Review: ‘Veronica’s Dolls’ called ‘most innovative and creative’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Reviews on March 19, 2019
The staged reading for Veronica’s Dolls. Photo courtesy of Anthony J. Piccione
My short one-act VERONICA’S DOLLS was performed as a staged reading on March 10 in New York at the Dramatist’s Guild Theatre as part of a festival of short plays about mental health that was produced by Piccione Arts. The event got a nice review in Five-Star Arts Journal.
Here’s what it said about VERONICA’S DOLLS:
“Veronica’s Dolls” A teenagers dolls come to life in a desperate effort to save her life after she attempts suicide. Starring, LOUISE HELLER, EMMA ROMEO, NICK CAPRIOTTI, GEMIA FOO, TRAVIS MARTIN. “Veronica’s Dolls” was most innovative and creative what with its conveyance of human feelings vis-a-vis inanimate objects. This piece happily was reminiscent of the popular Twilight Zone episode: “Five Characters in Search of an Exit”. EMMA ROMEO gave a nice characterization while NICK CAPRIOTTI was well in command of his lines and performance.
Half the shows in this festival are mine
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on March 6, 2019
Festival logo
Usually I don’t brag about individual acceptances unless they’re REALLY big. This one is really big. In April, Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas will hold a festival of 12 short plays. Exactly half of those are mine.
The scripts getting produced are DEANNA DUPES THE DEVIL, THE FERRYMAN AND THE THIEF, LETTERS FROM THE MONA LISA, MY SUMMER AS A MERMAID, THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS and VERONICA’S DOLLS. You can find a complete list of my 2019 productions here.
Review for ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Reviews on February 26, 2019
My 10-minute play DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN has just gotten this nice review on the New Play Exchange:
“ Clever and timely! This would make the perfect addition to any short play festival centered on “current events.”
— Rey Dabalsa
DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN
A parable about fake news. In this play, after the infamous “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline, the newspaper kept insisting Dewey really did win, publishing story after story about the Dewey administration. Now it’s eight years later . . . Cast: Four: Three male, one female.
* Produced Oct-Nov. 2018, Broom Street Theater, Madison, Wisconsin.
Book now for ‘Red Moon Rising in The East’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Other, Productions, Uncategorized on February 19, 2019
Red Moon Rising in the East – Press Release
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. We typically hear the story of the space race from the American side. There was, however, another side – the Russian side. My play RED MOON RISING IN THE EAST is a one-man show based on the true story of Sergei Korolev, the father of Soviet space program. The script has been produced four times before previously and earned good review. A magazine in Duluth, Minnesota called it a “tour de force” and “masterful story-telling.”
I have lined up Roanoke actor Gary Reid, who has recently been touring his own one-man show, “A Life of Sorrow,” based on bluegrass musician Carter Stanley. We are now in the process of trying to book enough shows this summer to make the project viable. Here’s our flyer.
Rehearsal photos from ‘The One-Word Odyssey’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on February 2, 2019
Director Tyler Olsen-Highness shares these rehearsal photos from THE ONE-WORD ODYSSEY at Great River School in St. Paul, Minnesota. The show was supposed to be Feb. 1-2 but the polar vortex has pushed it to Feb. 8-9.
Odysseus himself?
Holding up the storm.
Something’s happening here but I don’t know what it is.
And then there’s this.
THE ONE-WORD ODYSSEY
The story of the Odyssey, more or less, in which each line consists of just a single word. Ideal for a class project. Includes monsters and a talking hamburger. Cast: As few as 18 — 9 males, 3 females, 6 non-gender — or as many as 33 — 17 males, 7 females, 9 non-gender. Running time: One hour.
Review for ‘The One-Word Christmas Carol’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Reviews, Uncategorized on January 5, 2019
Here’s a review for my short Christmas play THE ONE-WORD CHRISTMAS CAROL that was posted on the New Play Exchange:
“If you haven’t partaken of Yancey’s one-word classics, they are a treat and this is a good place to start. Dickens himself would be proud. I particularly liked this glimpse into Belle’s family, and of course Scrooge’s back and forth with the Christmas ghosts always delight. Yancey makes it look deceptively easy but don’t be fooled, it’s HARD selecting the exactly right single word at a time to convey the spirit of a timeless story, move the plot forward and still have the entire project feel fresh and vibrant. Yancey is just the man for the undertaking.”
— Matthew Weaver
THE ONE-WORD CHRISTMAS CAROL
The traditional Christmas Carol story, more or less, told with each actor speaking a line of just a single word. Cast: Can be done with as few as six, or expanded larger, if you desire. With six, 4 male, 1 female, 1 non-gender. Feel free, of course, to use non-traditional casting.
2018: 68 productions and 7 readings in 6 countries
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on December 31, 2018
UPDATED! In 2018: I had at least 68 productions and 7 staged readings in 5 countries: Australia, Cameroon, Canada, China (Hong Kong), Great Britain and the United States. That’s a record number of productions and included my first international production of a full-length script (in Australia) and my first production in Cameroon (of a one-act). That number of productions may rise because one of my publishers is always very slow in reporting.
Most of those were shorts, but that list did include two productions of full-length scripts — THIS ROSE HAS THORNS by BustCo in Melbourne, Australia and ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS by Fountain Community Theater in Fountain, Colorado. That, by the way, was the third production of that script. I also had one staged reading of a full-length: REVENGE OF THE FAIRY QUEEN at the Bower Center in Bedford, Virginia.
Other milestones: My most frequently-produced script is the one-act THE FRUITCAKE, published through Brooklyn Publishers. The script had its 51st and 52nd productions in 2018 and has a 53rd scheduled for early 2019.
My most frequently-produced script in 2018 was the short play THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD, which was produced at least seven times (and maybe more) because it was included in a collection of gun-related plays which got a lot of productions in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
You can see the complete list of my 2018 productions here and an up-to-date list of my 2019 productions here.
