Education team

Jim Phetterplace Jr. is an American theatre professional living near Aschaffenburg. He studied acting and directing for the stage at Illinois Wesleyan University, after which he spent eight years performing, directing and stage managing in the Chicago metropolitan area. After a fifteen-year hiatus from the stage, during which he learned German, studied theoretical linguistics at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and applied linguistics at the University of Leicester, and taught English and presentation techniques to international companies at their locations in Europe and around the world, he returned to his original love: the stage. In 2016, Jim was on stage in The LOFT’s production of The Tempest and directed Our Country’s Good for the Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre e.V. In 2016 Jim became part of the the English Theatre Frankfurt’s educational programme by coaching Words in Action and running theatre workshops. He is acting Education Manager during Ms Dunbar’s maternity leave.

Lea Dorothy Dunbar is a South African actress with an Honours Degree in Drama from the University of Cape Town. She started her educational career teaching Drama as part of the Arts and Culture syllabus in South African schools. After teaching for several schools and institutions she became the Head of the Drama Department at a local college for two years. Upon moving to Germany she divided her time between Cape Town, where she worked as a film and TV actress, and Frankfurt where she taught English, Afrikaans and Drama. She joined the English Theatre’s Educational team several years ago under the mentorship of Michael Gonszar. Since then she has conducted classes and workshops related to English Theatre Productions as well as participating in the English Theatre’s Words in Action and Drama Network programme, bringing theatre in to local schools. Lea has also been involved with the Altana Stiftung and TUSCH initiatives as a representative artist from the English Theatre. She has performed on the English Theatre’s stage in the Drama Club productions, A Brave New World, The Threepenny Opera ,The Crucible, The Black Rider, Alice in Wonderland and Living with Lady Macbeth. Lea is now working in an administrative role as Education Manager, organising the various programmes offered by the Education Department and directs the Plays for Young Audiences.

Tracey Mitchem was born in Wiesbaden to an American military family. She studied music and theatre at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. Her stage appearances in the USA include included leading roles in Mame, Oklahoma, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Hello Dolly, Kismet, and Cinderella and Pippin amongst others. Tracey also appeared in the television series Fame (produced in Hollywood, California) .In New York City Tracey landed a leading role in the new musical The Tap Dance Kid on Broadway. During this time Tracey studied dance with Maurice Hines of the world famous dance team The Hines Brothers. Tracey is also very experienced in vocal coaching as so she studied classical voice under Madam Luba Tcheresky. Thereafter Tracey began performing with several opera companies throughout New York City and California. Tracey’s 2008 move to Frankfurt gave her the opportunity to expand her private voice and performance studio, where she provides acting and singing classes to students of all ages. Tracey currently works as a theatre pedagogue for the English Theatre, where she runs workshops for school groups and creates and directs theatre productions for the childrens´charity, Arche.

Conor Doyle is an Irish performer and theatre practitioner. He recieved his training in Dublin at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. Thereafter he continued his studies in Toronto, Canada where he studied Comedy Writing and Performance. Conor is involved with the English Improvisational comedy scene in Frankfurt, as well as performing with the following groups such as The Loft, FEST and TLS. Conor became involved with the English Theatre as an actor, performing in the play for young audiences, The Canterville Ghost. Since then Conor has become part of the Education Team, running workshops for teachers and students.

Sophia-Anna Isabel Anspach is an actress based in Frankfurt. After an injury forced her to discontinue dancing she decided to study acting and graduated from the Wiesbaden Theatre Drama School in 2013. After graduating, she moved to the UK to be surrounded by native English Speakers and lived in London and Brighton where she worked as a translator. Sophia has performed in Frankfurt in Goethes Faust 2 at the Schauspiel Frankfurt and Constellations at the Theater Landungsbrucke. She was hired as an actress to perform in the Plays for Young Audience Programme at the English Theatre and has since performed to over 15 000 school goers in The Witches, Cinderella and The Canterville Ghost. Sophia´s expertise lies in running workshops for older students, particularly dealing with classic literature, and she is the resident dance captain for the Plays For Young Audiences.

Kumari is a multi-cultural musical theatre actress and dance pedagogue, educated in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. She completed her diploma in Musical theatre in 2013 from the Academy of stage arts and has most recently received training in New York from the Broadway Dance Centre. Kumari has experience in working with children through her work with Stagecoach in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. She is also a qualified ballet pedagogue, givng instruction to children and teenagers. Her stage performances include: Das Mannheimer Dschungelbuch (Frankfurt), Running State of Mind (New York), Othello (Klingenberg), Dracula (Klingenberg), Sugar – Manche mögen ́s heiss (Bad Vilbel). 
Kumari also appears in the role of Ella as a member of a close harmony trio called „The Sugar Sisters“, which was founded in 2014.

Nami Miwa is a Japanese American dancer and performer living in Frankfurt. She graduated from the Walnut Hill School For The Arts as a dance major with honours. She later attended the Fordham University for their BFA program with The Ailey School in New York, under the direction of Milton Myers, Ana Marie Forsythe, and Dudley Williams. In 2014, she moved to Frankfurt to attend the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst under the direction of Dieter Heitkamp, Marc Spradling, and Nora Kimball. Nami has performed works by William Forsythe, Regina van Berkel, Dieter Heitkamp, Marguerite Donlon and others. She has recently worked on collaborations with visual artist Franziska Wildt for an installation/film, and actress Gesa Köhler for a performance. Nami started working in The English Theatre through the Drama Club production of Romeo and Juliet and The Blue Room and now works as part of the educational team running movement and choreography workshops.