Explore the world of theatre through: Acting & Improvisation, Voice & Character Work, Movement & Stage Presence, Set, Props & Costume Design, Lights & Sound, Auditions & Performance Skills
Week One: Exploration Week — Breadth Over Depth
Every student rotates through high-energy workshops led by local Community Theatre experts. Students rotate through four different workshop pairings — one pair per day — so every camper samples eight workshops before Week 2 begins. Each day introduces a new concept of theatre.
Week Two: Creation Week — Deep Dive and Build the Showcase
Students choose a track to specialize in and work together to build, create, and perform an original showcase. Each group rehearses and creates something to present at Friday night’s Showcase.
THE GRAND FINALE: SHOWCASE EVENT
Friday, June 19th | 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
“Building confidence, community, and character—one act at a time.”
Center Stage Theater Camp Sponsors
Partial funding provided by a grant from Walmart and donations from Lynn’s Dakotamart
“Dissonance” by Craig Pospisil, “Will You Be My Nemesis?” by Kathryn Funkhouser, “Adapted & Destroyed: A Tale of Storytelling Gone Wrong” by Ian McWethy, “What’s Going On” by Arianna Scherer
Venue
BF Community Hall
Dates
March 27 & 28 at 7pm and March 29 at 3pm
Duration
Approx. 165 Minutes (Incl 2 10 min Intermissions)
The First Show of BFACT’s 2026 Season
What a way to kick off BFACT’s 2026 Season! We were so excited to have Curtain Call: A Night of One-Acts kick everything off for the season because nights of one-acts are some of our most beloved traditions. This show had it all, super-hero farces, meta comedies, sweet dramedies and outright human dramas. This show also included an original script written by local author Arianna Scherer, another important thing we like to include every year. It was a fantastic night of theater and we want to thank our amazing patrons and volunteers for making it a success!
Dissonance by Craig Pospisil
Tricia returns to the Berkshires to deal with her mother’s death following a battle with Alzheimer’s, but at the funeral home she collides with Fitz, a prodigy and former piano student of her mother’s, with secrets of his own, who challenges her choices.
Note: This show may not be suitable for very young children for themes of death in the family, grief, and some mild adult language.
Will You Be My Nemesis? by Kathryn Funkhouser
It’s hard to find your perfect match, someone you really connect with; someone who will dedicate their life to destroying you at all costs. Yes, sometimes it feels like you’ll NEVER meet your nemesis. But Captain Battle and Dr. Nightmare are willing to try out every hero and villain in town to find the enemy of their dreams. Of course, you’re going to meet a few weirdos along the way.
Adapted & Destroyed: A Tale of Storytelling Gone Wrong by Ian McWethy
It started as a bedtime story. A story about a bunny that Mary’s mom used to tell her every night. And it was a pretty weird one (with way more digressions about mortgage rates than you’d ever expect in a children’s story). But when her mom died, Bouncy Bunny became a way for Mary to remember her. So one day she decided to write it all down. And then, to her great surprise… it took on a life of its own. First as a heavily-edited children’s book, then as a cutesy animated musical, then as a terrifying energy drink commercial – every absurd adaptation creates a new form of the bunny. But does the story even belong to Mary anymore? A heartfelt comedy about what makes stories personal, and why we share them.
What’s Going On by Arianna Scherer
A short comedy by local playwright Arianna Scherer breaks down the barrier between actors and audience as two friends attend a show they know nothing about, but it just refuses to start, or does it?
The cast of “Adapted & Destroyed”
Curtain Call: A Night of Night One-Acts Cast
Dissonance
Fitz
Isabella Quijano
Tricia
Kelsey Gronlund
Will You Be My Nemesis?
Captain Battle
Loki Larive
Skirmish
Dylan Swan
Dr. Nightmare
Kaitlyn Roth
Underling #42
Tyler Schone
Waiter, Flamingo & Drill Sergeant
Carston Sechser
Turbo &Blue Steel
Tim Thompson
Logan the Thief
Hunter Cazer
Ultra
MaryBeth Runnels
Fallout
Melody Dennis
Firecat & Comet1
Stephanie Bussiere
Kit Calloway
Ari Dausch
RJ Boatsworth
Nathan Erhart
Comet2
Madisyn Carson
Comet3 & Justice
Ainsley Jewett
Xanderon & Pundertaker
Whitney Bridger
The Claw
Isabella Quijano
The Possum
Crystal Woods
Maniac
Arianna Scherer
Blue Steel Fan
Madisyn Carson
Fans
Talia Thompson, Hope Cazer
Teal Redgrave
Nathan Erhart
What’s Going On?
Character 1
Lex Bixel
Character 2
Emma Euneau
Adapted & Destroyed
Mary
Dylan Swan
Young Mary
Talia Thompson
Mom
Kaitlyn Roth
Bouncy Bunny
Melody Dennis
Bunny Friend 1 & Disney Singing Bunny
Kaeli Thompson
Bunny Friend 2
Ainsley Jewett
Bunny Mom
Whitney Bridger
Sheila & Jana662
Kelsie Reid
Zac & Max Upper
Nathan Erhart
Tiel & War bunny
Carston Sechser
Tea & Harlan Conheady
Hunter Cazer
Cute Bouncy Bunny
Ainsley Jewett
Anne
MaryBeth Runnels
Shirley Straight
Madisyn Carson
Jacked Bunny
Tim Thompson
Sad, Depraved Bunny
Madison Dalton
Kate
Stephanie Bussiere
Sara
Hope Cazer
Curtain Call: A Night of One-Acts Creative
Dissonance & What’s Going On Director
Arianna Scherer
Will You Be My Nemesis? Director
Crystal Woods
Adapted & Destroyed: A Tale of Storytelling Gone Wrong Director
Sharon Thompson
Producer
Derek Olson
Sound & Tech Work
Isabella Quijano
Costume Design & Emblem Assistance
Maggie Howe
Photography
Hunter Anderson
Curtain Call: A Night of One-Acts Credits
DISSONANCE is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service. www.concordtheatricals.com
ADAPTED & DESTROYED & WILL YOU BE MY NEMESIS? is produced by special arrangement with Stage Partners. www.yourstagepartners.com
A Directing Workshop for Community Theater, Specifically
We held one of our most requested workshops in January of 2026, Directing for Community Theater. Our attendees learned all about what it takes to be a director of a community theater show, things to watch out for, potential pitfalls, and how to make it a great experience for all involved.
The attendees were able to ask questions of our host, Derek Olson, and grow as directors. This workshop, like all our workshops, was FREE to the public.
Workshop Host
Derek Olson has been directing theater consistently since 2009 but helped direct his first show while in college back in 2003. Originally he started out as the Belle Fourche High School Theater director and did that from 2009 – 2021. In that time he worked with hundreds of amazing high schoolers and directed straight shows, one-acts and musicals. There were comedies, dramas, slapsticks, existentialist pieces, heavy pieces about mining death and musicals about 70’s disasters.
In 2009 Derek helped form Belle Fourche Community Theater which eventually became Belle Fourche Area Community Theater and is its first and current Executive Director. He directed the first ever community theater show in 2010 and directed as recently as 2025. He has directed shows of all sizes for BFACT from two-person micro-plays to musicals with 50+ people on stage. Derek has directed original pieces and all-time classics and in 16 years he has done over 40 shows with people of all ages. Beyond the stage, Derek has also directed many TV commercials, industry pieces, comedy shorts, web pilots, and short films.
Improv comedy is a form of live, unscripted performance where actors create characters, dialogue, and scenes on the spot. The performers build the show spontaneously, often taking suggestions from the audience to inspire the storyline or setting.
The Workshop
At this workshop participants learned about the various types and core principles of improv. Our workshop moderator, Geno Pesicka, taught and led our participants in various exercises and games throughout the night and explained how improv can make you a better actor. There was some discussion about the psychology of improv.
This event was free to the community and to anyone from the surrounding area.
Improv Host
Geno Pesicka first got started in acting when he dropped out of his junior AP Physics class and the only class available at the same time was Intro to Theater back in 1997. From 1998 till 2005 he averaged 6 stage shows a year between BHSU, Matthews Opera House, and The Dahl, playing characters such as Lancelot in Camelot, Van Helsing in Dracula, Dodger in Oliver, Elliot Butler in Alone Together, Hal Carter in Picnic, among many others.
Geno joined BFACT for their inaugural show in 2010, playing the lead character of Jean Francois Millet in Is He Dead? Since then, he has played in at least a dozen productions, directed one show, and most recently starred as Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Geno has been studying improv since he first watched Ryan Styles on Whose Line is it Anyway in the 90’s, and uses Improv techniques with every character he plays and during auditions. He has taught workshops at BHSU and Historic Homestake Opera House in Lead.
Adapted by Joe Landry ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is based on the story ‘The Greatest Gift’ by Philip Van Doren Stern ‘The Greatest Gift’ is used by permission of The Greatest Gift Corporation
Venue
BF Rec Center Auditorium
Dates
December 13 at 7pm and December 14 at 3pm
Duration
Approx. 120 Minutes (Incl 15 min Intermission)
Enjoy this Christmas classic in a brand new way
This beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve.
This show was an amazing way to end BFACT’s 15th Season!
One of the best holiday shows around. This is a fresh and inventive way of reconnecting with a classic story of love and redemption.
Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times
Our amazing cast!
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play Cast
Freddie Filmore / Announcer
Crystal Woods
Jake Laurents / George Bailey
Joe Savery
Sally Applewhite / Mary
Hailey Hanzlik
Lana Sherwood / Violet
Lucy Cole
Harry “Jazzbo” Haywood & Others
Colin Hanzlik
Stage Manager
Isabella Quijano
Band of Foleys
Ember Olson, Cade Pearson, & Katherine Fowler
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play Creative
Director
Isabella Quijano
Assistant Stage Manager
Arianna Scherer
Sound
Michael Meemken
Producer
Derek Olson
Lights
Dylan Greywater
Photography
Hunter Anderson Photography
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play Credits
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY (FULL LENGTH VERSION) is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)
We are so excited to bring the story of the orphan Emma to the Belle Fourche stage again. Originally produced by the Belle Fourche High School in 2010, this beloved show about the ghost/sister town of Belle Fourche tells the story of Emma as she travels from the big city to track down her hero and star of his own book, Tom Bragg, hero of Minnesela. Tom has his own worries from a woman who wants to be his betrothed and the brother of a man he killed who wants him dead, and the truth of his own story catching up with him. These two collide, as well as many hilarious characters in the once thriving town of… Minnesela!
Enjoy shootouts on the Minnesela Main Street
Minnesela Sponsors
The History of Minnesela
The story of Minnesela rightly starts with Belle Fourche’s former rival, Minnesela. Founded in 1882 but abandoned by 1901 Minnesela was the original county seat of Butte County but when the railroad eventually went through the area that would become Belle Fourche instead the town began to die. Thanks to Seth Bullock’s donation of his ranch land for the train depot to be built, the town of Belle Fourche grew up around it quickly, Seth Bullock even donated land and many residents and businesses from Minnesle moved, including the Butte County bank which led to Belle Fourche winning the county seat in 1894. Some cowboys from Belle Fourche even stole the county books of Minnesela.
Although, the interesting rise and fall of Minnesela could make a great show, that isn’t what ours is about. The play Minnesela is completely fictional though it takes inspiration from the town and the whole area. The story originally started as a movie screenplay by the authors Derek and Bob Olson while Derek was in college in 2005. At that time the movie was called Dry Creek and was about Sheriff Dave Hoffman and Tom Bragg as they try to track down some stolen army gold under the nose of Crooked Nose Jack and his gang. While the script was actually looked at by a producer at CBS, it unfortunately wasn’t sold and laid dormant until 2007 where it became a comic in the local monthly periodical, Deadwood Magazine. After over a year run it came to end and the story was dead once again, just like Crooked Nose Jack.
Then in 2009 Derek took over the Belle Fourche High School Theater Department and started directing and writing original plays and in the spring of 2010, the authors wanted to revisit the characters of Dry Creek but that story did not lend itself to the stage, thus Minnesela was born. Minnesela is a sequel of sorts to the original Dry Creek, though you don’t need to know that story to enjoy this show. Tom and Dave’s adventures in Dry Creek are in Minnesela as almost a prologue, but this story revolved a new character, the orphan Emma Williams. This new play followed her journey to the town of Minnesela due to Tom Bragg’s book he wrote of his exploits, Dry Creek. The show was a hit, even to the point the actors were promised they could shave the director’s heads if they sold out and they got close enough. After that, these characters were put on the shelf again.
Now, 16 years later, it felt the right time for BFACT’s first western to be something about the area itself. Minnesela was chosen, given a little bit of a bit of a spit polish and is coming to the stage the last weekend of July. So come see a story over 120 years, 21 years, 19 years and 16 years in the making.
Getting Our Acts Together: A Night of Northern Hills One-Acts
Venue
BF Rec Center Auditorium
Date
September 17
Duration
Approx. 120 Minutes (Incl 3 10 min intermissions)
Tickets
On Sale Now
Cast List
Evie Stewart: Whitney Bridgers
Malcolm Stewart: Louis Mehlhaff
Madam Mystic: Geno Pesicka
Tanner: Darian Pesicka
Rennie: Alanya Drabek
Toby: Silas Pesicka
Baron Von Barron: Colin Hanzlik
Deke Allington: Carston Sechser
Detective Darius: Loki Larive
For the fifth time, GOAT comes to Belle Fourche
We are so excited to be a part of the Fifth Annual Getting Our Acts Together, or as we affectionately know it, GOAT! This show is a collaboration of local Northern Hills Theaters that include the Matthews Opera House, the Historic Homestake Opera House, the Sturgis Arts Council, and of course BFACT. Each season has been more fun than the last and we can’t wait to do it again.
For this show, each theater puts on a one-act and the the performance is done at each location, ours will be held on Thursday, September 17.
Good Neighbors Synopsis
What does it mean to be a good neighbor? To Evie Stewart it means checking out a strange light in the creepy, deserted Clutterfield House across the street. Reluctant husband Malcolm goes along, but not before notifying the police. Once inside, the Stewart’s come face-to-face with a myriad of characters: Madam Mystic and her tour group; Baron Von Barron who claims to be the reincarnated owner of the house, Strom Clutterfield; Deke Allington who carries a secret with him; and Detective Darius whose job it is to uncover secrets. Who should be in the Clutterfield House and what secrets are there? Maybe it’s the task of good neighbors to find out!
No previous costuming or theatre experience necessary. Everyone is welcome!
Join us for the second part of our Costume Workshop, where we move from the basics of costuming into the practical work of designing for an actual theatrical production.
What We’ll Be Doing
Choose a play.
Each participant will select a play they would like to costume.
Select one or two characters.
Rather than costuming the entire production, participants will focus on one or two characters from their chosen show.
Learn and practice measurements.
We will work through the measurements needed when preparing costumes for performers, giving participants hands-on practice with the measurement process used in theatrical costuming.
Create a costume needs list.
Participants will identify the clothing pieces, accessories, and other costume elements they believe their selected characters will require.
Receive the director’s and actor’s vision.
After reviewing each selected play, the workshop instructor will provide director’s notes and a production vision. Participants will also consider the actor’s vision and interpretation of the character, including how the actor sees the character’s personality, appearance, movement, and development throughout the play.
Participants will then use the script, director’s vision, and actor’s interpretation together as the framework for developing their costume ideas.
Designing for the Production
Costume design is more than choosing clothing that looks right for a character. A costumer must interpret the script, understand the director’s overall vision, listen to the actor’s interpretation of their character, work with the actor’s measurements, and determine what is needed to bring that character to life on stage.
This workshop gives participants the opportunity to practice that collaborative process in a hands-on setting.
What to Bring
A play you would like to costume.
A flexible sewing tape measure for the measurement portion of the workshop.
Come ready to take your costume ideas from the page to the stage.
Workshop Host
With over 30 years of experience, Crystal Woods brings a wealth of knowledge in costume design, construction, makeup, FX makeup, and hair. She has designed costumes and wigs for female impersonators across the country and has worked as an assistant costumer in both high school and college productions. Crystal has costumed multiple shows with BFACT and has studied costume theory and design extensively. Sewing has been a lifelong passion and craft.
Whether you’re new to costuming or looking to sharpen your skills, this workshop offers a fun, creative, and practical experience you won’t want to miss.
A whimsical reinvention of Dickens‘ most beloved Christmas story in wacky rhymed couplets. With zoot fruited juices and binka bird geese, from Bed-Headed Fred to Timmy Loo Hoo, this tale of glorious holiday cheer is similar to something Dr. Seuss might have come up with – if he ever had his way with the story.
We are so excited to bring this show back to the Belle Fourche stage, originally produced in 2015, it was the first BFACT Christmas show produced. A Seussified is one of BFACT’s most beloved shows and Christmas can’t come fast enough!
A Seussified Christmas Carol Credits
A SEUSSIFIED CHRISTMAS CAROL (FULL-LENGTH) is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Playscripts. www.concordtheatricals.com
For our 15th Season, it felt right to put on another signature night of one-acts, this time with a twist!
This festival featured local playwrights who started writing their plays two weeks before the Showcase starting on October 6. Through workshopping, late nights, and hair pulling, their short plays were finished just in time because the best work happens with the scariest deadlines. During the week of writing there were plenty of workshops and other get togethers to have peer to peer critiques and an opportunity to hear their work read at all parts of the writing process.
Once the scripts were done they were handed off to our talented directors and actors and they had less than a week to pull these plays together to have them ready for the Showcase on October 17 & 18 at Belle Fourche Community Hall.
We were so excited to spotlight new playwrights from the Center of the Nation, and the talent and dedication of our amazing volunteers!
Isabella Quijano ran this amazing program, was emcee, directed and acted in several of these amazing one-acts
Center of the Nation Playwriting Festival Playwrights
