I got word this week that not one but two of my one-acts will be produced this November in Albuquerque.
Now here’s where things get interesting: Both of these are one-acts about science, and they’re being produced as part of the Short Science Play Showcase at the Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum.
I’m told there were nearly 200 entries, and two of mine wound up on the list of nine shows being produced. (I’m not sure all nine are one-acts, some might be shorter, unclear on that.)
The two are A MARTIAN WESTERN and DEMOTING PLUTO. This will be the first production for both although DEMOTING PLUTO was a semi-finalist in the Drury University One-Act Play Contest back in 2004 (but semi-finalists weren’t produced.)
A MARTIAN WESTERN deals with climate change — on the Red Planet. DEMOTING PLUTO was written before that icy body got the heave-ho, and envisioned how it could happen. Now it can serve as a behind-the-scenes story of how that might have happened. Political attack ads!
Here are the formal descriptions:
DEMOTING PLUTO
A fast-paced commentary on modern-day attack ads in politics, and the
public’s lack of scientific knowledge. A political consultant and an astronomy
professor team up to wage a media campaign aimed at reclassifying Pluto
from a planet to an asteroid. A comedy, with a sharp point. Includes
audience participation, and two alternate endings, depending on the
outcome. There are two versions, a long version and a short version.
Short version:
Cast: Six — 4 males, 2 females. Running time: 30 minutes.
• Semi-finalist, Drury University One-Act Play Contest, 2004.
A MARTIAN WESTERN
Mars is drying up. A roughneck laborer and a civil engineer building canals find themselves in a Old West-style saloon looking for a drink of water when a rancher and a farmer find themselves in a showdown over who’s responsible for a dried-up well. The overriding theme: Lawlessness.
Cast: 8 — four male, four non-gender.
Production dates are November 7, 8, 14, 15, 22, and 23.
dwayneyancey 