An Evening of One-Acts
Sorry, Wrong Number
Director: Jeff Book
Jeff is an American actor, working professionally over the last several years in film, TV, commercials and modelling projects. He completed stage and film actor training in London at Rose Bruford College, Drama Studio London, Actor’s Studio at Pinewood Studios, City Academy London and International School of Screen Acting, and is represented by Crawford Talents in Berlin. Jeff has been performing on stage with FEST since 2007, with leading roles in Death of A Salesman, Doubt: A Parable, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, Our Country’s Good and many more. He also has several credits as a Director with FEST, including such works as Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Woody Allen’s Old Saybrook and several more. He frequently offers acting workshops, training courses and actor coaching for FEST.
Jayashiree Elango (Assistant Director)
Jayashiree is trained in Indian classical dance forms and has always enjoyed being part of the performing arts. She discovered her interest in theatre and public speaking during school, where she learned that she enjoys being on stage just as much as working behind the scenes.
New to FEST and to Frankfurt, she is looking forward to learning from others and being part of a creative group. She enjoys watching all kinds of performances and is especially drawn to how actors like Meryl Streep bring characters to life.
Veronika Ries – Mrs. Stephenson
Veronika has German and British roots and grew up in the Frankfurt area. In her teens, she attended a musical school and performed in various shows and was later part of the Chaincourt Theatre Company of Frankfurt’s Goethe University. Her first appearance in a FEST production was in 1998 as Lady Guenevere in the musical Camelot. Since then, Veronika has performed in leading roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Sister’s Action. In 2011, she was cast in An Actor’s Nightmare – another FEST production and also performed in The Philanthropist and Pastiche. In 2020, she played Linda in the original production of Death of a Salesman and also in the revival in 2023.
Bridget Smith – 1st, 3rd and Information Operators
From Ireland originally, Bridget has been living in Germany for over twenty years. This is her second performance with FEST, her very first being Gaslight in November 2024, where she played the role of Elizabeth. Earlier this year, she performed as Mrs Birling in a dramatic reading of An Inspector Calls with the ECB Theatre Ensemble. Having attended a number of FEST-run workshops in recent years, it’s fair to say that Bridget has been thoroughly bitten by the theatre bug, which has surprised and delighted her! She is looking forward to taking on more roles and exploring new plays in the future.
Petronella Willberg – Chief Operator, 5th Operator
Originally from Finland, Petronella took a scenic route to Frankfurt via Spain and has called the city home for the past 15 years. A FEST member for the past few years, she is excited to make her debut in a FEST production. She has previously appeared on the Kulturhaus stage as Granny Weatherwax in Wyrd Sisters (2023) and as Sarah in The Naked Truth (2022), both with the ECB Theatre Ensemble.
Alexander Hemus – Sergeant Duffy
Alexander is originally from the UK and has lived in Germany on and off for over 20 years. He began acting in school productions as a teenager and rediscovered his love for theatre after a long break during which he focused on family, travel, and his career. He joined FEST in 2024 and made his debut as Howie Corbett in Rabbit Hole. He is delighted to return to the stage in this production and is grateful to be part of the talented cast and crew.
Anton Medynskyi – 1st Man and Lunch Counter Man
Originally from Ukraine, Anton has been living in Germany for five years. He discovered FEST through an acting masterclass and quickly jumped in with excitement and an open mind. This is his first role on stage. Anton loves writing and is always looking for new ways to express himself, whether through words or performance. When he’s on stage, something essential within him shines through.
Thomas Dewitz – George and Western Union Man
Thomas was born in Cologne and started acting as a teenager in various productions. He made his first journeys into English theatre with the group “Trier English Drama” when he was a student in the mid-2010s. Living and working in Frankfurt since 2023, he found the wonderful people from FEST, who gave a new home to his passion for acting and his love for the stage. Thomas has been involved with FEST on- and offstage in productions such as Gaslight and Pygmalion and is looking forward to many more projects in the future.
Rebecca Pollack – 2nd, 4th Operators and Hospital Receptionist
Originally from the United States, Rebecca grew up bilingual and moved to Frankfurt in 2019. She discovered her love of performing by being in plays and musicals with school and children’s theatre. Highlights include Schneewittchen in Schneewittchen, Odette in Swan Lake, and Tootie in Meet Me in St. Louis. She is excited to return to her theatre kid roots with her first play at FEST. She also performs as a member of the International English Choir in Frankfurt.
The Blizzard
Kai Cameron (Director)
Kai Cameron is an emerging director, making his stage debut with FEST’s production of The Blizzard, with a background in theatre as an Assistant Stage Manager working on performances like Nunsense the musical and Untitled Love Story. And with passion for storytelling, Kai has previously written, directed, edited and produced two independent short films: one for a competition and one solely to share his own stories. He is excited to bring his creative vision to the stage and to continue building a career in directing.
Sujay Sairam as Salim
Sujay Simha is excited to make his community theatre debut in The Blizzard. With a strong background in improv and a deep love for stand-up comedy, he thrives on the energy of live performance and spontaneous laughter. While this is his first time bringing a scripted character to life on stage, he’s no stranger to connecting with an audience. When he’s not on stage cracking jokes or thinking on his feet, you’ll likely find him crafting new material or getting inspired by everyday absurdities. He’s grateful to the cast, crew, and director for the warm welcome into the theatre world—and to the audience for showing up and supporting local art.
Keith Hieronymi-Smith as Neil
Keith comes from Edinburgh, Scotland and started to mould his acting talent on the streets of the capital leading ghost tours as the character Adam Lyal for the Cadies & Witchery Tours. He moved to Dublin, Ireland in 2000 and whet his appetite for the stage, appearing in several theatre productions, including in Dublin Castle. After living in Dubai, he moved with his wife and family to Frankfurt in 2011. The hunger to get back on stage came back and Keith got his first role with FEST in 2024 as Jack Manningham in the production Gaslight. Now The Blizzard came calling…
Miriam van Meter as Jenny
Miriam is a devout theatre, film and musical lover. Nothing brings her more joy than getting to work with people who share her love for the arts. She was involved in multiple productions of her high school and college theatre groups and is now proud to be a member of FEST again after some time away from the stage. This is Miriam’s second production with the theatre company.
Julia Orenbakh as Natasha
Julia is an amateur actress involved in Russian- and English-language theatre productions in Wiesbaden and Frankfurt. She took part in the Russian-language theatre project “The 1930s. Mystery” at Depo Theatre in Wiesbaden and is currently appearing in her first English-language production with FEST Theatre in Frankfurt. In addition to her stage work, Julia has appeared in several films and TV series over the past years, mostly in small roles or as an extra, including Ein Fall für Zwei, Die Zweiflers, Der Staatsanwalt, Blindspot, and Klandestin. She continues to develop her acting skills through professional training and masterclasses in three languages.
The Way of All Fish
Gerrit-Milena Falker (Director)
Gerrit is a trained actress (four-year part-time training at “Schauspielstudio Artemis”, Munich) and has 15 years of theatre experience. Since 2024, the Berlin native has been completing a four-year part-time training to become a theatre instructor, at “Theaterwerkstatt Heidelberg”.
From 2017 until early 2025, she was Committee Member of Darmstadt’s “ESOC Theatre Group” – an English-speaking theater gang boldly going where few thespians have gone before: the European Space Agency. That’s right, space nerds and Shakespeare – a truly cosmic combination. For the past 15 years, Gerrit has also been enrolled in what she jokingly calls “Traffic University” – commuting daily and doing most of her theatre work somewhere between train stations. She’s worked on scripts at 300 km/h, cast actors over patchy Wi-Fi, and occasionally curses when the train dares to be on time.
Sabrina Schadwinkel (Assistant Director)
Sabrina is a Frankfurt-based business journalist and a trained interpreter (German/English/ French). In her free time, she loves to draw the world around her, from birds to caricatures. She is an avid theatregoer and is looking forward to taking on an active part in a play for the first time.
Sandra Regenbogen as Margaret Asquith
Sandra started treading the boards with FEST at 28, staying true to her characteristic of “late bloomer with a vengeance”. Theatrical experience includes musicals, Panto, drama, comedies, staged readings as well as original scripts. She has worked with various groups in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Darmstadt, covering a bit of voice over/dubbing and filming along the way. 2023/24 marked a highlight with a part in Schauspiel Frankfurt’s Macbeth under Timofey Kuliabin. Sandra has recently performed in FEST’s productions of Pygmalion and The Realistic Joneses and is happy to find that The Way of All Fish leads her to a very different corner of the FEST aquarium. Please refrain from feeding her or knocking on the glass. Thank you.
Soumya Jha as Joan Riverton
Soumya is a multifaceted creative spirit who played protagonist roles in social dramas and musicals on Indian national television as a teen. Her path has since circled through fashion ramps, tech corridors, boardrooms—and now, back to the stage. From computer science to an MBA, marketing to fintech—she resists being boxed in. She has lived and evolved across cultural hubs like Mithila, Bangalore, London, Paris, Berlin, and now dwells in Frankfurt. An avid traveller, swimmer, writer, and truth-seeker, she’s drawn to stories that create experiences. For her, theatre is a return to self—where presence, imagination, and emotion give voice to what lives beyond words.
Interludes
Martha Reece (Director)
You grew up in Australia, performing with Young People’s Theatre, Newcastle before shifting your theatrical focus towards tech and directing. While studying in Canberra, you kept your passion for theatre stoked through your involvement with the National University Theatre Society, ANU Women’s Revue and various other groups.
You moved to Germany to undertake your PhD in physics, and recently embraced FEST to fulfil the theatrical needs of your soul, joining several productions on the backstage team, and making your German stage debut in Pygmalion.
You are now overjoyed to be returning to your musical theatre roots by hoodwinking fest into allowing you to stage some of your favourite murderous musical numbers in their evening of one-acts.
You are Martha Reece.
Simone Arians
Simone had her first experience with English-speaking theatre at the Chaincourt Theatre Company at Goethe University Frankfurt, where she became involved in pantomimes and participated in two musical revues. She went on to perform roles in various German-speaking free theatre groups in Frankfurt. Although Simone has been a member of FEST for several years, her involvement has primarily been behind the scenes—attending workshops and supporting productions backstage. She worked as property master for Our Country’s Good (2016) and handled sound and lighting for Gaslight (2024).
This year, Simone has also been exploring other forms of performing arts through workshops in dance, singing, musical theatre, and mime. She is now very excited to participate in the Interludes and finally step into the spotlight.
Yasmin Caparó
Originally from Lima, Peru, Yasmin made her FEST debut as Mrs. Pearce in Pygmalion. With a background in Communication and Journalism, she blends storytelling with performance, drawing from over 20 years of experience as a teacher and education manager. Now based in Frankfurt, she continues her work as a teacher and voice-over artist for short films, corporate projects and learning apps, while pursuing a Master’s in Adult Education and expanding her career across languages and cultures. She is thrilled to take on her first musical theatre experience on stage, exploring a new dimension of performance.
Hazem Elessawy
Hazem comes from the land of the pharaohs. He doesn’t take his camel to work, though, nor does he live in a pyramid. He discovered the world of theatre in his junior year at the American University in Cairo and fell in love with it thanks to one enthusiastic professor. He appeared on FEST’s stage multiple times: as God in Rich Orloff’s Can This Marriage Be Saved, Fred Narracott in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Happy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Freddy in Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, and Hal in Woody Allen’s Old Saybrook, which represented FEST at the 2024 Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies in Antwerp. He also currently serves as the Chair of the FEST Committee. Hazem is a full-time cinephile, booklover and wannabe writer. In his free time, he “engineers” his way out of embarrassing situations.
Terry Fernbach
Terry moved to Germany in 2011 after having lived throughout the Upper South and the Midwest in the United States. Terry appeared in FEST’s production of Old Saybrook in 2024, which marked his return to theatre after a decades’ long hiatus to pursue a career negotiating minutiae in contracts. Before the hiatus, Terry had attended Ohio University’s B.F.A. Theater Performance program, performed in theatrical productions by The Sunset Players and The Footlighters theatre groups in the greater Cincinnati area, and appeared in television public service advertisements. Terry also represented FEST at the Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies (FEATS) 2024 with Old Saybrook. This production marks the first time anyone in Terry’s family has sung on stage in a production since his great-grandfather retired from touring the eastern half of the United States as part of a vaudeville troupe in 1911.
Ornela Giolla
Ornela was born in Albania, raised in Greece, and has lived in Germany since 2015. She has performed in several FEST productions, including Death of a Salesman (The Woman), The Cherry Orchard (Dunyasha) Trifles (Mrs. Peters) and Pygmalion (Bystander) and recently acted in Love’s Labor’s Lost (Dull) with Shakespeare Frankfurt. She has attended numerous theatre acting workshops.
Ornela is very excited to be part of this production and to sing on stage for the first time.
Xenia Kraft
Xenia was born in Russia’s Far East and once dreamed of becoming a clown. Though that dream stayed in the past, her interest in performing grew stronger over time. She has been with FEST for nearly two years and has taken part in productions such as The Cherry Orchard, Gas Light, and Pygmalion. She also works with TheaterDepot in Wiesbaden and continues to explore roles that challenge and inspire her.
Isabelle Krier
Getting in touch with theatre at a very young age, Isabelle’s interest in the acting world grew over the years. She took a chance to be part of the school theatre group “Cabaret Geoghelli” in Luxemburg, where she started as part of the backstage crew but soon made her way on stage as an actress. What started with some small sketches ended with the musical production “Heisse Ecke” and a passion for musical theatre.
Isabelle has also been an actress with her school’s “French theatre group”, which staged mostly plays by Ionesco (Madame Boeuf in Rhinoceros) and Beckett (Nell in Endgame).
Her history studies and teacher training made her stay away from the theatre world for several years.
After moving to Frankfurt, Isabelle found the “Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre” and revived her fascination for theatre, this time as stage manager (e.g. for several FEST plays at “Kulturhaus” as well as at FEATS in Luxemburg and Antwerp). People Like Us Don’t Kill marks her debut on stage for FEST.
Michelle Sellmann
Michelle is a Frankfurt native with a lifelong passion for theatre, sparked by playing a clueless king in a primary school play. She earned a BA in Drama Studies and English from the University of Mainz, while acting in several short films and training in different dance styles. After university, Michelle took a break from plays and pirouettes and joined the corporate world, currently working in an EdTech startup. But an old flame never dies, so she joined FEST in 2024, working backstage on the costumes for Pygmalion. This is her debut performance with FEST.
PRODUCTION CREW
Michelle Sellmann (Producer)
Michelle is a Frankfurt native with a lifelong passion for theatre, sparked by playing a clueless king in a primary school play. She earned a BA in Drama Studies and English from JGU Mainz, while acting in several short films and training in different dance styles. After university, Michelle took a break from plays and pirouettes and joined the corporate world, currently working in an EdTech startup. But an old flame never dies, so she joined FEST in 2024, working backstage on the costumes for Pygmalion. Michelle is excited about her first time producing for FEST and being able to help make this production come to life.
Alice Thomas (Assistant Producer)
Alice is originally from the Rhine-Main region. She has always had a keen interest in theatre and drama, and started out early with school plays. Later, life and the desire to discover the world got in the way. After more than 15 years abroad, Alice returned to Germany in 2017 and has since rediscovered her love for theatre with FEST. She co-produced a number of FEST productions in 2023-2024, notably Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, and Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton and has also acted in two plays in 2024 and 2025. Alice is excited to help out with this production and can’t wait to see all these amazing plays and musical interludes on stage!
Fabienne Sellmann (Stage Manager)
Born and raised in Frankfurt, Fabienne loves all mediums of storytelling. An avid reader and TV show enthusiast, her passion for theatre began in high school. After a few years of living on the east coast of the U.S., which only fanned her obsession with Broadway musicals, she returned to Frankfurt in 2020. She has since dedicated her professional life to working in education. Joining FEST has given Fabienne the perfect opportunity to learn and immerse herself in the inner workings of theatre and she is excited to now participate in her second production. After working on costumes for Pygmalion, she is looking forward to gaining new experience as Stage Manager for People Like Us Don’t Kill.
Mayank Parânzpé (Assistant Stage Manager)
Mayank joins as the Assistant Stage Manager and Props Master for People Like Us Don’t Kill. He transitioned into this role after previously volunteering as a stagehand for FEST’s production of The Realistic Joneses. With a keen interest in the technical side of theatre and acting, Mayank enjoys contributing to the backstage operations, helping to ensure a smooth and successful show.
Costumes:
Anna Breslavskaia
Julie Regenbogen
Ekaterina Breslavskaia
Andrea Coti
Hair
Cher Chislett
Ella Gogolin
Makeup
Gulmira Jumayeva
Kimia Bahrami
Sandra Eastwood
Ružica Vrbat
Vish Seshadri
Light and Sound: Emma Merritt
Visual Artist: Marcin Ostrzyzek
Stage Hand: Aditya Singh
Photographs by:
Rob Bailey
Mic Gruber
We are grateful to our generous sponsor:
