake runs the dance program at the Soldiers' Theatre on Caserma Ederle (Vicenza, Italy) and was one of the choreographers for their 2020 musical, The Addams Family. She studied dance and piano since the age of 5, was dance captain for two of her alma maters, taught studio and competitive dance for over 5 years, holds a BFA in Interior Design, graduated from Boston University in May 2021 with her MS in Project Management, and owns her own design company that specializes in Graphic and Interior Design; All's Well That Ends Well Designs. One of her favorite dance moments was the weekend she spent dancing with Twitch and Allison Holker (Boss) from So You Think You Can Dance. Marissa believes that one of the best ways to express feelings is through movement.

Dörte Jensen is professional stage combat instructor and fight director. She fell in love with idea of stage combat during medical school and went off to train with the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat and the Society of American Fight Directors and is among the first teachers for Stage Combat Deutschland, an organization she co-founded. By day an associate managing editor in medical publishing, by night and on weekends it is Dörte's mission to keep actors safe and tell stories through fights. Over the past 13 years she has taught for the German amateur theater association, various drama schools and at workshops in Banff, Canada, and Chicago, Il. Dörte won a 2017 US Army Entertainment TOPPERS award for her stage combat choreography for A Streetcar Named Desire at the Stuttgart Theater Center. Her fight direction credits include a variety of German community and professional theaters as well as The Stuttgart Theatre Center, The Ramstein Razz Ma Tazz Family Theater and the Alliance Players Brunssum in the Netherlands.

Jerry Brees is the Entertainment Director and Director of the Soldiers' Theatre in Vicenza, Italy. Jerry has been involved in theatre for over 40 years.  His began his with an Army Entertainment in 1983 as an Entertainment Director in at Ft. Clayton, Panama. Mutli-talented, he's been a director, producer, set & lighting designer, and choreographer in Panama, Florida and Italy. Jerry has won numerous US Army Entertainment TOPPERs Awards, One Act Play and One Page Play Festival Awards, as well as many US Army civilian commendations. Jerry and his productions have also represented US Army Europe Entertainment at American Association of Community Theatre National Festivals. Jerry loves working with performers of all ages and is an incredibly valued member of the Vicenza, Italy community.

Alan Buxkemper is the Stuttgart Entertainment Director and was raised in El Campo, Texas, a small agricultural community southwest of Houston. 

Alan attended Southwest Texas University in San Marcos, Texas and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and Master's Degree in Piano Performance. Upon graduation, he joined the faculty at Southwest Texas University serving as Vocal Coach/Accompanist and Class Piano Instructor.  He later conducted the University production of Puccini's LA BOHEME. After coming to Germany in 1988 with his wife Jennifer, Alan studied German Art Song at the Staatliche Hochschule fuer Musik in Stuttgart and also served as an accompanist at the Stuttgart Opera School.

While studying in Stuttgart, Alan heard of a realignment of staff at the Stuttgart Entertainment Branch and accepted the position of Music Specialist in 1989.  He became the Entertainment Branch Director in 2000.  He has been Musical Director for all Musical Productions in Stuttgart since February of 1990 beginning with “The Music Man,” as well as being in charge of the Stuttgart Entertainment Branch in the later years of his career.  Alan has directed at least 2 musicals per year since that time.  In all, he has served as Musical Director for well over 60 various productions. Over the years, Alan has been nominated for and awarded numerous TOPPER Awards at the IMCOM-E Tournament of Plays, and a number of awards at the US ARMY Europe One-Act Play Festivals and the US Army Festival of the Arts Competitions.  Most notably, the Stuttgart Theatre Center was awarded the 2007 Twink Lynch Award from the Association of American Community Theatres, the 2008 US ARMY Entertainment Irving Berlin Award as Best Entertainment Branch in the US ARMY, and the US ARMY Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation’s Outstanding Recreation Program from 2006 through 2008.  Alan was also personally awarded the James T. Martin award from US ARMY Entertainment as the Outstanding Entertainment Branch Director, world-wide, in 2008. Alan currently resides in Stuttgart, Germany with his wife Jennifer.   His two sons, Andrew and Peter are both living and working in the Dallas area. 

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YouthFEST ’22 Awards

•  Emmeline Forsberg as “Mel” in Death Takes the Train. The Ansbach Terrace Playhouse Youth Troupe.
• Ellie Salas as “Jaqueline” in I Love Ruthie. Wiesbaden’s Amelia Earhart Playhouse.
• Camilla McGill as “Joe” in I Love Ruthie. Wiesbaden’s Amelia Earhart Playhouse.

2022 One Act Play Awards

2022 AACT Spotlight Award

"Presented to US Army IMCOM Europe Entertainment