Photos from ‘Just Another Day At the Office’ at Michigan State
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on December 8, 2018
For the third year in a row, Michigan State University’s Roial Players produced one of my one-acts. JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE ran Oct. 18-21. Here are some awesome photos.
Jenny is stuck at the lowest rung of the corporate ladder. Then she’s sent to raid another office for supplies and things start to happen.
Back in April, a staged reading of this script won a prize in Virginia. More on that here.
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE
A young woman is sent on a mission to raid another department for supplies. She comes back as the CEO. A play about sexism in the workplace. Cast: 18 — 12 male, 6 female.
* Staged reading at Shakespeare in the Burg, Middleburg, Virginia, April 2018.
* Produced by Roial Players, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, October 2018.
“This Rose Has Thorns” wins award in Australia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Reviews, Uncategorized on December 5, 2018
The company that produced my play THIS ROSE HAS THORNS in Melbourne, Australia in April 2018 has won an award for the show. BustCo — aka, the Burwood Student Theatre Company at Deakin University — won an Adjudicator’s Award from the Victorian Drama League, the theatre association for the state of Victoria. The award was given out on Dec. 1. It was the first time BustCo has entered the competition. I’m told that the talk at the table afterwards was “we’ve got to tell Dwayne!” So they messaged me while the banquet continued. It was 3:30 a.m. on the east coast of North America but I was up late writing so got the word right away. Congrats, mates! Here’s video of the moment the BustCo attendees found out they won. More photos below.
Director John Jennings, at left, and some of the cast and crew from THIS ROSE HAS THORNS. Photo by BustCo.
The award. Photo by Bianca Heard.
“Extracted” praised for ‘precise comic sensibility’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Reviews, Uncategorized on December 5, 2018
OK, this is in the form of a rejection notice. But keep in mind that most theatres, in their rejection notices, never say anything specific at the work — they’re usually just form letters, which I don’t mind. But this one from a New York theatre was different:
“Thank you for sharing your play EXTRACTED with us at [name of theatre]. We quite enjoyed the play’s precise comic sensibility and symbolic meditation on contemporary America.” Then came “I’m afraid it’s not a perfect fit for [name of theatre] at this time.” Not a hit, but some nice words that the theatre didn’t have to say.
Here’s the synopsis of the show:
EXTRACTED
A dark allegorical tale about modern politics and immigration. An American truck driver sleeping in his cab at a truckstop in southern California is awoken by two teenage girls, Sam and Libby. He thinks they’re truckstop prostitutes and tries to run them away. Instead, the one explains that she has rescued her sister from drug gangs in Los Angeles and is trying to take her home to safety in New York. The rescued sister is our allegorical Statue of Liberty. In fact, she has not been rescued; she has been drugged against her will, for reciting — and practicing — the poem at the statue’s base: “give me your tired, your poor . . . ” As the roadtrip across North American unfolds, we see that the older sister is not, in fact, a protector and rescuer, but rather her kidnapper, who is trying to brainwash her. Along the way, the keep running into another truck driver, who is taking the same route across the country, and a mysterious woman. In the climactic scene, Sam has hired a tattoo artist to blot out “The New Colossus” poem that Libby has tattooed on her. Just then the two mystery figures burst in — revealing themselves to be special agents for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who are mounting a hostage rescue and extraction to take Libby to safety in Canada. They are joined by a Mexican intelligence agent, as well, who they had previously met along the way at a truckstop. Cast: Eight — Five female (including who can pass for teens, and one Latina adult), three male.
Poster from ‘Let There Be Lights!’ in Pennsylvania
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 30, 2018
The poster.
My one-act LET THERE BE LIGHTS! is being produced Dec. 19 at Otto-Eldred High School in Duke Center, Pennsylvania. One of the students drew a poster for the show. This reminds me that theatre is such a collaborative art form that brings in many disciplines. Here somebody got to use their artistic talent.
This script is getting produced a lot this winter:
* Staged reading at Seton Hall University, Seton Hall, New Jersey, December 2015. (Photos here.)
* Produced by Liberty High School, Liberty, Texas, December 1, 2017. (Photos here)
* Scheduled to be produced by Otto-Eldred High School, Duke Center, Pennsylvana, December 19, 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by St. Luke’s Methodist Church, Hickory, North Carolina, December 19, 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by Pine Island High School, Pine Island, Minnesota, December 21, 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by Geo Prep Mid-City of Greater Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, December 2018.
Poster from ‘Curiosity Killed The Cat’ in Cameroon
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 30, 2018
The poster.
My one-act CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT was produced Nov. 17 at The American School of Yaounde, Yoaunde, Cameroon. It wasn’t my first production Africa — I’ve been produced previously in South Africa — but was my first in Cameroon.
This was the fourth production of the script, with a fifth scheduled in 2019 in Canada.
* Produced by Attic Productions, Fincastle, Va. March 2011.
* Produced by Red River Revue, Clarksville, Texas, May 2017.
* Produced by RuBarb Productions, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, May 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by the American School of Yaounde, Yaounde, Cameroon, November 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by Turner Fenton Secondary School, Brampton, Ontario, February 2019.
Poster for ‘Nursery Crimes’ at school in Florida
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 30, 2018
The poster.
Here’s the poster for my one-act, which is being produced along with another show Dec. 4 at Emerald Coast Middle School in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.
That will be the fourth production of that script. The previous three:
* Stonewall Jackson High School, Mount Jackson, Va., March 13-14, 2009.
* Esk-Dale High School, Millard County, Utah, March 2017.
* Paris Community Theatre, Paris, Texas, spring 2018.
Staged reading of “The Christmas Spiders” in Virginia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 20, 2018
Spiders hiding in hopes of not being stepped on.
My short play THE CHRISTMAS SPIDERS had a staged reading as part of Attic Productions’ Christmas Playwriting Festival on November 17, 2018. For more photos, see here.
Curtain call.
