By Peter Pae
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 16, 1998; Page V01

The first to get on stage was the Pied Piper Theater from Manassas as timekeeper Laura Schank held up her stopwatch, alerting the mostly teenage cast that it had 10 minutes to set up the props.

As the audience waited, the troupe's crew -- which really consisted of the director, three actors and their friends -- hurried onto the curtain-drawn stage scrambling around to place six school chairs and a teacher's desk at the right places.

"They have 10 minutes to set up everything and 60 minutes to perform their play, or they could be disqualified," Schank said. "Luckily, that hasn't happened in the three years I've been the timekeeper although some have come real close."

A stopwatch is not exactly what you would expect at a theater performance, but at NVTA's 17th annual One-Act Play Festival at the Reston Community Center, it could mean the difference between the best play award and the booby prize.

The competition, sort of a Summer Olympics for community theater, began Friday and continues this weekend. This year, 17 community theaters, the most ever, will perform comedies, dramas and musicals before a three-judge panel.

"It's a real fest for theatergoers," said Leila Gordon, performing arts director for the Reston Community Center, co-sponsor of the festival. She added that time limits are helpful, particularly for the audience, because "you're not tortured for more than an hour if the performance is bad."

The event concludes Sunday with a champagne reception and an awards ceremony that some liken to a local version of Broadway's Tony Awards. Ten awards will be given out, including best actor and actress as well as best director and best overall production.

The festival is an integral part of NVTA, which was formed 17 years ago as the Northern Virginia Theater Alliance with 13 theater groups. It has grown to include 34 theaters throughout the Washington area. Its name was shortened to initials to emphasize the fact that the group is also open to non-Virginians.

The alliance was founded by Bruce Follmer, a retired systems analyst with the D.C. police, after he couldn't find rubber chickens for his troupe's production of "Once Upon a Mattress."

Figuring that some theater group had rubber chickens collecting dust somewhere, Follmer formed the alliance with the idea of sharing resources. The festival began shortly after that as a way to publicize the organization.

Since then, the festival's popularity has grown steadily. Festival organizers anticipate a record number of theatergoers this year, and for the first time, theater groups have filled all four days of competition. The festival has had to add a second matinee to its schedule this year.

"The crowd turnout has been wonderful," said Anita Gardiner, president of the NVTA. "It's been growing every year."

Friday, an audience of about 250 roared with appreciation, giving thundering applause to three actors on stage who moments earlier had performed a hilariously funny one-act play titled The American Century.

The performance was flawless and the acting outstanding, not much different from many professional performances, except that the actors -- Wayne Reusch, Hannah Pfoutz and Jim Manclark -- are no ordinary thespians.

During the day, Reusch is an aerospace engineer; Pfoutz, a geology major at Oberlin College in Ohio; and Manclark, a paralegal for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. All three have backgrounds typifying those of performers at the festival, many of whom say they act for the love of it.

"In college, I decided that I could either become an actor and not eat or be an engineer and have this as a hobby," said Reusch, who played the father in the play, which is about a neurotic son who goes back in time and confronts his parents before he is conceived.

Follmer said the festival is seen as a showcase by some theater groups, who put forth their best directors and actors, while others view it as a training ground for would-be thespians, leaving the quality of the performances somewhat erratic.

"The performances have improved dramatically, but we still get a variance in quality," Follmer said.

Many first-timers said they were pleasantly surprised by the quality.

"I'm enjoying it very much," said Marcella Hearty, a Herndon massage therapist who was attending the festival for the first time Friday. "I'm very impressed. The actors are very good. The plays are well written. It's a lot of fun."

For the performing groups, the festival affords an opportunity to be critiqued by professionals. After a performance, each troupe is given a 15-minute critique by the three judges.

The confidential review for the cast of the Pied Piper Theater was generally positive, the members said. The group, one of the few children's theaters competing at the festival, performed an original drama written by a former member of the troupe.

The judges "were pretty good," said Christie Blewett, a recent graduate of Seton High School in Manassas. She plays a brilliant teenager who at the end of the play slaps a bullish classmate. "They liked the slap. They thought it looked real."

"Oh, it was real all right," Matt Stachel, an Osbourn Park High School senior, said still rubbing his cheek.

The three-play sessions continue tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 a session, $20 for a festival pass. For more information, call 703-476-1111.

© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company