Archive for January, 2014

Video: “A Nice, Relaxing Cup of Tea” in Ontario walking tour festival

Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on January 15, 2014

There’s a fascinating theatre festival each year in Kitchener, Ontario that I’d love to see — it’s a walking tour festival where audience members are led around downtown to various venues, and theatre occasionally breaks out.

While I haven’t been there, some of my work has been. In 2013, the Asphalt Jungle Shorts program included my piece “Requiem for a Buzzard” — you can find photos here from the June production and here from the September reprise.

Now the Asphalt Jungle Shorts folks have unearthed this video from the 2009 production of my short piece, “A Nice, Relaxing Cup of Tea.” Here, Nicholas Cumming and Emma Dines perform the piece at The Kava Bean, directed by Robin Bennett.

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Photos from staged reading of “Softball Is Life”

Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on January 7, 2014

Larsen (played by Emma Sala) gets ready to throw a softball through a hornet's nest, under the glaring eye of Mr. Barnett (Patrick Kennerly), the hard-hearted science teacher and softball coach and the hopeful eye of Kristin Turner (Kelly Anglim), the soft-hearted principal who hopes the feat will show the coach the troublesome student has a gift.

Larsen (played by Emma Sala) gets ready to throw a softball through a hornet’s nest, under the glaring eye of Mr. Barnett (Patrick Kennerly), the hard-hearted science teacher and softball coach and the hopeful eye of Kristin Turner (Kelly Anglim), the soft-hearted principal who hopes the feat will show the coach the troublesome student has a gift.

My latest full-length script, “Softball Is Life,” had a very successful staged reading on January 4, 2014 at Showtimers community theatre in Roanoke, Virginia. Strong performances, strong turn-out, plus I came away with a list of small tweaks to make to the script.

My goal with “Softball Is Life” was to write a sports play for women. This isn’t really a sports play, though. Except for the opening scene, the entire play takes place outside softball season. It’s really about family relationships. A former high school softball star sits in prison, estranged from her 14-year-old daughter who shares her mother’s talent for pitching but doesn’t realize it. Instead, the girl lives in fear of the creepy boyfriend of the cousin she’s living with. The script is set mostly in 1994-95, with a few flashbacks to 1979.

Melora Kordos, former artistic director of Studio Roanoke who is now active in Lynchburg theatre, came to town to direct the reading.

* Stage directions: Vickie Haynie
* Kristin Turner, the school principal: Kelly Anglim
* Mr. Wellington, the school principal in 1979: Gary Reid
* Mr. Barnett, the science teacher/softball coach: Patrick Kennerly
* Linda Alderson, the former high school softball star now in prison: Heather Sexton
* Larsen Alderson, her 14-year-old daughter: Emma Sala
* Prison guard: Stevie Holcomb
* Squirrel, the creepy boyfriend of the cousin that Larsen is living with: James Honaker

I have video of the reading here with a complete photo gallery here.

Here are some key shots below: Read the rest of this entry »

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Video: Staged reading of “Softball Is Life”

Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on January 7, 2014

A staged reading of my script “Softball Is Life” was held January 4, 2014 at Showtimers in Roanoke, Virginia. Here’s the video (reading was quite good, my video, not so much.)

Act 1 is above, Act 2 is below. Alas, the video cuts off in the final scene, so you miss the final minute or so.

From left to right:

* Vickie Haynie (stage directions), Heather Sexton (Linda, the former school softball star who is now in prison), Stevie Holcomb (prison guard), Patrick Kennerly (Mr. Barnett, the science teacher/softball coach), Kelly Anglim (high school principal), Emma Sala (Larsen, Linda’s daughter and an undiscovered phenom), Jeff Price (custodian), Gary Reid (Mr. Wellington, the former principal), and James Honaker (Squirrel, the creepy boyfriend of the cousin that Larsen is living with.)

Directed by Melora Kordos.

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List of 2014 productions

Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions on January 1, 2014

Here’s a list of my productions (and staged readings) so far in 2014:

* December TBA: JOY TO OTHER WORLDS (one)act), Backyard Theatre Company, Steinbach, Manitoba.
* December 16: OLGA, staged reading at IRT Theatre, New York, N.Y.
* December 5-7: THE ANGEL TREE, produced at Showtimers, Roanoke, Virginia, with additional performance on December 14 at private function in Fincastle, Virginia.
* December 6-7: THE BEAUTIFUL OGRE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES, CAN I?, CHEF PIERRE DOES NOT DO SIMPLE, and GOD AND THE DEVIL MEET FOR A BUSINESS LUNCH, by the Jeonju Players, Joenju, South Korea.
* December 2: KLAUS, staged reading in New York, as part of the Gi60 Extended Editions.
* November 12: JENNA AND HER PRIZE-WINNING PIG CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY, Lewis and Clark School District, Minot, North Dakota.
* November 7, 8, 14, 15, 22, and 23: DEMOTING PLUTO, one-act, Short Science Play Showcase at the Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
* November 9: HIT THE BOOKS, Lafayette County High School, Higginsville, Missouri.
* September 18, 19,20, 25, 26, 27: CAN I?, five-minute script in Asphalt Jungle Shorts XI, Kitchener, Ontario.
* September 22-24: SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP, ten-minute play, Ghost Dog Productions, The Horse and Stables, London, UK.
* September 6: THE SKY IS FALLING, ten-minute play, Piano Fight Productions, Lagunitas (Marin County), California.
* August 16: THE FACE ON MARS, ten-minute play, Suffield Players, Suffield, Connecticut
* August 1-3: THE OTHER SIDE OF OZ, full-length script, Backyard Theatre, Billings, Montana.
* July 19: REVENGE IS SWEET WITH A SLIGHT AFTERTASTE OF IRONY, one-act, Congleton Players, Congleton, U.K. A glowing video, along with video and photos, here.
* June 14-15: BOLIVIA!, THE CALL OF THE OPEN ROAD, JIMMY’S PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION, and THREE TREES TALKING, one-minute plays, as part of the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival #NextGen festival, New York, N.Y. Details here.
* June 13-15: IT’S THE COW’S FAULT, DEEP INTO OCTOBER, and THE GHOST LAMP, one-minute plays, as part of the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, US edition, New York, N.Y. Details here with an update here.
* June 5: THE CHICKEN CROSSES MADISON AVENUE and COUNTING WOLVES, one-minute plays, as part of the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, UK edition, Halifax, UK. Details here.
* May 30: THE RING, one-act, Haylofters Theatre, Burlington, Wisconsin. (Voted second best in show.)
* May 23: SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP, ten-minute play, staged reading by Unproduced Moon, Glasgow-Edinburg, Scotland.
* Late May: THE RING, five-minute script, as part of Newburgh Free Academy festival of short plays, Newburgh, N.Y.
* May 16: MACBETH GOES HOLLYWOOD, one-act, by Crawford County High School, Salem, Indiana.
* May 7: THE FRUITCAKE, one-act, by Hague High School, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
* April 29: THE FRUITCAKE, one-act, by Maryvale High School, Phoenix, Arizona.
* April 25: MACBETH GOES HOLLYWOOD, one-act, by York Comprehensive High School, York, South Carolina.
* March 28: GOD AND THE DEVIL MEET FOR A BUSINESS LUNCH, ten-minute play, staged reading by Lake Players, Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia. Details here.
* Spring 2014: OCCUPATIONS, one-act, by Viking Radio Theatre, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington. Audio here.
* Spring 2014: GOD AND THE DEVIL MEET FOR A BUSINESS LUNCH, ten-minute play, by Viking Radio Theatre, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington. Audio here.
* Spring 2014: SOMEWHERE TONIGHT, THE LAST WASHINGTON SENATORS’ GAME PLAYS ON, ten-minute play, by Viking Radio Theatre, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington. Audio here.
* March 1: HIT THE BOOKS, one-act, by Shead High School, Eastport, Maine.
* January 4: SOFTBALL IS LIFE, full-length, staged reading, in Roanoke, Virginia. Details here.

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