FEATS 2010: Bad Homburg

FEATS is the Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies. It takes place every year, with performances of 12 one-act plays over 4 nights. A professional adjudicator assesses the plays and awards prizes in various categories.

This year the festival was hosted by FEST (Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre) at the Kurtheater in Bad Homburg, 13-16 May. The pleasure of being in this lovely spa town was somewhat diminished on this occasion by the unseasonably cold weather.

Semi-Circle competed at FEATS in each of the past 3 years and was, therefore, not eligible to participate in the competition this year. However, the Bouncers were keen to strut their stuff once more and so offered to perform at the festival fringe. So keen were they, in fact, that the director and cast shared the costs among themselves since Semi-Circle was not in a position to offer financial support. The FEATS organisers were happy to accept Bouncers into the fringe as a complement to Shakers, which was already entered in the competition by GEDS (Geneva English Drama Society).

The performance of Bouncers was well received by an unusually large fringe audience. (The size of the audience was probably due as much to the chilly weather as to anticipation of the Semi-Circle production.) In the days following the performance, the Semi-Circle members were quite overwhelmed by positive comments about Bouncers from other clubs. It was a very satisfying bonus on top of the pleasure of performing again in front of an appreciative audience.

The Festival Itself

The FEATS competition was, as usual, a feast for theatre enthusiasts. Each evening, we were presented with a variety of high-quality productions followed by entertaining and interesting comments by the adjudicator. It is impossible to give more than a flavour of the range of plays at FEATS. Take, for example, the Saturday night programme:

The evening opened with Jolly by David Mamet: a husband and wife and her brother reveal something of the legacy of a troubled childhood. This play won the prize for best production and the prize for best male actor. In the second play of the evening, we were confronted with two actors with hoods over their heads – a sombre tale of frustrated love and sexual abuse. The final play of the evening was a jolly romp with a cast of ten – an original script in the style of Commedia dell’Arte.

Saturday night finished with a feast of another kind. The FEATS party featured a sumptuous Spanish buffet, disco and live music.

FEATS will be hosted by GEDS in Geneva in 2011.

Steve Martin (Judd)